Written by the master magician himself, this fascinating work reveals the secrets behind how Houdini escaped numerous death-defying stunts and exposed a variety of fake spiritualists. He also gives instructions for 44 eye-catching stage tricks, as well as other fascinating material. 155 illustrations.
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... that readers not be deceived by the title of this book. This book was not written by Houdini. It was written by other writers, and yet it contains articles that were penned by the man himself.
There's sometimes a jarring lack of continuity between the chapters because of this, and there are sections that seem only peripherally related to Houdini: sections about how various magic tricks are done. These sections were not written by Houdini himself, in his "voice" describing how he accomplished thus and so escape on a particular day (although there are a couple of examples of that in these pages). These long sections were merely the editors of the book describing how magicians of Houdini's time did various stock tricks. This knowledge in itself is invaluable and quite enjoyable, but it wanders from discussing Houdini.
I was looking for a direct view into the man and his thoughts on his art ... what I got was only periodic windows into that territory, stitched together with a couple of chapters that - honestly - felt like filler material meant to lengthen the book.
If you buy this book, you will enjoy it. You will gain valuable information about Houdini. But you won't feel his spirit in the pages as much as the title would lead you to believe.
It is commonly said that you should never read a book on magic tricks unless you are willing to learn a trick and show it to your friends and not tell the secret. Disclaimers aside, this book has material useful for beginners, and for those who wish to make complex apparatus and only a few of the tricks might pose a risk to your life. The material on fraud commit by mediums is very interesting. It can further be said that Houdini was a very good writer.
By A Customer
This book is simply fantastic. It contains a large amount of Houdini's writings from articles, books, etc. It contains Houdini's famous "Margery the Medium" pamplet where he exposes her false methods, explains in Houdini's words how he escapes from a straitjacket, and also tells about an illusion that Houdini was thinking about performing, but never did. A wonderful book with many pictures and illustrations.
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