THE MAN IN THE ROCKEFELLER SUIT : THE ASTONISHING RISE AND SPECTACULAR FALL OF A SERIAL IMPOSTER
by Mark Seal

How far could somebody with the name Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter accomplish himself in America? The only way would be to change yourself completely, become, say, a Rockeller (Clark) and make up all these brilliant stories so that everyone would just gravitate to you.
Over thirty years ago, a German seventeen-year-old left Bavaria and came to the United States posing as a foreign exchange student. His documents were dubious and would continue to be so. Along the way, he began changing both his name(s), professions and stories deceiving all who came across his path. Gerhartsreiter was quite a con man slipping in and out of identities like a chameleon. He would charm wealthy widows and promise them the world; work in the financial field trading bonds; had an art collection worth millions of dollars. His living arrangements were always bizarre: no furniture except lawn chairs in beautiful, expensive townhouses. He would brag about his collection of antique cars yet he drove an old broken-down jalopy without a driver's license.
For twelve years, he was married to a very successful business woman who believed everything he said even though she thought he was eccentric. (He had no Social Security number and no checking account.) Alas, his deception finally came to an end when he kidnapped their daughter (he and his wife were divorced by this time).
What a story and what an ingenious mind! How this man used people to get what he wanted and their gullibility worked to his advantage. "Rockefeller" lied his way from California, to Connecticut, New York and finally to Boston. There are so many ridiculous tales he told that if he tried any of this stuff, in today's world, nobody would believe him.
Gerhartsreiter would change information about his parents, constantly. One minute his father was an industrialist and his mother an archeologist. The next day, his parents died in a car crash. Or, his mother was an actress and they lived in Virginia.
He bragged about going to Yale at the age of fourteen; said that Lord Mountbatten was a cousin (this is when his name was Christopher Mountbatten); claimed to have produced movies and worked with Alfred Hitchcock; etc.
If you like true crime, you must read this book. The author interviewed two hundred people who would have had contact with the imposter.
There are numerous photographs so you can see what he looks like. In many of them, he is actually trying to disguise himself.
Very well-written and quite a page-turner. You won't be disappointed.
Highly recommended.