The Grand Delusions of “Marty Supreme”

One of the great animating forces in the American psyche is self-delusion. Maybe it’s something we pick up because others wear it well, like slang or fashion; maybe it’s an adaptation that emerged to handle cognitive dissonance, to reconcile the American subject’s promise of liberty with their immediate experience of lack. Our scammer tales are as rich and delicious as folklore, populated with as many stock characters: cult leaders, con men, pyramid schemers, reality-TV stars, hustlers, grifters, Anna Delveys, and Bernie Madoffs. Perhaps we care about these figures out of reverence for the golden few who are vindicated—those who at first seem delusional, then bend reality to conform to their self-image.