Product Description
Houdini was an illusionist and escape artist who drew colossal crowds and awed them. His incredible feats seemed impossible, yet no one was ever able to debunk him. How did he escape from locked jail cells? How did he emerge after diving into stormy rivers with chains locked around his body? Although Clinton Cox exposes the secrets behind many of Houdini's tricks, readers will learn it was Houdini's brilliancy, his physical dexterity, and his wild imagination that made him a true master of illusion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A Wonderful Book
Houdini:
Master of Illusion


"IT HAS NOW BEEN POSITIVELY PROVEN BEYOND ANY CONTRADICTION THAT HOUDI IS THE HARDEST WORKING ARTIST THAT HAS EVER TRODDEN THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE," said an ad that was praising Houdini, the man who defies prison. In Houdini: Master of Illusion, the author tells about Ehrich Weiss A.K.A. Harry Houdini's life growing up in poverty and dying a rich man. "Harry" became fascinated with Robert Houdin, the father of modern magic, and named himself Houdini, or like Houdin. Ehrich married a woman named Wilhelmina Beatrice Rahner, who he called "Bess", and she performed and traveled with him for the rest of his life. I liked this book because it told about all of Houdini's death defying tricks.

One reason I liked Houdini: Master of Illusion was because Houdini thought of himself as "supernatural" and that he wasn't able to get hurt. That example teaches a lesson. On October 19, about a week before he died, a boy asked if he could endure blows to the stomach. The boy began to hit him in the stomach very hard and after a few hits Houdini said that he could stop. The next day at his show he had a fever and his stomach was aching, but he didn't let the pain show. He later fainted and was told to go to the hospital, and after much arguing he decided to go. He died a little more than a week later.

Another reason I liked Houdini is because of his passion for magic. In his life - time he had procured many books on magic for his personal library. If he was trying to learn a trick like breaking out of a straight jacket, walking through walls, or even making an elephant "disappear" he practiced and practiced until it was perfect. Houdini was also interested in spiritualism. As its popularity began growing he studied it and even tried to contact his dead mother. He spent a lot of his life trying to foil all of the frauds that claimed to be mediums.

Also, I liked this biography because Houdini never let his lack of further education slow him down. He wrote booklets that told some of his secrets, and he printed a magazine (spelling mistakes and all), and a book, A Magician Among the spirits, in the spring of 1924. Houdini often told about his lack of education in the speeches he wrote and in conversations. Houdini was proud of where he came from for the most part. Even though he was born in Budapest, Hungary, he claimed he was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. He probably told this lie because of his love to exaggerate the truth.

This book was interesting because Houdini showed people that you could do anything you set your mind to. In this book, it was said that Houdini's father never came to see him on stage, but he didn't let that discourage him because he knew his parents were proud. Houdini survived the police officers' verbal attacks saying that he was a fraud because he could always prove them wrong. He survived the hecklers in audiences saying that he didn't know what he was doing without addressing them at all, which took self - control. I liked this book because it showed us to be Houdini-i, which means to be like Houdini, who showed self - control and that was like Houdin.

S.Moore

Houdini: Master of Illsusion
Escaping cells, unlocking the world's strongest handcuffs, freeing himself from impossible positions, Ehrich Wiess, better known as Houdini, had an exciting life full of lies and deceiving. The book Houdini: Master of Illusion tells you all about the real Houdini.
It all began Ehrich Wiess making a promise to his father on his deathbed. He promised to provide for the family and treat his mother like a queen. He started as a photography assistant to his brother. They learned magic tricks in their spare time together and they gradually began performing together. They started out performing at any place that they could. 'Houdini' started out at a teen with clothes made with medals and buttons. He did card tricks and a version of "Metamorphoses", or where people magically change places in less than three seconds. Houdini is actually a combination of his nickname, "Ehrie", and his role model's name, Robert Houdin. By using his nickname as the first name of his 'nom de plume' and Houdini (meaning like Houdin) as his last, he created one of the world's most known name. He had a very depressing life and he never did get over his mother's death. A very unknown fact about Houdini to today's population is that he did act in movies for some time. Also he busted false physics after one lied about contacting his mother and father.He deceived many about his tricks and stunts, but to his mother he was always Ehric. He died after a young man, named Whitehead, asked to see how many blows Houdini could take. Houdini stood and took the blows and simply told him that was enough. It is believed something ruptured internally. Even when he had a 104 degree temperature, he refused medical attention. He died a few hours later. I would recommend this book, but there are a few reasons I like it that may make other people dislike it.
I like this book because it states his life before he was Houdini and what he was like. For example, the promise to his father that inspired his legacy. He promised riches to his family, which was at that time poor. Also it tells about his real name, and more importantly how he made it.
I also like this book because it was happy in some parts and it showed how Houdini fulfilled his promise. At one of his shows in England he had his mother sit on a throne to watch the show and she was treated 'like the queen.'
Another reason for recommendation is the secret ways he preformed his tricks. It stated he had naturally bowed legs, so when they tied him up he was wider in the leg region. When he straightened them the ropes 'magically' feel to the ground. He hid keys in his throat in order to get out of the hand cuffs. He even had a specially made box for him to be thrown into the sea while 'locked inside' made out of boards meant for theTitanic with false nails.
The best reason to read this book is because of the personal stories. On his final trip before his mother died he was asked to bring back size six slippers for his mother. He had gotten the news that his mother had died of an illness. He still bought the slippers and laid them by her side. Overall this is a very personal biography with wondrous stories about the real Houdini. This book is a definite must read.

-LL

houdini


The book I read is Houdini Master of Illusion. The most remarkable thing I read was how he escaped from all those handcuffs. My subject is important because it teaches you to keep trying. Other people who would like to read this book are amateur magicians.
The book I read was organized in a special way. The cover has the title, author's name, and a picture of Hudini's eyes. You can easily notice italics when they state a specific item or place. The book flap tells you a brief summery. And the text pretty much tells the whole story.

Great Book!
Harry Houdini was a master magician, escape artist, and is as popular today as he was back in the early 1900's.But still, much of his life remains a mystery.Fact or fiction?Houdini told many lies about himself, and this is the book that uncovers what really happened.
Houdini: Master of Illusion is about the life of Harry Houdini, the great magician and escape artist.It takes us through his humble beginnings and Houdini's deathbed promise to his father that he someday pour golden coins onto his mother's lap.After learning magic working as a photographer's assistant with his brother, they performed together for a short period of time before setting out on their own. Harry thrived on his own, reaching fame through vaudeville performances and European shows.In every city that Harry visited, he went to jails, broke free from cells, and escaped from handcuffs.Harry worked almost all of the time and soon lost physical ability.He looked at least ten years older than he really was.After he was through with vaudeville, due to movies, Houdini did a lot of work with mediums.After Houdini was convinced that they were phony, he spent tons of time and money trying to let the public know about this phoniness.Harry spent much of his private time grieving over his lost mother and visiting graveyards.Finally, after many years of doing countless escapes and feats, Houdini died.He died on Halloween, 1926, at 1:26 PM, of a ruptured appendix, for it flooded his stomach with advanced peritonitis.Houdini is just as popular today as he was back then, so in a way, he still lives on.This is a great book because it has happiness, sadness, and was interesting.
This book is happy, because it is about a success story of a poor boy.It was happy when Houdini made the first flight ever in Australia, when Harry and Bess finally buy a house, and when Harry made an elephant vanish, a feat that made everyone want to head out to see Houdini.
Houdini had many sad things happen to him in his life.One was growing up in poverty, also when he was getting too old and tired to perform, something very sad for a performer.But, the saddest thing of all for Houdini was when his mother died.He had always had a bit of an obsession for her, but it truly showed when she died.Houdini grieved for her the rest of his life.
Finally, this book was interesting.It was interesting to learn that Houdini told many lies about growing up, where he learned magic, and his education.It was almost like he was trying to change who he was.It was also interesting to find out that when Houdini performed his great milk can escape, he had fake chains on the milk can.All Houdini had to do to get out was get out of handcuffs while squeezed inside of the milk can and push up.Another interesting part of Houdini's life was that he almost instantly lost fame when movies came along.Vaudeville houses were becoming less and less popular.Houdini decided to get into the movie business, but didn't do that great because other actors could do the stunts that Houdini did without risking their lives.That meant that Houdini wasn't as unique as he had been.
Houdini: Master of Illusion was a great book because it had happy parts, sad parts, and above all, was interesting and was hard to put down.

This book shocked me
This book was not bad but it did have some slow parts.I really liked the way Harry Houdini does all of his great tricks.To the way he hangs upside down in a strait jacket then gets out to the way hegets hung by his feet inside a tank filled with water with hand cuffs on and then gets out.Through out the book ge does many tricks but my favorite trick is when he gets out of a "burglar proof" room. But it was a pretty good book. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

It shows how time can make things more glorious than they actually appear
I recieved this as a gift from my friend in the U.S. He knew I was a Houdini fan and lived in Montreal, the city that somehow brought Houdini's downfall. I enjoyed Bell's tenacious trial and tribulations trying to get survivors to regurgitate any worthy evidence that would shed light on this world reknowned famous incident. He had his work cut out for him, as time had erased most of the evidence and many of it's players had one foot in the grave. People who diss this work, do not, or cannot fathom what actual research entails. It's a thankless and tiresome job that sometimes does not get us a smoking gun, but at least shows us that there are real versions of events that put into question the holier than thou image of the befallen escape artist, that was Houdini. Houdini was an intelligent man, the supremo amazing escape artist, but his lack of care for his own health and well being was totally mind blowing. He totally cared for his fans by not missing a show, even with a broken ankle, but these selfless actions are revealed in Bell's book as part of the reason Houdini died so tragically and needlessly. Sure, Mr. Whitehead did a very stupid thing and is partly responsible for Houdini dying. Houdini had his part in his attitude that "the show must go on even if I don't feel so well". It was only a matter of time before his speeding train would run out of steam.

I thank Mr. Bell in spirit for doing this work.

I got a kick out of visiting Whitehead's grave and seeing his old street where he used to live. I found out that I had lived across there 15 years after his death. Certainly a small world.

Lots of legwork, little result
I think Mr. Bell took his research notes and just make a book out of it with little editing. Most of it was "I went here and did this. I drove here, had tea, then talked to this guy..." . Lots of pounding the pavement and time spent, but it was hard to draw any sort of conclusion based on his information and as a writer, he should at the very least tried to tie all his information together and come up with a thesis. There is none of that here. Besides a couple of new minor details, I came away from this book no more enlightened about Houdini and the incident that allegedly caused his death than I was before.

ok book but wrong
A woman gave Harry something to drink and it killed him slowly.

A MUST for the serious Houdini scholar
This is a definitive investigation into the events that occurred in Harry Houdini's dressing room on Oct 22, 1926, and the man at the center of the fatal "attack," J. Gordon Whitehead.It's a remarkable work that will blow the minds of Houdini scholars.

Within the first few chapters, author Bell rewrites Houdini history by discovering that the magician was attacked (or at least "tested") three separate times during that fateful week in Montr?al.A native of Montr?al, Bell finds independent eyewitnesses to each of these other, non-lethal "punches" who readily corroborate the facts.It's a stunning discovery.

Unfortunately, Bell doesn't investigate these other incidents in detail, but remains focusing in the final and most infamous dressing room attack by J. Gordon Whitehead.Bell's hypothesis is that Whitehead may have been acting as an agent for spiritualists.Considering Houdini's vehement anti-spiritualist crusade, this is not a far-fetched theory.Trouble is, absolutely nothing is known about J. Gordan Whitehead (and some have even questioned whether or not he even existed).

It's Bell's search for the phantom Whitehead (which takes up a good middle of the book) that presents my only criticism with the book. Bell describes in detail every step of his 20 year investigation, including his many false leads.Okay, dramatizing a few false lead is entertaining and adds to the detective story (not to mention makes the eventual discoveries all that more exciting), but Bell relates EVERY false lead, devoting whole chapters to lines of inquiry that never pan out.This does becomes a bit tiresome after a while.

However, when Bell finally gets on the right scent and starts uncovering the life and death of "the man who killed Houdini", the book again becomes fascinating. I won't spoil it, but somehow J. Gordon Whitehead turns out to be both a complete surprise and exactly what we would expect.Bell also tracks down the elusive witnesses to the dressing room incident, Jack Price and Sam Smiley.Thanks goodness Bell did this investigation when he did, as most of these key players are now deceased (including the author himself).

In the end, Bell is never able to pin a conspiracy on spiritualists, nor link Whitehead to the movement.There is also a nagging feeling that there is still something untold in all this.But in this age of sensationalized conspiracy theories as entertainment, it's refreshing to finally get book that admits the truth of its own findings (even though this tends to relegate them to smaller publishers, as is the case here).But this honesty also legitimizes this book as a real investigation by a real investigator.And what Bell delivers in The Man Who Killed Houdini is far more interesting than any conspiracy, and of much greater value to the serious scholar of Houdini and magic history.This book is a must.

A personal look into the past.
This was a detective story with real people and events involvled. A true story.Well written and well researched.The author was dedicated, and it is sad that he did not see the fruit of his labor. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of fiction by the legendary Harry Housini. 7 short stories, 3 one-act plays, and 8 film treatments. Also with some photographs. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of the magician who became famous for his ability to escape almost any form of restraint. Describes his 10 greatest illusions as they appeared to audiences in the early 1900's. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Why we cannot learn lessons?
This small book, although it contains many cases in Houdini's time, is less attractive to modern readers.

However, to my surprise, Andrew Carnegie was a victim of a woman swindler, which is new to me.

On the other hand, I asked myself that humans have already know various methods used by criminals such as swindle, but we cannot draw a general conclusion of how to prevent ourselves from being victimized.

Provides real insight on Houdini's perspective and talent.
Although not a literary work of art, this book is a must read for anyonewho is interested in Houdini and his life. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more