There’s nothing like old-fashioned light fiction from time to time. This is a story that focuses on two con artists and their adventures in my home state of North Carolina. Mordecai Jones, the flim-flam man, befriends Curley Treadaway, an AWOL veteran of the US Army, and the couple decides to set out on a quest to make some easy money and avoid the Law.

Owen’s two main characters never con anyone who haven’t first proved themselves greedy. This seems to be the way that they excuse their actions, as well as motivation for the victim to go along with the con - the mark always believes he or she is fooling the con men and will strike it rich. Jones has been doing this for most of his life, so he is a smooth talker and rarely shows signs of remorse. However, Treadaway is not used to the grifter life, and falls in love with a mark’s sweet southern daughter, makes a few foolish mistakes, and ends up in some trouble with the Law.

Owen wrote this story based off of a collection of newspaper clippings he saved during his years teaching in the UNC school system. He had a fancy for stories about people with insatiable greed being conned by artists such as Jones and Treadaway. The Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man was adapted into a movie in 1967, and I haven’t watched it, but I highly recommend this book. Especially if you’re a Southerner - the writing is hilarious and a natural drawl can be found on every page of the book.

4/5 Stars. 277 pages. Published 1965.