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Who was Dr. Charlotte Bach?
His names were weird enough—Baron Hajdu, Carl Rodgers, Mr. Carl, Michael Karoly. And his jobs—hypnotherapist, businessman, rentier, journalist, and sex worker. But he was always careful to cover his tracks, so nobody suspected a thing when in 1971 a curious new figure appeared on the London academic scene. Named Charlotte Bach, she was a broad-shouldered mammoth of a woman, with a deep voice, and a heavy Central European accent, and she had a new theory of sex and evolution which was soon being heralded as one of the greatest intellectual advances of the 20th century.
The Irresistible Con is the gloriously bizarre story of a conman extraordinaire, and one of Francis Wheen's funniest pieces of writing yet.
Nonfiction biography with photos.
The Irresistible Con is the gloriously bizarre story of a conman extraordinaire, and one of Francis Wheen's funniest pieces of writing yet.
Nonfiction biography with photos.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 7, 2019
Where to start?! The book, published in 2004, is about a conman named Karoly Hajdu, born in 1920 in Kispest, a town near Budapest. He lives the life of an impostor, taking a new name, occupation, etc. when it suited his needs. He was also a cross-dresser.
Eventually he/she settles on a name, and occupation ... Dr. Charlotte Bach, a supposed former lecturer at Budapest's illustrious Eötvös Loránd University. He/she came up with an alternative theory of evolution, known as 'Human Ethology'. He/she was even invited to speak at Darwin College, Cambridge, and Sussex University. He/she lived as Dr. Bach until his/her death in 1981. Only then, due to an autopsy, was it revealed to the world that Dr. Bach had, in fact, been an anatomical male.
Not sure if this is the same book, Who was Dr. Charlotte Bach?, published in 2002, but it sure looks like it might be.
3 Stars = I liked the book.
Eventually he/she settles on a name, and occupation ... Dr. Charlotte Bach, a supposed former lecturer at Budapest's illustrious Eötvös Loránd University. He/she came up with an alternative theory of evolution, known as 'Human Ethology'. He/she was even invited to speak at Darwin College, Cambridge, and Sussex University. He/she lived as Dr. Bach until his/her death in 1981. Only then, due to an autopsy, was it revealed to the world that Dr. Bach had, in fact, been an anatomical male.
Not sure if this is the same book, Who was Dr. Charlotte Bach?, published in 2002, but it sure looks like it might be.
3 Stars = I liked the book.
March 30, 2024
(this 2022 review has been corrected for grammatical and spelling errors).
I loved this book but I don't know if anyone would read it, or get any great benefit or real amusement from it, if they didn't know something of the bizarre person who was Dr. Charlotte Bach (which is why I am writing this review in conjunction Colin Wilson's 'The Misfits' the only book I know about Charlotte Bach as sexual theorist and suggest you read that review as well).
I don't think you could have a fraudster like him/her anymore - in either his male of female personas she was such a 1970's fraudster - down to her bogus Hungarian title and academic qualifications (oh what potential fraudsters lost when the iron curtain fell and all those archives became available) obsession with titled people and obvious attempts to create theories based on her own neurosis and hang-ups that would reflect, and justify, them by making them the basis of world changing movements in science and anthropology, etc.
Apparently there are still some people out there who take Dr. Bach seriously - well if they do they need to read this so they at least they know, if not the truth, then at least how little connection to truth Dr. Bach had.
I loved this book but I don't know if anyone would read it, or get any great benefit or real amusement from it, if they didn't know something of the bizarre person who was Dr. Charlotte Bach (which is why I am writing this review in conjunction Colin Wilson's 'The Misfits' the only book I know about Charlotte Bach as sexual theorist and suggest you read that review as well).
I don't think you could have a fraudster like him/her anymore - in either his male of female personas she was such a 1970's fraudster - down to her bogus Hungarian title and academic qualifications (oh what potential fraudsters lost when the iron curtain fell and all those archives became available) obsession with titled people and obvious attempts to create theories based on her own neurosis and hang-ups that would reflect, and justify, them by making them the basis of world changing movements in science and anthropology, etc.
Apparently there are still some people out there who take Dr. Bach seriously - well if they do they need to read this so they at least they know, if not the truth, then at least how little connection to truth Dr. Bach had.
May 8, 2017
In the early 1970s Dr. Charlotte Bach convinced a few learned Londoners that she had developed a theory of evolution as revolutionary as that of Darwin.
As Francis Wheen entertainingly explains, Charlotte Bach was actually a Hungarian man called Karoly Hajdu (1920–81).
Prior to his fleeting fame as Charlotte, he was an estate agent and a fundraiser who kept the funds who, under a variety of invented names and qualifications, also practiced sex therapy and hypnotism amidst a variety of other career choices.
Before assuming the persona of Dr. Charlotte Bach, Hajdu, once of Budapest, was an autodidact who sometimes enjoyed cross dressing and acting as a woman. In earlier incarnations he passed himself off as a baron and count. He also lied about being a university lecturer and an army officer.
This short book never flags and is as strange as any novel.
As Francis Wheen entertainingly explains, Charlotte Bach was actually a Hungarian man called Karoly Hajdu (1920–81).
Prior to his fleeting fame as Charlotte, he was an estate agent and a fundraiser who kept the funds who, under a variety of invented names and qualifications, also practiced sex therapy and hypnotism amidst a variety of other career choices.
Before assuming the persona of Dr. Charlotte Bach, Hajdu, once of Budapest, was an autodidact who sometimes enjoyed cross dressing and acting as a woman. In earlier incarnations he passed himself off as a baron and count. He also lied about being a university lecturer and an army officer.
This short book never flags and is as strange as any novel.
April 27, 2023
[Short Books] (2002). HB/DJ. 1/1. 144 Pages. Purchased from Baham Books.
A brief summary of Karoly Hajdu’s amazing and peculiar life (1920–1981) (AKA Charlotte Bach).
Self declared Nobel laureate-in-waiting, lecturer, professor, author, baron, counsellor, therapist, murderer, convict, military hero, man, woman, fraudster, erotomane, thief, hypnotist, bankrupt, impostor, agony aunt, dominatrix, fantasist… I could go on… and who knows?
Enthralling!
A brief summary of Karoly Hajdu’s amazing and peculiar life (1920–1981) (AKA Charlotte Bach).
Self declared Nobel laureate-in-waiting, lecturer, professor, author, baron, counsellor, therapist, murderer, convict, military hero, man, woman, fraudster, erotomane, thief, hypnotist, bankrupt, impostor, agony aunt, dominatrix, fantasist… I could go on… and who knows?
Enthralling!
February 14, 2015
A very odd book about a very odd person. Yes, he's a transvestite who eventually lives as a woman full time, fooling many people into genuinely believing he is a she. But that's not why Charlotte is odd. It's everything else. Her crazy theories of sexual deviance being the core of evolution, for example, make her an oddball. It's so obvious her theories are little more than justification for her own yearnings. Plus that she had so many people convinced there was something to these theories is astounding.
Beyond the sex theories, there's the weird con man arrogance that drives Charlotte's whole life. Everyone owes her everything. She writes some breathtakingly manipulative letters to just about everyone rich and famous, all in a quest to gain her own fame and fortune. Any day now she will be awarded the nobel prize for being the woman who disproves Freud's theories. She just tells everyone she has a PhD, she's a Baron (when she was a he), etc. The utter shamelessness of it is surprisingly endearing.
For example, from the book:
"'It would be tragicomical beyond belief,' Charlotte had written in 1969, when applying to the Social Science Research Council for funds, 'if I were compelled to do a stint at prostitution, which is the only way to leave myself time to do my writing.'"
Who on earth says something like that?
Alas, the book is so short and so scant in details, in some places. I never really got a grasp of what her theories actually are, or just how convoluted and impossible to understand they are. And there are other missed opportunities. For example, there is a brief passage about a stage hypnotist scandal in Britain in 1948. Having never heard of such a thing, I did some research. Evidently a woman was brought on stage at a hypnosis show, and made to cry like a baby. After the show, for the next 18 months, she continued to cry regularly. She decided it was the hypnotist that did this to her, and she sued -- successfully! To this day, the UK has laws on the books about stage hypnosis.
This blew my mind, and it seemed bizarre that the book alludes to it, but never provides any details. Why did they just skim past the facts of the case? Presumably because this book is supposed to be short. Too bad. There feels like there are a lot more details in this tale.
Which is another way of saying that this short little book is good fun, and left me wanting more. The photographs are great, and some of the details are hilarious and sad. Well worth reading if you enjoy the lives of strange people.
Beyond the sex theories, there's the weird con man arrogance that drives Charlotte's whole life. Everyone owes her everything. She writes some breathtakingly manipulative letters to just about everyone rich and famous, all in a quest to gain her own fame and fortune. Any day now she will be awarded the nobel prize for being the woman who disproves Freud's theories. She just tells everyone she has a PhD, she's a Baron (when she was a he), etc. The utter shamelessness of it is surprisingly endearing.
For example, from the book:
"'It would be tragicomical beyond belief,' Charlotte had written in 1969, when applying to the Social Science Research Council for funds, 'if I were compelled to do a stint at prostitution, which is the only way to leave myself time to do my writing.'"
Who on earth says something like that?
Alas, the book is so short and so scant in details, in some places. I never really got a grasp of what her theories actually are, or just how convoluted and impossible to understand they are. And there are other missed opportunities. For example, there is a brief passage about a stage hypnotist scandal in Britain in 1948. Having never heard of such a thing, I did some research. Evidently a woman was brought on stage at a hypnosis show, and made to cry like a baby. After the show, for the next 18 months, she continued to cry regularly. She decided it was the hypnotist that did this to her, and she sued -- successfully! To this day, the UK has laws on the books about stage hypnosis.
This blew my mind, and it seemed bizarre that the book alludes to it, but never provides any details. Why did they just skim past the facts of the case? Presumably because this book is supposed to be short. Too bad. There feels like there are a lot more details in this tale.
Which is another way of saying that this short little book is good fun, and left me wanting more. The photographs are great, and some of the details are hilarious and sad. Well worth reading if you enjoy the lives of strange people.
June 1, 2017
Now and then one must dip into the bizarre. For instance, in 2132 people will read about the Trump Presidency and marvel with incredulity---whether one is with hm or not one must admit it is an incredible saga unfolding.
Baron Hajdu, an 'adopted' name, progressed through many others, ending as Dr. Charlotte Bach, who claimed to have a proven theory of evolution and almost everything else. Along the way, he and she were a dominatrix, a Baron, a hypnotherapist, novelist, married woman, jail bird (mostly for nonpayment of rent, etc.) and social butterfly among British blue blood.
The book is poorly written, although Mr. Wheen does have a knack for a certain type of humor, I admit, even if my knees are not reddened. The story of Karoly Hajdu may be a better fit for a Wikipedia entry than a book, but I had the book, and there you are.
Baron Hajdu, an 'adopted' name, progressed through many others, ending as Dr. Charlotte Bach, who claimed to have a proven theory of evolution and almost everything else. Along the way, he and she were a dominatrix, a Baron, a hypnotherapist, novelist, married woman, jail bird (mostly for nonpayment of rent, etc.) and social butterfly among British blue blood.
The book is poorly written, although Mr. Wheen does have a knack for a certain type of humor, I admit, even if my knees are not reddened. The story of Karoly Hajdu may be a better fit for a Wikipedia entry than a book, but I had the book, and there you are.
April 10, 2020
The Wheen’s book focuses on the extraordinary life of the controversial Charlotte Bach/ Michael Karoly/ Karoly Hajdu/ Baron Carl Hajdu.
The destiny of the protagonist is at least interesting and provoking. Arrived in the UK as a refugee after the WWII, Karoly Hajdu introduced himself as Baron Carl Hajdu. Not gaining the anticipated appreciation, Karoly becomes a society hypnotherapist Michael Karoly, who finally will adopt the role of Charlotte Bach, a lecturer, evolutionary theorist and dominatrix. These are the main milestone of the hero/ine’s life, but what happens in all this time (from early ’50 to late ’70) is fascinating. Rebel and alone, but with a brilliant mind and a great capacity of adaption, Baron Carl/Michael/Charlotte manages to enjoy, for short periods, their fantasies as bourgeois, and to keep themselves as a heard and controversial voice among academics, LGBT communities and not only.
Francis Wheen does a remarkable job presenting the protagonist in a non-judgmental way. Moreover, the author highlights the intelligence, talent, capacity of adaptation of the hero/ine. But he moderately catches the struggles, traumas, and revolts against the society that were manifested by the book’s character. That’s why I believe 4* is the fair rating.
The destiny of the protagonist is at least interesting and provoking. Arrived in the UK as a refugee after the WWII, Karoly Hajdu introduced himself as Baron Carl Hajdu. Not gaining the anticipated appreciation, Karoly becomes a society hypnotherapist Michael Karoly, who finally will adopt the role of Charlotte Bach, a lecturer, evolutionary theorist and dominatrix. These are the main milestone of the hero/ine’s life, but what happens in all this time (from early ’50 to late ’70) is fascinating. Rebel and alone, but with a brilliant mind and a great capacity of adaption, Baron Carl/Michael/Charlotte manages to enjoy, for short periods, their fantasies as bourgeois, and to keep themselves as a heard and controversial voice among academics, LGBT communities and not only.
Francis Wheen does a remarkable job presenting the protagonist in a non-judgmental way. Moreover, the author highlights the intelligence, talent, capacity of adaptation of the hero/ine. But he moderately catches the struggles, traumas, and revolts against the society that were manifested by the book’s character. That’s why I believe 4* is the fair rating.
August 24, 2016
I found this vaguely dissatisfying, because (1) Francis Wheen is an excellent writer, with very sound analytical skills, but never quite seems to find the right length against the oddness of Charlotte Bach, and (2) comes across at times as extremely peevish and...well, not unsympathetic (he has no obligation to feel sympathetic to his subjects, after all), but perhaps uninterested in Bach. Or, to be more precise, uninterested in the 'why' aspect of Charlotte Bach's quite surprising journey in migration and transvestism.
Neither a hard nor bad read, but not one that I can comfortably recommend, certainly not anyone unfamiliar with Wheen's vast corpus of journalism and writing ('Strange Days Indeed' is a good starting point, followed by his biography of Tom Drieberg, and the collection of his Granuiad columns, 'Hoo Ha's and Passing Frenzies'.)
Neither a hard nor bad read, but not one that I can comfortably recommend, certainly not anyone unfamiliar with Wheen's vast corpus of journalism and writing ('Strange Days Indeed' is a good starting point, followed by his biography of Tom Drieberg, and the collection of his Granuiad columns, 'Hoo Ha's and Passing Frenzies'.)
August 23, 2013
This was a fascinating read. What a great character. I mean he/she was completely obnoxious and really not that successful a conperson but I couldn't leave it alone.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews