for protecting one's money from thieves on a steamer: a traveler's lock, a money belt. His sales technique involves showing the uselessness of the object just purchased to sell the next object. All his customers receive a bonus of a "Counterfeit Detector". Adaptations The novel was turned into an opera by George Rochberg; it was premiered by the Santa Fe Opera in 1982, but was not held to be a success. The 2008 movie The Brothers Bloom, starring Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz, borrows some of the plot and makes numerous references to the book: One of the characters is named Melville, the steamer ship is named Fidèle, and the initial mark refers to these coincidences. References Sources Milder, Robert. (1988). "Herman Melville." Columbia Literary History of the United States. Gen. Ed. Emory Elliott. New York: Columbia University Press. External links 1954 Hendricks House Confidence-Man, online edition edited by Elizabeth S. Foster Critical reaction to and a publishing history of The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade from The Life and Works of Herman Melville Online text of the novel from the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library 1857 American novels Novels by Herman Melville April Fools' Day Novels adapted into operas American satirical novels American philosophical novels