The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos

by Mark Chiusano

From the dogged Long Island reporter who has been on his trail since 2019, the bizarre, page-turning, and frankly hysterical story of America’s most outrageous grifter—US Representative George Santos.

America has grown used to larger-than-life politicians: Teflon Don, AOC, MTG, Dark Brandon, and all the rest have injected DC politics with an unmistakable edge of celebrity flair and tabloid intrigue. Yet in 2022, a new player on the national scene outshone them all. George Anthony Devolder Santos, and his revolving door of pseudonyms, shed glaring new light on how far we’d all let our politics slide as his claimed resume was shred to bits in the wake of a longshot run to office from New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

From Wall Street gigs to an amateur volleyball career, from embellished claims of Jewish heritage to a fabricated 9/11 story involving his mother’s death, Santos’s legend continued to grow as his web of lies evaporated in real time. And the only thing wilder than this charlatan embedding himself in the warm, consequence-evading arms of our nation’s capital was the Queens con artist’s refusal to bow his head in shame. The Santos show continues, as he joins the ranks of high-wattage fakers like Anna Delvey and Elizabeth Holmes.

Newsday alum and PEN/Hemingway honoree Mark Chiusano tells the full (well, as full as can be given the subject) story of Santos here for the first time. From humble years spent in Brazil, to glamorous nights on the west side of Manhattan, to the stunning small-time scams employed to ease his slippery climb up the American society ladder, The Fabulist tells a story you’ll have to read for yourself to believe…and even then, it’s George Santos, so who’s to say for sure.

Combining the very best of boots-on-the-ground journalism, dishy backroom dealings, and glittery details about Gold Coast mansions and bodice-baring drag shows that’d feel just as at home in your next summer beach read, The Fabulist is truly stranger than fiction.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Biography, Crime, Audiobook, True Crime, LGBT

320 pages, Hardcover

Published November 28, 2023

About the author

Mark Chiusano started covering George Santos in 2019 as a columnist and editorial writer at Newsday. His story collection Marine Park received a PEN/Hemingway Award honorable mention in 2015. His writing has appeared in places like The Atlantic, Time, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, The Drift, and Guernica, and he teaches at CUNY City Tech. He lives in his native Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Bonnie G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Hilarious and tragic at the same time. I have followed Santos coverage in the New York Times, and I knew the basics of a lot of Santos's cons, but this goes deeper. The book also looks at Nassau County politics. Nassau County (where I briefly lived, for 9 months I think), is a hodgepodge of Republicans. The power rests with the overprivileged racist Republicans in places like Manhasset and Great Neck (whom the author notes still bear the hallmarks of East Egg and West Egg that Fitzgerald wrote about.) Those folks celebrate any opportunity to show they are not racists/homophobes (so long as they don't actually have to stop being racist homophobes.) Praise be when they find a gay Brazillian man with a long history of drag performance who yells plenty loud about how Drag Story Hour is an abomination and suggests that we should take away the citizenship of the children of undocumented immigrants. (They do not know that we can't, but why bother with the Constitution.) The county also houses the very middle-class denizens of places like Levittown and Massapequa who have been watching the aforementioned people stockpile assets and so they strive to be them. They are similarly miffed that things like equity and fairness are ruining America. Midwesterners, Southerners, and rugged square states residents with the same disregard for truth or integrity and love for conspiracy theories are covered by centrist and left-leaning news organs, but the people who brought us George Santos stay in the shadows. This is valuable info and the book is absolutely worth the read for anyone who cares about America.

One note: I listened to the audiobook for this, and the reader was mostly fine, but he mispronounced every Jewish word other than mishegoss, which he got right. He also mispronounced the name of the county for the first 70% of the book, after which I guess someone told him how to pronounce it, but they did not fix the many many times he pronounced Nassau as NuhSOW. It was grating.

[Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

American politics is so screwed and it all boils down to grifters profiting off of the age of misinformation

[Sam Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOLY FIRGGIN FRIG, George Santos sucks... Well like I knew that, but I feel like I didn't know HOW much he sucked, and the depth of which his actions has hurt and burned so many people along the way. I am so thankful to Simon Audio, Atria/One Signal Publishers, and Mark Chiusano for granting me advanced audio and physical access to this scandalous reveal, which is out now for those yearning to expand their knowledge on just how corrupt the US government is, and how stupid our systems are for letting such a crook into office, for so long, with little to no fact-checking, up until now.

[Annaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched account of the George Santos debacle that is ultimately hampered by the fact that the debacle is not done. While there is more exploration of Santos’ past than there is in the average expository article, the nature of publishing schedules means that it covers the lead up to and Santos’ short political career but ends before the release of the House Ethics Committee’s report and his expulsion from congress (and, of course, his looming trial), which are, in my opinion, some of the best bits.

Read this if you’re interested in learning more about Santos’ pre-politics career, but if you’re mostly interested in his fall from grace, the succession of NYT articles about it will probably serve you better.

[TJL · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m done, don’t need to read anymore, I’m out, George Santos is a tool, a grifter, a pathological liar, and generally a pathetic human being overall. But I’m so tired and I have not the patience for the author’s snide jabs at the Republicans.

And before anyone goes off on me, I’m not Republican or a Democrat.

But I’m just… so fucking done with nonfiction where authors drop their unsolicited political opinions into their works. Done. John Carreyrou managed to talk about Elizabeth Holmes and her Democratic allies (and boy fucking howdy did she have some big names singing her praises) without being a snide jerk about the Democrats overall. He kept his political opinions to himself and reported the facts.

I don’t think I’m being unreasonable to expect that same standard of other authors and reporters. Tell me about what THEY did and leave your own political posturing out of it. I don’t care about your opinion on Republican policy- I came here to read the FACTS about George Santos and his scumbag scamming.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely well-reported accounting of a grifter's rise to power that takes you on a journey from a call center in Queens to a drag club in Brazil to the Capitol in DC. This book will make you laugh but it'll also make you consider how the world we live in allows a man like this to gain such influence, and whether his story is merely the first. This is an America of the moment story told with sharp wit and a keen eye for detail that makes you feel as though you're reading narrative fiction. Which makes sense, for a book about a man whose life story was an invented fiction.

[Meghan Schuyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

no because when we got to the puppy stealing,,this man may as well be a disney villain with the ridiculousness and brazeness of some of his schemes and cons. his audacity knows no bounds and his heinousness extends beyond my wildest imagination.

it's incredible and concerning that santos was (in his own words) "a whole congressman up until last friday." so glad he has been bootsed 👢 from the house.

cheers to mark chiusano for comprehensively and engagingly unearthing and reporting santos's rise and stumble (we've yet to see if it's a proper fall imo, i have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him)

"from rise to congressman, to fallen diva, as they all say" 💫💃

source:

george santos cameo sizzle reel pic.twitter.com/oSE5TabPda

— 🔆sophie.🌻 (@PeppermintFlyBy) December 6, 2023

[Danielle Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book to read on the plane from LAX to AKL. I read two pages before lights out and then it took me over a month to pick it up again (thanks to family holidays, and summer school university teaching). Page 70 to finish all was in a space of a few hours. I feel that one day I will write something on this man. A fascinating and terrifyingly brash individual. (Please do not quote me on this).

[allie leeds · Rating 3 out of 5]

@lexigrecs kindly gifted me this banger of a book. George santos is a freak! American politics are a joke!

[eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

crazy !

[Matthew DaSilva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read about a truly wild character in American politics and all the ridiculous things he did en route to being a literal member of Congress, and the moment that created him. Incredible stories about Santos’ former hustles, and colorful local detail about the Long Island political scene that enabled him.

[Einzige · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has done an impressive job unpicking the fact from fiction in George Santo’s life, though the author does engage in over the top and explicit padding to the point where you get the impression that he would rather be writing about Brazilian drag history than Santos. Still until the numerous trials Santos is involved in are resolved this will be the best overall source on his life.

As for the broader message of this book the good news is that fortunately, luck played an out sized
role in Santos's electoral success rather than him being a Machiavellian mastermind:

-He had managed to avoid criminal consequences for the numerous frauds and thefts which the Author documents (even down to scamming Amish people out of pedigree dogs)
-His formally unwinnable congressional district, unexpectedly became contestable following a redrawing of electoral boundaries and the retirement of a popular incumbent
-Because the seat was formally so unwinnable by Republicans the vetting process within the party was minimal as was the oversight of his campaign and spending habits
-Similarly the Media and Democrats likewise did not take Santos seriously until it was too late
-The timing of the election meant he was able to tap into the general populism invigorated by the Covid and 2020 presidential election response

The not so good news is that the full lessons from this incident wont be acted on and that the treatment by the media of Santos as a clown minimises the harm and damage he has actually caused.

[Sarah Kalis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was obviously published before George Santos was expelled from Congress, but not before he inevitably goes to prison or on Dancing with the Stars. Maybe it’ll be both. For now, Santos is in his Cameo era, doing his best to stay in the spotlight and capitalize on his lack of shame.

The book was incredibly well-researched and the author skillfully laid out Santos’ many lies, deceits, and scams. He also successfully intertwined this Santos grifting experience with prescient themes about America’s current political and social realities. If Trump can con his way to power, Santos could do the same. Now that Santos did it, are we fucked? TBD. In the interim, stop lining this dude’s pockets and buying his Cameos. He’s a sociopathic asshole. He stole puppies from the Amish and money from a homeless Veteran (while indirectly killing said Veteran’s dog). Seriously, fuck this guy.

Thanks to Goodreads and the publisher for the free copy!

[Ana Camastro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit I'm a fan of George Santos. I agree absolutely nothing with him politically but I do appreciate how he represents what an absolute farce United States politics are. That he got away with so much and got so far says so much about how politics function in this country. Ultimately, Mark Chiusano does well with what he has to work with. Digging through the overabundance of information and attempting a coherent narrative does not seem like an easy feat. And I appreciate his honesty about his sources. I also appreciated the way he explained NY politics in a way an outsider could understand. A lot of things make more sense to me now. It's a good book, that I wish had been written later to include the most updated events in the saga. Give us a sequel, Chiusano!

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reporting and a well structured account of George Santos’s behavior throughout his life, not just his brief stint in the public eye. I wish the author had spent a little more time analyzing why this happened, how it could happen again, and what needs to be done to prevent people like Santos being elected. But maybe that’s asking too much of a journalist considering how complicit the media is these day.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fascinating. This was a story I felt like I already knew well, but Chiusano was able to provide so much detail and figure out a cohesive narrative. I learned a lot and had a good time while reading. I’m also super impressed with Chiusano’s research and reporting, and I can tell that a ton of work went into this book. Definitely recommend this book to anyone who found the Santos story interesting (and seriously, who didn’t?).

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fabulist
Mark Chiusano

WELL SHIT!!!! I always thought that someone vetted these f'ers. But I guess that shows what all I know about getting elected to steal as much money and benefits from the American public. I have always worked for the government and I assure you that they vetted me before I got my tiny paycheck... Where is the limitations on public office?

To be honest, the older I get the more I just hate them all. In a country like this, the people that hold our public offices are the best we have???? Crap where is the boat to another country?

Can we all say TERM LIMITATIONS? I hate that someone gets elected and sits on their butt thinking they are representing me and what I need (middle class and the mid to bottom at that)... I need cheaper food, less expensive gas, and a stable power grid. Work on that..

Great job on the book and the investigation. Was super interesting. George Santos, what a jerk!

5 stars

Happy Reading!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

No but like George Santos actually wants to be Jen Shah soooooo bad. Like, I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of time before we will get confirmation that the two of them are pals.

This was brilliantly reported, and so well written! I’m a firm believer in not giving attention to lying sociopaths, buuuuut, once in a while you just need to know all the sordid details, and this book definitely delivered on those.

[annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

an engaging and entertaining look at george santos's life and lies

[Zach Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really all you can say at the end is… “wow, that’s nuts”

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

“there’s no getting right with truth when truth doesn’t exist in your own mind.”

diva down💜

[maya]

george santos is certainly deranged although i’m afraid some of these criticisms are a little petty & below the belt . like he’s a threat to democracy AND he has no friends AND his sweatervest is ill-fitting AND his lip filler sucks? damn!

[Finola Hanlon]

this man is insane

[Dennis Henn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The durability of lies and the appeal of grifters fascinates and frightens me. We are a society unable to discern truth and we’re all too ready to smile and forgive those who dupe us.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Hear me out: George Santos has so much in common with the figure of Jay Gatsby, and Chiusano does an excellent job of drawing out those parallels in a way that’s both wildly entertaining and genuinely troubling. The book captures the sheer absurdity and surreal nature of Santos's persona while also underscoring how deeply concerning both the man himself and the political system that enabled him really are.

Obviously, attempting to write a biography of someone like Santos requires wading through a veritable swamp of lies, half-truths, and outright fabrications. I think Chiusano handles this challenge admirably—he’s careful to delineate fact from speculation, sticking to what he can verify while making it clear when he’s extrapolating or filling in gaps. It’s a tightrope walk, but he strikes a careful balance.

What I particularly appreciated was how Chiusano approaches Santos with a mix of compassion and critique. He tries to understand the man without excusing him, maintaining a sharp, critical lens without veering into total vilification or sensationalism. It feels like the right tone for a subject who is as much a product of his environment as he is an architect of his own lies.

That said, I did find myself wishing for a bit more depth when it came to unpacking the broader cultural and political context that allowed Santos to rise to prominence. Chiusano touches on this, particularly in his discussion of how the pandemic affected communities like Long Island—examining, for example, how certain groups became primed for figures like Santos. But I think there was more space to further interrogate why people are so drawn to these self-made myths, these Gatsby-esque characters who appear to straddle both old money glamour and Horatio Alger-style bootstrapping narratives. Why does the political stage so readily invite these types of fabulists and sociopaths? How has the thirst for spectacle and performance hollowed out meaningful governance and left us vulnerable to their antics?

While The Fabulist hints at these questions, I do feel a more thorough exploration could have added even more heft to the book. Still, I found Chiusano’s authorial voice pitch-perfect—engaging, clear-eyed, and sharp without ever feeling cynical. It’s a wild ride of a biography, and one that left me thinking long after I finished it.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Chiusano describes short but eventful life (to date) of George Anthony Devolver Santos. You see him grow from small cons to big ones. His father says he told lies as a child. It is unclear, but his mother may have been a hustler too.

You learn of his childhood in a basement apartment in Queens. He yearns for the things money can buy. He shamelessly scams friends… simple little things like not having cash when the restaurant check arrives to taking cash with the promise to buy something for the friend and never deliver.

You learn of his interlude in Brazil where he opened up to his homosexuality. He was accepted by a community where cross dressing was the norm. His need for money (and not working for it) was met through scams, one where his partner was jailed and his silence on Santos helped Santos escape justice.

Back in the US you see how Santos graduated to larger cons with web sites and go-fund-me” pages. His “Friends of Pets International” embedded several scams: taking donations for himself; buying litters with bum checks; taking a sick or injured pet with the the owner's money with a promise (never kept) to arrange and oversee veterinary services.

Landing a job with Harbor City expanded his reach. It is claimed he made $120K/year in what sounds like selling air (they said it was targeted marketing) or maybe it was a ponzi scheme. Here he was introduced to people with real money and started to consider a political campaign as a vehicle for raising money.

Chiusano’s coverage of Santos’s campaigns is informed by the author’s knowledge of this area and his understanding of national politics. He shows how Santos used (and milked) the lucrative world of campaign contributions.

The last chapter “Epilogue” has interesting projections on the future of Santos.

There are some wordy sections such as the veteran who lost his dog or the campaign-experienced woman who helped him with the paperwork to enable his political scams. There is a good index. I would have liked some photos.

If you are interested in Santos, or the subject of “fabulists” this is a good digest of Santos, his schemes and his (lack of) character.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulist is a liar, especially a person who invents elaborate, dishonest stories. So it seems that this is a good title for Mark Chiusano's book about the lying, hustling, grifting, stealing, and very American legend of George Santos. We all saw the news stories in 2023 about how George Santos, the disgraced former New York Congressman, was eventually expelled from Congress. However, Chiusano's book goes much deeper into his life, his background, and his journey into New York politics.

George Santos is the classic 19th century huckster and snake-oil salesman who will say absolutely anything to get you to buy his product; in this case, his product is him. To say that his relationship with the truth is tenuous or shaky, is a tremendous understatement. It is non-existent. Santos is a shameless shyster of the first order and never met a lie he didn't like. He is the portly prince of prevarication if there ever was one, as the depth of his deception is truly breathtaking. All that said, I wish Chiusano had spent more time discussing what might be wrong with him, mentally. He, no doubt, suffers from multiple psychoses, and I was really curious about this aspect, which doesn't get much space in the book.

For all of Santos' lying, theft, fraud, and double-dealing, you have to hand it to the guy. He managed to pull off a huge con. He duped New York's 3rd Congressional District into swallowing a massive load of malarkey and as they say, buying the Brooklyn Bridge. Now, Santos will join the long line of Congressman who eventually end up in prison. This book is a great telling of an unlikely story, and Chiusano has done a great job in pulling together the research needed for it. Definitely a must read for people interested in American politics.

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

tldr: a colorful and compelling chronicle of a constitutional charlatan’s collapse caused by his own cursory cunningness

in today's political landscape, celebrity appeal and tabloid drama have become the norm. every day, a new politician steps into the spotlight, propelled by the viral power of memes

but in 2023, one figure stood above the rest

since 2019, journalist mark chiusano has been tracking george santos, a volleyball prodigy/wall street insider/catholic jew/jewish catholic/brazilian drag novice who rose to become the representative for ny’s 3rd district

this questionable queen from queens has an obvious penchant for embellishing—the truth, not a dress, that is. his ongoing ethical breaches during his climb to power quickly led to his dramatic expulsion

thanks to chiusano's commitment to covering this chameleon, the fabulist is able to dive deep into the core of santos's crookedness

his writing is both informative and witty, making the tangled mess of santos’s lies surprisingly digestible; i similarly appreciated the way chiusano explained ny politics in a way even this lifelong texan could understand. he also contextualized santos’s scandals, exploring their implications for society, governance, and our current era

however, i would have liked chiusano to dig deeper into the reasons behind this saga, how it could happen again, and what measures might prevent future figures like santos from gaining power

since the fabulist was published just days before santos’s expulsion, the full impact of his downfall remains to be seen. this likely means a fabulous fabulist follow-up from chiusano is on the horizon

[Betsy Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There is a selection bias here - the con artists we remember are often the ones whose stories match their time - but sometimes the time can shape the story too."

"Yarns like this - so colorful, so elaborate - perhaps should have been eyebrow raising for those who heard them. But there is science behind Santos's ability to go undetected, People tend to be biased toward thinking statements they hear are true as opposed to false, a consistent finding in research on the subject. Hypotheses for this truth bias include that it would be too chaotic to go through life always suspicious of everything you're told. We think we'll know when someone's lying to our face, but that's not the case."

"It's what he had prepared to do all his life. It was what he learned from Donald Trump, from America's Teflon culture of second chance. Everyone could have a spin-off, even OJ Simpson, as long as they could be shameless, and keep moving, and stay famous. Never let your Twitter account go gently into that good night. Keep posting."

As I was reading this book and talking about it with other people, one thing that raised my eyebrow is "I know plenty of George Santos's." The difference is none of those people would take it to the level of actually running for Congress! There was no way I was going to skip this book. I'm so fascinated, not only by the character of George Santos, but by the character of all those in his orbit (inside or out) who allowed this phenomenon to occur.

"Anna Delvey walked so he could strut." We're doomed.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked a copy of this hardcover out from my library.

Brief Summary: An examination of the context in which George Santos was able to rise to political grifter and member of the US House of Representatives. Each chapter focuses on a period in Santos' history and the people and places he interacted with at that time. A format that highlights his development as both a person and a grifter.

Thoughts: I picked this book up because I was interested in the investigation of George Santos' past. While Chiusano does provide a great level of context for Santos' life I do think that this book was slightly mismatched. It seemed to be marketed as a biography of George Santos focusing on how the behaviour he is now famous for may have developed over his lifetime before Congress. However, this book focused less on his personal development and more on the people and places that he frequented in his youth. There were some interesting facts about Santos' grifts and the one involving the dog(s) was truly enraging and heartbreaking. Nevertheless, the people who were interviewed by Chiusano appear to dominate the book a bit more in terms of their lives than the central subject. I would say that this is more a cultural commentary on George Santos, rather than a biography, which has value too.

Content Warnings

Graphically described: Bullying, Classism, Grief, Death of a parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderately described: Addiction, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Racism