22 Feb Playing on the Angle in Spanish Fly
Clever, very clever. Shameful, but entertaining. That’s how I would describe the never-ending stream of cons being played out by Virgil, Miss Rose, and our lead guy, Jack, in Will Ferguson’s fabulous novel, Spanish Fly.
Described with such vivid and colourful detail and including such entertaining characters, the scenarios change with location as the three-some travel across the American Southwest, looking for marks to play. Author, Will Ferguson, called the con men of the time psychologists who understood how greed could cloud a person’s mind. Of course, the con men (and women, as in Miss Rose) were themselves greedy, robbing innocent people without guilt, for their own financial gain, but the folks that get taken are often unlikeable, painfully unintelligent, and always, always greedy. They get duped of their money because of the promise of more money, often blatantly “dirty.” The con men, on the other hand, are charmers, socially adept, well-dressed, drinkers and dancers and a hell of a lot of fun. It almost makes the reader forgive their antics.
On page 176, Virgil explains to Jack how even the genuine thing is not what it seems. Showing Jack that his trademark Panama hat says “Made in Ecudor” on the inside, Virgil says, “Panama hats aren’t made in Panama. If a Panama hat is made in Panama, it’s not a real Panama. Y’see? Nothing in this world is ever straightforward, kid. Everything’s played on the angle.”
As author Ferguson says of the con men, not only of the day, but even now:
“All they need to do is for you to suspend your critical thinking for just a moment, just a heartbeat, long enough for them to extract the cash from you.”