The Spirit Cabinet

by Paul Quarrington

After a long, slow climb out of the strip clubs of Europe, Jurgen and Rudolfo have hit the big time in Las Vegas, headlining a magic act as slick as their own buffed and usually half-naked bodies. Rudolfo is content orchestrating the spectacle and attempting to twin his soul with Jurgen's. But Jurgen hungers for more--and finds it in a mysterious collection of magician's paraphernalia that once belonged to Harry Houdini. With the knowledge he finds there, and his own faith in the unknown, Jurgen becomes the miracle worker of the Las Vegas strip. "Darkly comic, deeply sad, and always ironic" (Library Journal), The Spirit Cabinet takes dead aim at the place within us that yearns for miracles. "It is not a book about magicians and their pursuit of magic," wrote Alan Beaton in The National Post; "it is a book about human beings, and their pursuit of faith."

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Canada, Contemporary

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Paul Quarrington was a novelist and musician, an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker, and an acclaimed non-fiction writer. His last novel The Ravine was published in March 2008. His previous novel Galveston was nominated for the Giller; Whale Music won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. Quarrington won the Stephen Leacock Medal for King Leary, a title that also won the 2008 Canada Reads competition. As a musician, he played in the band PorkBelly Futures; their self-titled second CD was released in April 2008; the first CD Way Past Midnight was extremely well received. His screenplays and story editing have won many awards, most recently the CFPTA Indie Award for Comedy for the series Moose TV, and he was in high demand as a story editor for feature films and television. Paul ’s filmmaking talents as writer / director were evident in his BookShorts short film, Pavane, which he adapted from The Ravine and was featured in the Moving Stories Film Festival September - November 2008. His non-fiction writing included books on some of his favourite pastimes such as fishing, hockey and music. He regularly contributed book reviews, travel columns and journalism to Canada’s national newspapers and magazines. Paul lived and worked in Toronto, where he taught writing at Humber College and University of Toronto, and sat on the Board of Directors for the Fringe Theatre Festival. Quarrington was also an (extremely) amateur magician and a would-be mariner.

Paul was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in May of 2009. He died at home, with his family.

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Review originally published on my blog, October 2014)

Long story short, I found this after an exhaustive search for a novel that would be as similar as possible to the film The Incredible Burt Wonderstone , without actually being a comedy. TIBW was a film I became obsessed by while simultaneously thinking a lot of things about it were terrible and it could so easily have been better (I am still planning to write something about this) and, while still in the obsession phase, I was briefly determined to find a book that captured the things I had been drawn to. The glamour and excess and sexiness of the Las Vegas stage magic mini-world but also the many things about it that are grotesque, dated, insular and weird. It had to have a contemporary setting (most books I could find about stage magic had a historical setting) and ideally, obviously, I wanted it to be focused on a successful duo and to be set in Vegas. I didn't think I was going to find anything that fulfilled all the criteria until I came across The Spirit Cabinet*, although I had to order a copy from the US; I don't think it was ever published here, and indeed Quarrington seems to have been much better known in his native Canada than elsewhere - a search for UK pages containing the author's name doesn't turn up anything much at all.

That wasn't really a long story short, was it? Anyway, the main characters in The Spirit Cabinet, Jurgen and Rudolfo, are clearly based on Siegfried and Roy. Reading a few biographical articles on them while reading this book made it clear that the characters are so similar, Quarrington's novel could almost be a roman à clef, if it didn't take a fantastical turn part-way through. The plot hinges on Jurgen's purchase of a collection of Houdini memorabilia, including the titular Spirit Cabinet, which he quickly becomes obsessed with. There are three stories here: one about what happens after Jurgen acquires the Spirit Cabinet and begins to 'change', one about how he and Rudolfo came to be famous, and one that seems to be a glimpse into the future, with Rudolfo alone and ruined.

The Spirit Cabinet has a sort of slightly 'zany' tone that differs from anything I would normally choose to read. Everything's larger than life, though this is perhaps normal for the Vegas strip. There were numerous scenes I found painful to read despite the fact that the things they described weren't particularly graphic or unpleasant, compared to other horrible stuff I've read without flinching. The author seems keen on reinforcing these grotesque elements every so often: he doesn't let us forget about Jurgen's 'crippled, purple' eyelids, damaged in an early performance (remembering the details of this makes me feel queasy even now), or the condition that leaves Rudolfo completely hairless. There are many minor characters with utterly repulsive appearances, or chronic bad breath or acne, or some other unfortunate affliction. Samson, Jurgen and Rudolfo's albino leopard, is anthropomorphised to a degree, the narrative often providing insight into his all-too-human thoughts and emotions. In fact, he's probably the most sympathetic character.

This is, after all, a story of magic, and there are hints of the real thing everywhere. This fantastical element heightens after Jurgen's Spirit Cabinet fixation begins, but it's already evident before that: it's not always clear whether some of the characters are simply doing tricks or actually have powers. When someone mentions vampires you have to pause for a moment to wonder whether this should be taken literally, and when something implausible happens (for example the development of a completely improbable - but, in the end, quite sweet - relationship between two of the secondary characters) it seems less ridiculous than it should.

I find it difficult to judge, overall, whether I enjoyed this book or not. It held my interest, but there were times I found it altogether 'too much', and had to take a break from it: as a result, it took me a relatively long time, nearly a month, to get through it, even though it's not a challenging read. And as always with books I give an average rating, it's hard to say how I'd recommend this, or to whom. I suppose it boils down to this: I wouldn't not recommend it, but at the same time, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to get hold of a copy, like I did. Too dark to be quirky entertainment (see The Night Circus), but too wacky to achieve much literary merit, it occupies a strange, yet undeniably intriguing, hinterland between comedy and sincerity.

*Incidentally, there were a few things in The Spirit Cabinet that made me wonder whether it served as any kind of inspiration for the plot of TIBW. Most notably, the thaumaturgical assistant leaving the main characters' show to work for a rival, and the idea of a stage magician visiting Africa on a do-gooder mission and performing tricks which are completely meaningless and useless to the natives. I can't find any references to the book and the film together, but the latter in particular seems unusual enough that I wouldn't be surprised if there's a link.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what to make of this book. I did not particularly enjoy it but was still compelled to keep reading.

I hated that overall it was so dismal and dreary, and that I had to keep forcing myself to read a bit more. But then, I still read a bit more until I got to the end.

And, now I have gotten to the end and still do not know what to make of it. I want to give it three stars, because I think in among the dreariness it was well-written (maybe?) but I did not really enjoy it, and it was OK so I followed the GR lead and gave it two. That said, it is likely that I will read other work by this author.

p.s. it really drove me nuts how badly Quarrington mangled the way that people with German for their first language speak English.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid read. Wish there was a bit more character development and wasn't smart enough to understand the ending.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've been reading my reviews over the past few years, then you may have picked up on the fact that I have a soft spot for stage magicians. So of course when I saw this on the library shelf next to Whale Music, I knew I would have to read it, even though the characters, obviously modeled on Siegfried and Roy, are much more modern than the Victorian magicians I tend to favor. (Ever since watching Arrested Development, I cannot think about modern magicians without getting "The Final Countdown" stuck in my head.) Anyway, I was not disappointed. While sections were rather difficult to follow and I would have liked a bit more explanation about some parts, I found it sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but always engaging.

[Mark Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great story about the world of Vegas magicians and magic in general. Takes us from flim-flammery across to the other side of "real" magic and a yearning for something more. Main characters are thinly-veiled knock-offs of Siegfried and Roy with a hilarious background story. Story is told on three different narrative threads featuring the same characters in the past present and future which is a great device for drawing out suspense. One of my new Quarrington favourites.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found an ARC of this book at a yard sale and thought it sounded intriguing, but...

I did not enjoy this book.

And I don't really know why.

But I never got into it and I had to force myself to finish it. Because I'm stubborn like that.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

You! Turn off that Anthony Robbins tape.
For at long last you will witness those Cingalese mysteriums in your own fitness studio, baby.
In the form of the much ballyhooed Jurgen & Rudolfo!!!
Ooh, Boy.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading. This book was amazing.

[Amy]

"Everyone has a strange life, because life is so strange."

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't as thrilled about this book as some of his others. It was interesting but hard to follow at times.

[Jean Mc · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little hard to follow at times. a really interesting ride