This is a highly idiosyncratic list of con artists in literature, many of whom would be entirely comfortable in the magical world of MLM. I welcome suggestions.
Kenney, James, Raising the Wind: A Farce (London, 1805), available at https://archive.org/details/raisingwindfarce00kenn/page/n3/mode/1up Very popular for much of the 19th century, the main character is the play is a swindler named Jeremy Diddler. It was the origin of the term “diddling” as a synonym for swindling, and inspired an essay by Edgar Allan Poe (q.v.).
Lewis, Sinclair, Elmer Gantry (New York, 1927). A novel that exposes the religion racket, or what Arthur Leff (q.v.) would call the “Godcon.” In the course of his career, Elmer Gantry participates in several versions of the Godcon, suffers many reversals but somehow always manages to bounce back (much like certain MLM promoters).
Mann, Thomas, Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man (the Early Years) (transl. D. Lindley) (New York, 1955). The story of a consummate con-man, learning his trade. Sadly, Mann died before completing his novel, so the book ends with his hero at the height of his powers, embarking on a new scam. From hints at the beginning we know that he will spend some time in prison, and will be in a condition of “complete retirement” by the age of 40.
Melville, Herman, The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (New York, 1857). Setting sail on April Fool’s day, the passengers on the steamboat Fidèle seem to include a wide variety of con men – or is it just one con man in a variety of disguises? This book can be a tough slog, but rewarding.
Poe, Edgar Allan, Raising the Wind or Diddling Considered as One of the Exact Sciences (Philadephia Saturday Courier, October 14, 1843), available at https://www.eapoe.org/works/tales/diddlnga.htm Inspired by the main character in the play by James Kenney (q.v.), in this essay Poe sardonically describes the character of the “diddler” (the term “confidence man” had not yet been invented) and provides examples of various cons.
Trollope, Anthony, The Way We Live Now(1875). Every character in this doorstop of a novel has a twisted relationship with money; getting it, inheriting it, failing to inherit it, having it, losing it, gambling with it, spending it, marrying it and obsessing over it. At the center of it is Augustus Melmotte, one of the great con-artists in literature, a 19th Century Bernie Madoff. He is a stock manipulator and real estate speculator who is both honored and reviled by the upper class he aspires to join.
Twain, Mark, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Huckleberry Finn and Jim encounter the Duke and Dauphin while rafting down the Mississippi and get to observe a pair of con men at the height of their game.
Wells, H. G., Tono-Bungay (New York, 1909). Wells portrays a con man, Teddy Ponderevo, selling snake oil and financial scams, to satirize the “wasting aimless fever of trade and money-making” in the England of his day.
White, E. B., The Key of Life, collected in Quo Vadimus – Or The Case For the Bicycle (New York, 1939). In this essay White reports on his attending a free self-improvement lecture, the main point of which seems to be that one should attend the paid version. One of the earliest descriptions of what has blossomed into the motivational seminar industry, which has a symbiotic relationship with MLM.
Zhang Yingyu, The Book of Swindles (trans. Christopher Rea and Bruce Rusk) (New York 2017). An obscure 17th Century Chinese writer collected these tales to illustrate a wide variety of swindles. The con artist is common to all cultures and times.