Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, by Greg Pizzoli
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Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, by Greg Pizzoli
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A New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2015In the early 1900s, Robert Miller, a.k.a. “Count Victor Lustig,” moved to Paris hoping to be an artist. A con artist, that is. He used his ingenious scams on unsuspecting marks all over the world, from the Czech Republic, to Atlantic ocean liners, and across America. Tricky Vic pulled off his most daring con in 1925, when he managed to "sell" the Eiffel Tower to one of the city’s most successful scrap metal dealers! Six weeks later, he tried to sell the Eiffel Tower all over again. Vic was never caught. For that particular scam, anyway. . . . Kids will love to read about Vic's thrilling life, and teachers will love the informational sidebars and back matter. Award-winner Greg Pizzoli’s humorous and vibrant graphic style of illustration mark a bold approach to picture book biography.
Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, by Greg Pizzoli - Amazon Sales Rank: #41609 in Books
- Brand: Pizzoli, Greg
- Published on: 2015-03-10
- Released on: 2015-03-10
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.80" h x .40" w x 7.70" l, 1.00 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 48 pages
Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, by Greg Pizzoli From School Library Journal Gr 3–6—This picture book takes a look at Robert Miller, a successful con man who managed to dupe many and by posing as a government official was even able to "sell" the Eiffel Tower to scrap metal dealers, before being caught and imprisoned. Miller used more than 45 aliases during his life but was known to many as Tricky Vic. This is a fascinating story, with quirky, retro-style, mixed-media art that will appeal to readers. Beyond a line or two at the beginning about Vic turning to a life of crime, Pizzoli doesn't moralize about his subject's actions. Tricky Vic is a little-known subject, and some may wonder if there's an audience for this title. However, this is an intriguing account, and through sidebars, the book offers some effective avenues for discussing related historical events, people, and places, such as Al Capone, Prohibition, counterfeiting, and Alcatraz. An attractive, though esoteric, offering.—Dorcas Hand, Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston, TX
Review
Selected for The New York Times ten Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2015Selected for Amazon's Best Books of the Year listSelected for the American Library Association's Notable Children's Books List"Splendid. . . . Loaded with facts but with good storytelling and high-level illustration. . . . I’m thrilled that Pizzoli has chosen to present [Tricky Vic's] story so compellingly to our nation’s children."—The New York Times"Intriguing."—The Wall Street Journal"What a con job! I mean that in the best possible way. Vic was tricky but so is Greg Pizzoli. His storytelling and mixed-media artwork is rendered with expert sleight of hand."—Lane Smith, author/illustrator of It's a Book and the Caldecott Honor book Grandpa Green"It's hard enough to make a well-told story out of real-life things—it’s almost unfair that he could also make it this pretty."—Jon Klassen, author and illustrator of the Caldecott Medal winner This Is Not My Hat* "An appealingly colorful, deadpan account of a remarkably audacious and creative criminal."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "What a fabulous story."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review"Elementary-school kids impressed by brazen acts of skulduggery will be snowed by this well-told true story."—Booklist
"Greg Pizzoli gets high marks for derring-do. . . . The bold, graphic mixed-media art—made with photographs, rubber stamps, pencil, ink, and digital tools—steals the show."—The Boston Globe"A fascinating story, with quirky, retro-style, mixed-media art that will appeal to readers."—School Library Journal“Stylish illustrations. . . Pizzoli’s recounting entertains.”—Publishers Weekly “With a sophisticated, genially sinister design incorporating cartoons and photographs into a low-toned red and mustard palette, the book signals the right kind of reader: one for whom venality is no obstacle to a good time.”—The Horn Book"The clever illustrations add to the enjoyment; this is an entertaining biography and an interesting glimpse into the history of a criminal."—Library Media Connection
About the Author Greg Pizzoli is an author, illustrator and screen printer from Philadelphia. His first picture book, The Watermelon Seed, was published by Disney*Hyperion Books and was the 2014 recipient of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. Greg's work has been featured in The New York Times, Communication Arts, 3x3 Magazine and he's won two Portfolio Honor Awards from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. After college, Greg spent two years as a full-time volunteer in AmeriCORPS from 2005-2006. In 2009, he received his MFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he now teaches. Greg lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two unruly cats.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. I believe this book is a wonderful tool for fellow educators who want to teach historical ... By Erica Keller Tricky Vic is an incredible blend of history and adventure for kids learning about Count Victor Lustig. I believe this book is a wonderful tool for fellow educators who want to teach historical nonfiction in a fun and delightful way. The illustrations are great and kept my students engaged from beginning to end! I am definitely using this in my classroom curriculum- what a fantastic book!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Dirty rotten scoundrel By E. R. Bird I was listening to a favorite podcast of mine the other day when the panelists began discussing the difference between heist films and con man films. A heist film is one where the entire movie is a build-up to a great and fabulous heist. “Ocean’s 11” and that sort of thing. In the children’s book world this would be “The Great Greene Heist”. A con man film is different. There you have a single individual, and not necessarily a heroic one either. “Catch Me If You Can” is a con man film. And on the children’s book side? Honestly, we don’t have a lot of them. Maybe “Pickle” by Kim Baker but that’s a stretch. It really wasn’t until I laid eyes on Greg Pizzoli’s “Tricky Vic” that I could appreciate what I had been missing all these years. Told with a relaxed easygoing style, Pizzoli takes one of the world’s most notorious individuals in the con game, and refuses to humanize him. Here we see a character that was larger than life. Makes sense that he’d try to sell a structure that was in many ways his equal.In 1890 he was born Robert Miller, but that didn’t last. Names came and went and by the time he was an adult, Miller was a professional gambler turned con artist. His preferred method of payment was gambling on transatlantic ocean liners but then along came WWI and Miller, now calling himself Count Victor Lustig, needed a new occupation. Through a little low level trickery he got the blessing of Al Capone and then set about bilking the easy rich. But his greatest feat, and the one that would put him down in the history books, was his successful con of “selling” the Eiffel Tower to prospective buyers. Though in time he was eventually caught and jailed (in Alcatraz, no less), Vic’s odd life shines a spotlight on those individuals willing to get ahead on our own greed and misplaced hope. Backmatter includes an Author’s Note, Glossary, Selected Sources, and a note on the art.Every great picture book biography finds something about an individual that is interesting to child readers. In “The Boy Who Loved Math” it was Paul Erdos’s sheer enthusiasm and childlike goofiness. In “The Noisy Paintbox” it was Kandinsky’s ability to translate sound to sight and back again. And in “Tricky Vic” it’s shamelessness. Kids don’t often encounter, in any form, adults that unapologetically do wrong. Vic ultimately pays for his crimes, and in many ways that’s the only way you can get away with what Pizzoli is doing here. You see, the trouble with con man storylines is that they’re just too much fun. You can’t help but root for Vic when he pulls the old Romanian Money Box scheme or when he cons the great Al Capone himself. Really one of the few objections I’ve heard lobbed against the book is a question as to whether or not kids will have any interest in an obscure two-bit criminal. But like all great nonfiction authors for kids, Pizzoli knows that children’s biographies do not begin and end with Amelia Earhart and Abraham Lincoln. Sometimes kids appreciate far more the biographies of the people who didn’t go about with halos hovering around their ears. There’s room on our shelves for the baddies.Now when Greg Pizzoli debuted with his picture book “The Watermelon Seed” two years ago, there was nothing to indicate to me that he had any inclination to go the nonfiction route. “The Watermelon Seed” utilizes a three-color print job and distinctly retro aesthetic. That aesthetic remains intact in “Tricky Vic” but Pizzoli but the technique has been cranked up to eleven. In “A Note About the Art in This Book” at the back, Pizzoli says that the illustrations seen here were “created using pencil, ink, rubber stamps, halftone photographs, silkscreen, Zipatone, and Photoshop.” The end result is a book that straddles the line between those picture books actually concocted in the 1930s and a distinctly contemporary creation.Dig a little deeper and Pizzoli’s illustration choices go beyond mere novelty. The choice to render Vic’s head as a thumbprint has so many different uses. With a mere change in tone or color, Pizzoli can render his personality and character different from one page to the next. This chameleon of a man couldn’t ask for better representation. But much of the success of the book lies in how it tackles the question of Vic as a bad person. Pizzoli’s choice to make Vic expressionless throughout the book is key to this. Because kids aren’t exactly reading about a role model, it’s important that Vic never look like he’s having too much fun. Remove his mouth and eyes and voila! An instant blank slate on which to project your storyline. Let the facts speak for themselves.And speaking of facts, in no time in our nation’s history have picture book biographies for children fallen under as much scrutiny as they do today. Time was the D’Aulaires could write varying fictional accounts of everyone from Pocahontas to Abraham Lincoln and win Caldecotts for their efforts. These days, the debate rages around how much an author is allowed to do and the crux of that debate centers on made up dialogue. I am firmly of the opinion that made up dialogue is unnecessary in a children’s book biography. However, when handled creatively, there are exceptions to every rule. And “Tricky Vic” is, if nothing else, vastly creative. If you read the book the actual text is all factual. There is some mucking about with the timeline of one of the major events in Vic’s life, but Pizzoli comes clean about that in his Author’s Note in the back, and I give a lot of credit to folks who fess up plainly. Getting back to the text, look a little closer and you’ll see that there is some made up dialogue but Pizzoli keeps it at a minimum and gives it its own separate space. Little speech balloons between the characters will occasionally crop up at the bottom of the pages. The feeling is that these are interstitial fictional bits that simply support the rest of the text. A reader doesn’t walk away from them thinking that they’re strict representations of the past. They are, instead, a little colorful complement to the text to give it a lighter bouncier feel.I recently conducted a Salon in my library on children’s nonfiction picture book illustration and historical accuracy. During the course of the talk we discussed Vincent Kirsch’s work on “Gingerbread for Liberty” and the times when a bouncier, more light-hearted feel to the illustrations best fit the text. In “Tricky Vic” Pizzoli isn’t going for a meticulous reconstruction of past events in his art. He’s going for something with a historical feel, but with fun built in as well. The design elements are what really step things up a notch. I also loved the factual sidebars that complemented the text but never dominate. As kids read they encounter sections talking about Prohibition, The Tower’s Critics (the folks who hated it from the get-go, that is), the Hotel de Crillon, Counterfeiting, and Alcatraz. The end result is as dynamic as it is informative.I wonder vaguely if this book will receive any challenges from concerned parents living in the mistaken belief that Pizzoli has penned a How To manual for little budding criminals. As I mentioned before, the line between celebrating your biographical picture book subject and simply reporting on their life is thin. The beauty of “Tricky Vic”, I think, is that his life is just as wild and weird as any fictional character. There is value in showing kids the fools of the past. I don’t think anyone will walk away from this thinking Vic had it all figured out, but I do think a fair number of them might want to follow-up on Pizzoli’s Selected Sources for a little independent reading of their own. And if this book encourages just one kid to rethink their attitude towards nonfiction, then this title has earned its place in the world. The gorgeous art and great writing are just gravy. For one. For all. Un-forgettable.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. This is the best book ever this week By Matthew C. Winner And finally is The Impossibly True Story of Tricky Vic, the Man who Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli. This is the best book ever this week. The design work on here, too. Greg is a screen print designer, if I'm saying that right. And his news story here, a picture book, a nonfiction story, about a con artist... I don't think you can handle the material any better. He's done such a wonderful job of bringing history to life and also saying about how this is bad guy, who swindled people out of lots and lots of the money and even tricked Al Capone, yes, indeed, he sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice, in fact, to scrap metalists at a time when they were going to tear down the Eiffel Tower. It's just pulled off so well here. I love that the art feels like Rocky and Bullwinkle. It feels classic like that. I love the color scheme on here. It's all kind of gray, muted tones. And I love the content because he tells the story so well, Greg narrates the story so well, but also has these great sidebars and other historical information about Alcatraz and about other buildings along the way. And, I don't know, it's just pulled off in a way that I feel like, "Here is a picture book that people will be reading aloud to kids in elementary school or middle or high school. This is going to be a book that really stands up for an outstanding example of nonfiction and he's got such a gripping story, that it's wonderful. When you pick up a copy of his book, make sure that you lift up the flap as well, the jacket. Because there's some hidden art there that I think you'll really enjoy. And that is why I'm calling The Impossibly True Story of Tricky Vic, the Man who Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli the best book ever this week. Way to go!This review appears on an episode of the “Best Book Ever [this week]” segment of the Let’s Get Busy podcast. Check out the original post here: http://lgbpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-best-book-ever-this-week-march-1.html
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Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, by Greg Pizzoli
