I love magic, but not circus clowns. Jugglers like Penn Gillette and intellectual yet physical comics like Bill Irwin fascinate me. And then there's Houdini...
I've always been intrigued by Harry Houdini and thought this would be a great opportunity to finally learn more about him, but this book was just not what I was expecting – I wanted to read a well-researched and somewhat serious biography, but this was a disjointed, and often fawning sort of tribute. I didn't find the insight into Houdini's life or why he became such a phenomenon to be adequately explored.
I was game though, and gave it my attention, as there were some interesting tidbits. It all fell apart however, when the author suddenly turned to contemporary magician David Copperfield and examined him and his career. Eventually the narrative returned to Houdini, but all in all, it was a very odd book that could have been saved (maybe) by a good editor.
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