The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln

He could have been a creation of a quicksilver and multidimensional mind like Edgar Alan Poe. He was the embodiment of all that is quirky, off the rails as soon as the train is in motion, untrustworthy, delusional, criminal, perpetually inventing himself at the expense of any and all he touched. His life story, though larger than life in the worst possible ways, was not invented by Poe or Dickens, but was the life lived by a certifiably sick person who was able to rise above the waves of adversity by the power of his belief in himself, by a fearless although reckless expression of self important and grandly inspired will. What is perhaps even more perplexing than what he did was how he was able to bamboozle so many people from every type of station of power, wealth, privilege and influence. Everyone seems to have come under his influence and without too many exceptions, this strange person managed to slip and swim up and downstream against and with whatever currents flowed. Almost without a steady day job and employment, Lincoln managed to travel back and forth across the world, usually at the expense of someone else. There are very few spots of light in this tragically self destructive life. A terrible husband and father, completely unable to place others that needed his support ahead of his own indulgent whims, the trail of a life left behind him was dismal in almost every way. The manner in which he was able to dupe and empower himself was much a product of the times he lived in. One has a hard time imagining that he would have gotten much past a long stay either in a jail or a mental hospital were he to try such a performance in the 21'st century. This is a superbly researched book. Although I found that by the half way point I was finding the story a bit tedious as the repetitiousness of Lincoln's infamy seemed to be all cut out of the same atmosphere. However, stick with it because over the hump of the middle the story just picks up steam and ends with quite a flourish, albeit that of his own demise sadly alone and in many ways, an afterthought to what was lived. Try as hard as the reader can, one has trouble not shaking the head back and forth, hardly believing what you are reading. Incredible? Yes. Impossible? No. Will you read of such a life again? Unlikely. Remarkable story.

An improbable but true story that will appeal to anyone who enjoys biographies or mysteries.

Trebitsch Lincoln was a proselytizer for two Christian denominations, a social researcher,an escaped convict, a winning candidate for Parliament, a German spy, a participant in the Kapp putsch of 1920, and a Buddhist monk. You literally can't make this stuff up. I read the book with disbelief, but the facts are there. It was a lot easier to forge new identities in the years before social security and national i.d. cards. Lincoln's travels took him all over the world and he seems to have conned people of all nations and political persuasions. Mr. Wasserstein's book is beautifully written. I think it should be back in print.