This one's a fast read (good thing, too, since it's already overdue), and an engaging story about a man who faked his credentials to land a spot at Princeton. Much of the book started life as a magazine article, and it tells its story (mostly) backward. This choice has the nice effect of "peeling back the layers" of the con man at its center as you devolve through his various identities, but it's not always pulled off gracefully or easily. It also has the disadvantage of starting the story with the con man in Telluride, CO rather than at Princeton, where it's just an ordinary story of a man who lies to people and steals stuff, and you don't get to the real questions -- such as, "How did he lie his way into Princeton?" -- until halfway through the book. Also, the question "Who is this guy really?" has to wait till the end, but that's OK with me because of the deliberate structural choice.
Along the way you get analysis of how he did it and puzzlement as to exactly why. This puzzlement leads to a lot of theorizing, some of it valuable and some, well, not. For an example of the latter, see the chapter titled "Christmas is the Biggest Lie of All." Not sure what that has to do with college admissions or stealing bikes. Generally, when this book talks about the Princeton application it's firing on all cylinders. The rest of it is forgettable, but at least quickly read.
Now I'd better turn it back in before I owe another 50 cents!
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