Houdini
The Elusive American
Published on 12. May 2020
Book
Hardback
232 pages
978-0-300-23079-6 (ISBN)
Description
From the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, an exuberant biography of the world's greatest escape artist
"Will leave [readers] entertained and astonished, and that's a kind of magic of its own."-Jerry Z. Muller, Jewish Review of Books
In 1916, the war in Europe having prevented a tour abroad, Harry Houdini wrote a film treatment for a rollicking motion picture. Though the movie was never made, its title, "The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini: The Justly Celebrated Elusive American," provides a succinct summary of the Master Mystifier's life.
Born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, Houdini grew up an impoverished Jewish immigrant in the Midwest and became world-famous thanks to talent, industry, and ferocious determination. He concealed as a matter of temperament and professional ethics the secrets of his sensational success. Nobody knows how Houdini performed some of his dazzling, death-defying tricks, and nobody knows, finally, why he felt compelled to punish and imprison himself over and over again. Tracking the restless Houdini's wide-ranging exploits, acclaimed biographer Adam Begley tells the story of a mystifying man's astonishing career.
About Jewish Lives:
Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.
In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.
More praise for Jewish Lives:
"Excellent."-New York Times
"Exemplary."-Wall Street Journal
"Distinguished."-New Yorker
"Superb."-The Guardian
"Will leave [readers] entertained and astonished, and that's a kind of magic of its own."-Jerry Z. Muller, Jewish Review of Books
In 1916, the war in Europe having prevented a tour abroad, Harry Houdini wrote a film treatment for a rollicking motion picture. Though the movie was never made, its title, "The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini: The Justly Celebrated Elusive American," provides a succinct summary of the Master Mystifier's life.
Born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, Houdini grew up an impoverished Jewish immigrant in the Midwest and became world-famous thanks to talent, industry, and ferocious determination. He concealed as a matter of temperament and professional ethics the secrets of his sensational success. Nobody knows how Houdini performed some of his dazzling, death-defying tricks, and nobody knows, finally, why he felt compelled to punish and imprison himself over and over again. Tracking the restless Houdini's wide-ranging exploits, acclaimed biographer Adam Begley tells the story of a mystifying man's astonishing career.
About Jewish Lives:
Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.
In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.
More praise for Jewish Lives:
"Excellent."-New York Times
"Exemplary."-Wall Street Journal
"Distinguished."-New Yorker
"Superb."-The Guardian
Reviews / Votes
"Vivid."-David Denby, New Yorker"[This book] examines the secrets of Houdini's success."-Simon Yaffe, Jewish Telegraph
"Much has been written about the magician over the years but this book, part of a Jewish Lives series, delves not just into his tricks and star-studded life, but also probes his poor background and ferocious determination to succeed."-Peter Gruner, Camden New Journal
"[I]n this fascinating and most entertaining book, Begley chooses to print the history, and it is amazing enough in itself without the need for adding any myths or legends. Read it and be amazed."-John Rimmer, Magonia Review of Books
"Witty, intelligent, and sprightly, Adam Begley's Houdini tells a story that is not only central to the American experience, but strangely pertinent to the fakery, fraudulence, and self-promotion dominating our news waves at present."-Wendy Lesser, author of Jerome Robbins: A Life in Dance
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
27 b-w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 214 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
422 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-300-23079-6 (9780300230796)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Adam Begley is the author of Updike and The Great Nadar. He was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow at the Leon Levy Center for Biography, and for many years the books editor of the New York Observer.