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The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter
Unavailable
The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter
Unavailable
The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter
Audiobook10 hours

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter

Written by Mark Seal

Narrated by Erik Singer

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

A real-life Talented Mr. Ripley, the unbelievable thirty-year run of a shape-shifting con man.The story of Clark Rockefeller is a stranger-than-fiction twist on the classic American success story of the self-made man-because Clark Rockefeller was totally made up. The career con man who convincingly passed himself off as Rockefeller was born in a small village in Germany. At seventeen, obsessed with getting to America, he flew into the country on dubious student visa documents and his journey of deception began.Over the next thirty years, boldly assuming a series of false identities, he moved up the social ladder through exclusive enclaves on both coasts-culminating in a stunning twelve-year marriage to a rising star businesswoman with a Harvard MBA who believed she'd wed a Rockefeller.The imposter charmed his way into exclusive clubs and financial institutions-working on Wall Street, showing off an extraordinary art collection-until his marriage ended and he was arrested for kidnapping his daughter, which exposed his past of astounding deceptions as well as a connection to the bizarre disappearance of a California couple in the mid-1980s.The story of The Man in the Rockefeller Suit is a probing and cinematic exploration of an audacious imposer-and a man determined to live the American dream by any means necessary.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 2, 2011
ISBN9781101483510
Unavailable
The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Imposter
Author

Mark Seal

Mark Seal joined Vanity Fair as a contributing editor in 2003, covering stories as varied as the Bernie Madoff scandal, Ghislaine Maxwell, Tiger Woods, the fall of Olympian Oscar Pistorius, the making of classic films such as Pulp Fiction, and many more. His 2016 Vanity Fair article “The Over the Hill Gang,” about a gang of retired thieves who pulled off the biggest jewel heist in British history, was the basis of the 2018 film, King of Thieves, starring Michael Caine. In addition to Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, he is the author of the books Wildflower and The Man in the Rockefeller Suit. His website is Mark-Seal.com.

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Rating: 3.7617187906250003 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    As always, biography—even “true crime” it turns out— presents a problem when rating. Do you rate the subject or the writing. Seal is not a good enough writer to get away without a first class editor. But the subject was amazing. From childhood on, he could have used a therapist ! But still, I’m glad I read the book despite its failings.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Deeply fascinating unweaving of a lair's lies that ran for over 40 years. This man's life may have included murders, did include kidnapping, stealing, lying about who he was, using his (assumed) names to scam people out of money, just over all a Bad Man.

    And yet people kept forgiving him, even after the truth was revealed. Holy cow. And how amazing how people just blindly accepted that he was a Rockefeller, without checking into it. Including the woman he married (under that name) and had a kid with. She never ever met anyone else from the Rockefeller family through him, never saw a penny from him, yet took it as a given that he was a rich Rockefeller. Holy cats.

    I'm ... I'm all out of sorts after reading this book. I couldn't STOP reading, I had to find out how it all unravelled.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was such a great read but made me sooooo mad! This guy was such a con artist and it made me mad that he duped so many people especially his wife. How she could not ever suspect him is beyond me but love is blind I guess. Very interesting look into the life of a serial liar and the lengths he went to to get what he wanted which worked more often than not. It's amazing how gullible people will be! I could not put it down and did not want to finish it. I hope that this story will be made into a movie as a cautionary tale.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This si an expanded version of Mark Seal's lengthy Vanity Fair article. In preparing this book, Seal has traveled to Germany, Wisconsin, California, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maryland, interviewed hundreds, and reviewed countless documents. All this in unraveling the story of the con artist commonly known as Clark Rockefeller, who hit the national consciousness when he inducted his daughter in 2008. The arrogance and chutzpah of the man knew no bounds as he created persona after persona and bilked, bamboozled and dazzled countless people along the way. He now stands trial for a 20+ year old murder in San Marino Ca. Living in Boston area, I've been exposed to some of this more than others -and the locales are well familiar. However, I think many would find the story compelling - how did he get away with this for so long? The money irritating point for me? Dozens of references to his predilection to wearing shoes without socks. Enough already! Despite this minor quibble, a very engaging read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was intriguing, and the author squeezed every last bit of juice out of his interview subjects. The downside is that so many of his interview subjects were anonymous because they were too embarrassed to admit that a weirdo who wore Top-Siders without socks and only ate white food duped them. I never expected to find the "truth" about "Clark Rockefeller" since the man wrapped himself in layers of lies, but the sheer number of anonymous interviews added another layer of mystery.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book recounts the true story of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a German immigrant who passed himself off as a member of the Rockefeller family in order to purport cons for financial gains. He was what would be described as a grifter, someone who swindles by means of deception or fraud. In Gerhartsreiter case the fraud may have escalated to the level of murder as well and he has now been charged with the death of a man whose body was found during a pool installation in California. Gerhartsreiter cons were so good that even his own wife whom he had been married to over 10 years, had no idea who he really was. Everything unraveled for Gerhartsreiter when he decided to kidnap his biological daughter, Reigh "Snooks" Boss, whom he did not have custody of. Once the FBI got involved, his string of lies were uncovered and his true identity was revealed. It is truly amazing how Gerhartsreiter was able to come to the US as a penniless 17 year old immigrant and through nothing but shear lies and his own inflated ego was able to eventually ensconce himself in a multimillion dollar lifestyle. Although some people were on to him, the sheer number of people who bough his lies, hook, line, and sinker are astonishing. He brandied about that he had an ivy league education and old family wealth and educated people with real wealth in their own right fell all over themselves to help him. The book has not chronicled the end of Gerhartsreiter story. He has already been convicted of the kidnapping case and the murder case they look to put forth against him seems to be largely circumstantial. If he is able to dodge the murder conviction and get out of jail, I have no doubt he will land on his feet and craft a new life for himself.Gerhartsreiter's story made me think of another true life story of grifters, Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con artists in America, by Kent Walker. Like Gerhartstrsreiter Sante Kimes always longed to live the rich lifestyle. Instead of achieving wealth through her own talents and hard work she married someone with money,only to drain her spouse financially the way Gerhartsreiter parasitically lived off Sandra Boss. Both Gerhartsreiter and Sante Kimes were consummate liars and were not above murder when someone stood in the way of what they wanted. Another trait that Gerhartsreiter and Sante Kimes shared is the absolute need to control their children. Sante Kimes turned one of her sons into a criminal just like she is. I don't doubt that a similar fate awaited Reigh Boss if her mother had not finally intervened. Thankfully she has been saved from whatever her father wanted to turn her in to. Sante Kimes and her protege son are now safely locked away from doing harm to others. It will be interesting to see if Christian Gerhartsreiter's story ends the same way.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    On a much higher note, "The Man in the Rockefeller Suit" was an excellent read! Mark Seal, through interviews and meticulous research has written the story of, Christian Gerhartsreiter, a German immigrant, who came to America and wormed his way into communities, homes and businesses, resulting in fraud, kidnapping and murder.I think the fascinating thing to me, was the ease with which he was accepted by the smartest, wealthiest people in several different communities, by simply using the name Clark Rockefeller. That people could be so easily swayed by a famous name, backed by what they thought was a huge fortune, simply amazed me.He stole money, property and quite possible the lives of two of his victims. It seemed that he believed his own lies, nearly believing that he was an actual Rockefeller. He married a very smart woman, had a child with her, took her money and stole her child, when things started falling apart.Extremely smart, very personable, he rode a wave of conning people, who accepted him without question. The impostor collected art, and people as he constantly improved his mannerisms and speech, so he could continue his charade.This book works as a true crime story as well as a case study of a very disturbed personality.I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a who done it as well as a why did he do it.I received this book from NetGalley for review. Thank you!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This story goes on and on from one unbelievable story to another that this man actually had people believing.Mark Seal does a great job bringing it all together into a real page turner. I read it very qickly and then my husband became engrossed in it as well.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I had no intention of reading this book but heard a very good recommendation from a book group member so decided to give it a try. It was excellent. The story draws you in right from the beginning. It is an amazing story of how this man, Christian Gerhartsreiter, duped so many people over a span of 30 years. The people that he conned were well-educated successful people from clergy to wealthy single women to stockbrokers- he conned them easily and successfully. This book is an intriguing study of how donning a famous family name and faking Ivy League college ties can open doors to wealth and priviledge. I honestly couldn't put it down.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A sketchily-researched piece more suited to the National Enquirer, where facts and accuracy are less important than in publications such as Vanity Fair or a published non-fiction book.As one who knew "Clark Rockefeller" and was interviewed for this book as well as the Vanity Fair article, I was disappointed at the lack of attention to detail Mark Seal put into telling the story of the time in which I knew the man. Seal created two people out of my experiences, got names wrong, and generally put all his research eggs into one basket without making enough effort to get his facts straight.Since I know my information was not accurately reported -- even after two interviews -- one has to wonder how well he got others' stories down as well. Sure, the overall gist of what our German friend was up to is relatively correct, but not caring about the details is problematic. Take what Seal writes with a gigantic grain of salt. He portrays people as utterly taken in by Rockefeller's line. That wasn't the case.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In case you don't remember, Clark Rockefeller was a man who kidnapped his daughter only to be caught and found out as a complete fraud who'd been living under many different names, conning the world, and even connected to the mysterious disappearance of a husband and wife on whose property he was living in San Mario, CA.Written by Vanity Fair writer, Mark Seale, this has all the hallmarks of a great Vanity Fair read - socialites, financial fraud, art fraud, whiffs of murder and sexual scandal. Seale tells a great story and is utterly restrained in doing so. Everything here is sensational so the story doesn't need to be sensationalized - just told, bit by bit, piece by disturbing piece. And it is disturbing - Clark Rockefeller appeared in a couple of my nightmares - so very blank he seems.This is one of three books I've read this year that have left me with a lot to think about when wondering about identity (the other two are The Invisible Line by Daniel J. Sharfstein and The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson). Although completely disconnected from each other the beauty in all three of these books like in the questions they ask about identity: What is it? How fluid is it? Are we who we say are or how we're defined? These are interesting questions, although with the addition of The Man in the Rockefeller Suit I've become a lot more paranoid lately.Very entertaining, thought-provoking, and creepy true crime read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Clark Rockefeller (Christian Karl Gerhartsreier) made the headlines when he kidnapped his daughter and vanished. No one could find them, because all of the leads ended up as dead ends. When the entire story was told, Mr. Gerhartsreier had almost pulled off the perfect crime, by borrowing a impersonating many people along the way. Only when he left his DNA on a friends water glass, was he finally found out, and the imposters bluffing was over. The book covers his marriage and divorce and shows that anyone can become anyone they want if they are shrewd enough, and pick the right name to hide under. Arrested for kidnapping of a minor and assault and battery with an armed weapon and found guilty, he will be released in 2013 It will be interesting to see how this criminally minded foreigner will fit into society as himself rather than living a lie.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a stunningly quick and delightful read. I was hooked from the start and went straight through it. If you like non-fiction, this is a great read. If you like fiction, it's a great story that will keep you turning the pages. Get the paperback edition from 2012, because the Afterword is something you will want to read!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In fairness, there is nothing remarkably compelling about the prose, which could be at times rather clumsy, but it is on the basis of the story itself that I assign five stars to this journalistic portrait. I absolutely devoured it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter came to the United States at the age of seventeen, and, like many other immigrants and young people, he set about reinventing himself. But he took that idea much further and much more literally than most, concocting for himself a number of socially ambitious alternate identities, including "Christopher Chichester," a member of the British aristocracy, "Christopher Crowe," a big shot Hollywood producer, and "Clark Rockefeller," a member of the Rockefeller family.He inhabited that last identity for a surprisingly long time, ingratiating himself into the highest of high society and marrying a women who -- astonishingly, given that she was an enormously successful financial consultant -- had no idea, for a very long time, that he was not who he claimed to be and did not have access to the immense wealth he pretended to. His true identity was only unmasked when he was subjected to an in-depth police investigation after he kidnapped his seven-year-old daughter, whom he had lost custody of in his divorce. He was then later tried for a murder committed many years earlier. (That trial had not yet begun when this book was published, in 2011, but Wikipedia tells me that he was, in fact, convicted.)It's a bizarre, and, in broad outline, utterly fascinating story. And, yet, I found this detailed account of what is known of "Rockefeller"'s life, while interesting enough, not nearly as enthralling as I'd hoped. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. One is that, no matter how much digging the author did, ultimately his subject remains a great big enigma, a giant, frustrating question mark at the heart of his narrative. Who is this guy, really? What on Earth was going on in his head? There seems to be no knowing, no way to get a handle on whoever the "real" Clark Rockefeller or Christian Gerhartsreiter is. Secondly... Well, I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but I think, going into this book, I was hoping to encounter a sort of lovable rogue, that I would find myself at the end saying, "Well, of course, I don't approve of what he did, but, gosh, you have to admire his ability to do it!" But there doesn't seem to be very much about "Rockefeller" to admire. Mostly, he comes across as, well, a great big phony, a man whose only ambition in life was to fake his way into the social circles of the disgustingly over-privileged and the unbearably snooty. And while, by all accounts, he really was a tremendously smart guy, his success in that ambition appears to have not so much to do with intelligence as with the fact that people are predisposed to see what they want or expect to see and are willing to overlook a great deal of bizarre behavior if it comes from someone who appears to be fantastically rich.I am glad to have read this, anyway, though, if only because it's one of those stories I would never, ever have believed if it were presented in a movie or a novel, and it's always good to be reminded of all the ways in which reality really is just so much weirder than fiction.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The astonishing true story of the 17 year old German immigrant who came to the United States on a tourist visa and became a whole new man. Several actually. He abandoned his clunky birth name, Christian Gerhartsreiter, for a succession of more prestigious names, finally ending with Clark Rockefeller. To his friends, chauffeur and even his wife, he was a Rockefeller, heir to billions. In reality, he was almost penniless and living entirely off his wife's money. An accomplished conman, and possible murderer, this is the story of his unmasking and downfall. Expertly told. Very entertaining.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although I do not read many non-fiction books, the blurb grabbed my attention. I did not catch the news scandal in 2008 about the man who posed as Clark Rockefeller, but was actually a German immigrant named Christopher Gerhartsreiter, so the story was completely new to me. The author, Mark Seal, unravels the mystery of Christopher Gerhartsreiter’s journey from nothing to living a life of luxury, yet it is not a linear path. The more the author reveals about this man, the more questions arise.How does a man manage to become a prominent member of a community, convince people of lies after lies, and the people are not even able to clearly answer where Christopher Gerhartsreiter actually lived and worked? He convinces employers to hire him without checking credentials. Every person he befriends serves a purpose, whether for marriage, money, or to climb the social ladder. He is the ultimate name dropper.Christopher Gerhartsreiter sheds his identity multiple times, each time his story becomes more extravagant, until he eventually becomes Clark Rockefeller.This story is accurately described as stranger than fiction. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit portrays a man who broke all boundaries of class and wealth to reach the equivalent of royalty in America, only to have the truth catch him in the end. I strongly recommend this story if you are a fan of this genre. It is one of the most entertaining and original books I’ve read this year, and not surprisingly, it is on the New York Times Bestseller List. However, this is not a book I'd reread.As far as the writing, it is straight forward and I appreciate that the author weaves the story in ways that could imply certain characteristics and conclusions about Christopher Gerhartsreiter without force-feeding. My only complaint is that this was not written by the man himself, and therefore, is still quite a bit of his life that is unknown.Despite receiving this book as a giveaway, I was too eager to tell my mother about this book, and now she expects me to ship her my copy...so in the long run it did cost a little something. Not that I mind the out of pocket expense for this gem. Now, I must ship this book to my mother.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mark Seal's 'The Man in the Rockefeller Suit" is an amazing biography of incredible imposter. After reading this page turner, I can figure out how he was able to dupe so many people. He could play them for their money, charm his way into social clubs and make some women swoon over him. The only question that this book did not answer for me was why he did it. But only the imposter really knows.Christian Karl Gerhartreiter, aka Chris Gerhart, aka Chris Rider, aka Christopher Mountbatten Chichester, aka Christopher Chichester Xlll, aka Chris Crowe, aka Clark Rockefeller, aka Chip Smith wanted to be somebody but he did want to earn it. At the age of seventeen, he was already banned from the family house by his father. He bought a hearse and parked it outside the house and slept there every night. He considered his home town as not being good enough for him.Christian Karl Gerhartreiter got a travel visa to the United States and started his lifetime of self-promotion and social climbing. He was the grand manipulator. He could almost get anything that he wanted. He was eccentric, only eating white food, turkey, white bread, white potatoes and so on. He was a fierce researcher and had memory that convinced people that he was very intelligent. He made a crucial mistake in the cozy rich town of San Marino, California. Later he made another huge mistake that ultimately betrayed his identity.There is not a boring page in this book. The writer interviewed many people and examined a wealth of documents to put together the puzzle of Clark Rockefeller. With all of his created identities, and it was an enormous task. When I reading this book, I pictured his life as an enormous flow chart and wondered if Clark Rockefeller had played his game so much that he didn’t even know himself. He could talk with different accents; he could walk into social clubs as if he had belonged there for years. He hurt many people in many ways. I am not telling you what his biggest crimes were because I hope that you read this book.This book covers up to his first trial. He was found guilty and was sentenced. I was very disappointed in how short his sentence was. His second trial for his other is set for January 2013. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about a master manipulator and is interested in crime. I tend to shy away from true life crime stories but in this case, I was very glad that I didn’t. This is a book about a man that I will never forget.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was selected by my book club as a recent non-fiction pick. I can honestly say that if my book club had not pick this book, I would never have read it. I am glad that I did, though.The story of Clark Rockefeller, or whichever alias you decide to call him by, is fascinating. This man was such a skilled manipulator and quite a cunning liar. He was able to fool highly educated people into believing his enormous expanse of lies. He was even able to fool his wife over the course of their entire marriage, which spanned more than a decade.Even after spending a significant amount of time researching Clark Rockefeller, the author, Mark Seal, still couldn’t piece together all of his actions and provide details on all of his many lies. What Seal could provide was quite voluminous, but it just underscores how adept Clark Rockefeller was at his lying.In addition to his lying and stealing, there was the added interesting component of a possible murder that Rockefeller possibly committed. This aspect of the story just added another layer of mystery onto an already beyond belief tale.I really enjoyed this book. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of biographies, contemporary crime, and general non-fiction.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Man in the Rockefeller Suit is the story of a German man named Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter who came to the United States in 1978. For the next thirty years, he assumed multiple identities. He eventually assumed the name Clark Rockefeller and was able to dupe scores of intelligent people into believing that he was a member of the Rockefeller family. He even married and had a child with a very successful woman who bought his story hook, line and sinker. Finally, after years of marriage, his wife started to see through his story and divorced him. He then devised an elaborate plan to kidnap his young daughter, which turned out to be his undoing.This was a well-researched, fascinating story. It was really amazing to read how relatively easy it was for “Clark” to fool so many people for such a long time. I would have liked to get inside of Clark’s head to perform a little armchair psychology and know what he was thinking but the author wasn’t able to speak with him. He did interview a lot of people who knew Clark so there are glimmers of Clark’s motivations that come through.Overall, this was a compelling read that fans of true crime will really enjoy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I admit it. I’m fascinated by con-men. On one hand I admire what they’re able to do and the mind behind the elaborate lies, false identities and schemes. On the other hand I am appalled by what they get away with and how easily normal people are taken in. Sometimes it’s easy to dismiss their crimes by putting the blame onto their victims; making them into stupid people who somehow deserved to be duped. Sometimes you root for the con-artists and want them to get away clean. This is one of those cases to a certain extent, but some of his victims deserve real sympathy. I can’t say that I’ve have spotted him as phony, but I can say that I would have hated his pretentious ass. Anyone who has to go around talking about himself and how great he is all the time certainly has a weak ego that must need constant shoring up. I’ve known a few people like that; not con-men, but low-self-esteem victims who can’t shut up. That seems to be “Clark Rockefeller’s” M.O. Even now he doesn’t admit defeat; maintaining that he IS a Rockefeller in the face of the family’s vehement denials. Fascinating. Is he mentally ill in the sense that he believes his own lies, or is he just keeping up appearances so that he can morph into someone else when this all goes away? Something he seems to devoutly believe will happen.The sheer intelligence, memory and will is incredible to me. I can barely keep facts straight never mind countless lies upon lies. And the cunning! To be planning and conniving so many steps in advance; it’s mind-boggling. I’d love to know more about exactly when he started planning this, when he started looking for his perfect American dupe. He must have pulled this kind of thing when he was a kid, albeit in a much smaller way. I guess we’ll never know unless he decides to admit what he’s done and write a swaggering tell-all or Impersonating Fake People for Dummies handbook. When that kind of mind plus a total lack of conscience come together, all bets are off and it’s just a matter of whether the person has the guts to really aim high and whether he gets caught. I wonder how many don’t. To us regular people, the sheer guts it takes to pull this off is unreal. Whenever I read about a real-life con-man I’m amazed by what they get away with and how frigging fearless they are. I’d never be able to lie so well and to so many people even if I had the inclination to do so. That’s why so many fall victim; we can’t imagine doing it ourselves so we never think that anyone else can, much less to us. And the bigger the lie, the more we believe it just because we can’t believe anyone would be so fearless and so convincing. Who would go around saying they were a Rockefeller if they weren’t? Not me. I’d get caught. I’m sure I’d get caught, so I never think that anyone else would dare. Flabbergasting.Overall the story is told well, from an investigative reporter point of view. The author talks to as many people as he can and follows the trail chronologically starting with Gerhartsreiter’s entrance into the US and ending with his conviction of kidnapping in a Massachusetts court. Many people won’t talk to him, probably out of humiliation over having been fooled, but enough people do talk to sketch Gerhartsreiter’s life pretty well. Although this is an interesting and compelling book, I wish the author would have gone into more detail about exactly how he was able to manage one façade after another. With very little effort he appears to go from his real persona, Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, to Christopher Chichester, to Christopher Crow to Clark Rockefeller. In reality he must have done an immense amount of reading, memorizing, planning and practicing. How did he find the time? How did he find the money? Always with the new clothes and accessories, but never a visible means of support. What other schemes had he going that brought him money? I’d have loved more insight into that. Maybe that’s for the sequel.