Whiz Mob

The private vocabulary of professional pickpockets is the way into their world in David W. Maurer's study, which links the technical terms of the trade to how pickpockets actually behave. Like The Big Con, his better-known book, it treats the colorful words of the criminal as evidence about a whole way of life. Maurer stresses that he never worked the racket himself; instead he spent many years interviewing pickpockets. From those conversations he builds a picture of their work, their daily lives, their moral codes and the risks they run. The study speaks to sociologists and linguists as well as general readers drawn to the criminal underworld.

Ryan Holiday included it in his list of 24 books to hone a strategic mind, arguing that pickpockets and con men excel at spotting openings and building plans so seamless that their marks often notice nothing at all.