What do you think?
Rate this book
The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero
Draws on newly uncovered archives and the co-author's expertise in magic to reveal Houdini's secret work as a spy for the United States and England, his post-war efforts to expose the fraudulent activities of spiritualist mediums, and the plot organized by Arthur Conan Doyle to have him murdered. 125,000 first printing.
608 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
220 people are currently reading
3025 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 343 reviews
May 28, 2019
In this book's introduction the authors state that although they did an extensive amount of research, they made a decision at times to spin fact into imagined dialogue. That should set your expectations for this biography: wildly entertaining, often sensationalized, but decently informative nonetheless.
April 27, 2013
Being Hungarian, there are a few things we take credit for: goulash, the Rubik’s Cube, and Houdini (born In Hungary to Austro-Hungarian parents). William Kalush and Larry Sloman’s “The Secret Life of Houdini” came to my attention after visiting a local museum exhibit on fellow-Hungarian Houdini and magic.
Although looking forward to “The Secret Life of Houdini”; I almost forfeited (before even truly beginning) when the authors announced that they have “dramatized scenes, “shifted what people said in time”, and “turned facts into dialogue”. This declaration defeats the purpose of a historical biography and turns the piece into historical fiction. Elaborating on that, “The Secret Life of Houdini” suffers from an identity crisis, lacking a solid structure. Combining a historical biography with dialogue, narratives, and storytelling; the book is filled with choppiness, loss of chronology, repetition, and confusion. Not to mention, tedium. “The Secret Life of Houdini” is simply difficult to follow as it has many voices/styles amongst the pages and feels like reading author notes versus a seamless stream.
Furthermore, “The Secret Life of Houdini” is more of a re-telling of career highlights. Although these descriptions are vibrant and illustrative; they are all told the same way which gets tiresome and results in a lack of information regarding Houdini’s personal life or thoughts. One does get to know Houdini more intimately than perhaps the average reader but it is on a deductive level and not authenticated.
“The Secret Life of Houdini” also strives to prove Kalush and Sloman’s hypothesis that Houdini was a spy. This aim is very thin, flimsy, and a rather poor conspiracy theory. The accusations are made but the evidence is hardly discussed and is far-fetched, making it unbelievable.
On the other hand, the authors successfully clarify that Houdini was not claiming to be involved in spiritualism and “magic” but instead, he was proving the capabilities of a human body plus used strong public relations to do so. Whatever one may think of Houdini, the authors demonstrate that he was intelligent, an entertainer, and a business man.
Although the second half of “The Secret Life of Houdini” features some very interesting moments (such as Houdini’s psychological reactions to his mother’s death); it is overall extremely slow and is over-saturated with minor details causing an extreme disconnect from Houdini. This lag makes the book difficult to read and almost “pointless” at times.
A large chunk of the latter portion of “The Secret Life Houdini” surrounds Houdini’s avid mission to debunk spiritualism. At this point, the book gains momentum and gathers excitement but then drags out again and even ventures on tangents, producing thoughts of, “When will this end?!”
The ending was stronger than expected, exploring the controversy surrounding Houdini’s death and the lives of key figures/relationships after he passed. Sadly though, no suggested reading or author notes were available (although they are accessible through download). However, “The Secret Life of Houdini” does contain many photos, illustrations, and drawings which add some strength to the text.
Overall, “The Secret Life of Houdini” is a good resource for gaining knowledge concerning Houdini’s professional life but not a strong insight into his thoughts, psyche, or personal relationships. Plus, the writing style makes it even less powerful. It is suggested for those wanting to read all they can regarding Houdini but not necessary for those seeking the best biographical piece.
Although looking forward to “The Secret Life of Houdini”; I almost forfeited (before even truly beginning) when the authors announced that they have “dramatized scenes, “shifted what people said in time”, and “turned facts into dialogue”. This declaration defeats the purpose of a historical biography and turns the piece into historical fiction. Elaborating on that, “The Secret Life of Houdini” suffers from an identity crisis, lacking a solid structure. Combining a historical biography with dialogue, narratives, and storytelling; the book is filled with choppiness, loss of chronology, repetition, and confusion. Not to mention, tedium. “The Secret Life of Houdini” is simply difficult to follow as it has many voices/styles amongst the pages and feels like reading author notes versus a seamless stream.
Furthermore, “The Secret Life of Houdini” is more of a re-telling of career highlights. Although these descriptions are vibrant and illustrative; they are all told the same way which gets tiresome and results in a lack of information regarding Houdini’s personal life or thoughts. One does get to know Houdini more intimately than perhaps the average reader but it is on a deductive level and not authenticated.
“The Secret Life of Houdini” also strives to prove Kalush and Sloman’s hypothesis that Houdini was a spy. This aim is very thin, flimsy, and a rather poor conspiracy theory. The accusations are made but the evidence is hardly discussed and is far-fetched, making it unbelievable.
On the other hand, the authors successfully clarify that Houdini was not claiming to be involved in spiritualism and “magic” but instead, he was proving the capabilities of a human body plus used strong public relations to do so. Whatever one may think of Houdini, the authors demonstrate that he was intelligent, an entertainer, and a business man.
Although the second half of “The Secret Life of Houdini” features some very interesting moments (such as Houdini’s psychological reactions to his mother’s death); it is overall extremely slow and is over-saturated with minor details causing an extreme disconnect from Houdini. This lag makes the book difficult to read and almost “pointless” at times.
A large chunk of the latter portion of “The Secret Life Houdini” surrounds Houdini’s avid mission to debunk spiritualism. At this point, the book gains momentum and gathers excitement but then drags out again and even ventures on tangents, producing thoughts of, “When will this end?!”
The ending was stronger than expected, exploring the controversy surrounding Houdini’s death and the lives of key figures/relationships after he passed. Sadly though, no suggested reading or author notes were available (although they are accessible through download). However, “The Secret Life of Houdini” does contain many photos, illustrations, and drawings which add some strength to the text.
Overall, “The Secret Life of Houdini” is a good resource for gaining knowledge concerning Houdini’s professional life but not a strong insight into his thoughts, psyche, or personal relationships. Plus, the writing style makes it even less powerful. It is suggested for those wanting to read all they can regarding Houdini but not necessary for those seeking the best biographical piece.
August 9, 2016
(originally @ http://lanceschaubert.org/2012/01/18/... )
As a kid, I ingested Houdini biographies like most kids ingest chocolate. As a kid, Houdini snatched up Robert Houdin biographies like most kids snatched up wallets. I found myself taunting my brother to handcuff, shackle and hog tie me to my own bedposts and lock the door just so I could escape through the bedroom window and go wash dishes until he found me again. Houdini contorted himself as often as the manager at The Welsh Circus allowed him to. I practiced card magic, he practiced card magic. In my youthful ignorance, I delved into spiritualism & communicating with the dead. When I grew up, I wanted to be just like… well… you get the picture.
“But Lance, you’re not Houdini! Get over yourself.”
No crap, Sherlock. (You might that joke in a moment). I recount my childhood superhero to show the deep, intimate connection I have with the whole of Eric Weiss’s life, from Hungarian Eric to Harry Houdini. Every bit of this book taught me about myself while it taught me about him. Beyond the straightjackets, metamorphoses and lock picks sits a melancholy choleric pensive who struggled between arrogance and honest ambition, service and secret service all his life. That’s me in a cracked nutshell.
Kalush and Sloman chisel away chunks of historical farces to hew a statue of Houdini both mysterious and masterful – one enlisted as a secret service agent and assassinated by spiritualists. They show Houdini making friends with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and then unfriending him just as fast. They show his consistent connections with the military, the secret service and the birth of aviation – Harry was, after all, the first to fly in Australia. They argue all of this in hypothetical non-stance that, rather than seeming passive, strengthens their argument. They leave the reader to decide the truth as well as to double check their COPIOUS footnotes for themselves. No wonder there’s a Secret Life of Houdini planned for the silver screen.
I think this marks the first book review on here I didn’t crack the book to write. It just came out. Yes the book’s big – as in 568 single-spaced biography pages big. Yes, sections dragged for me. Didn’t even care. Loved every second of it – even the handful of boring parts.
Five out of Five.
As a kid, I ingested Houdini biographies like most kids ingest chocolate. As a kid, Houdini snatched up Robert Houdin biographies like most kids snatched up wallets. I found myself taunting my brother to handcuff, shackle and hog tie me to my own bedposts and lock the door just so I could escape through the bedroom window and go wash dishes until he found me again. Houdini contorted himself as often as the manager at The Welsh Circus allowed him to. I practiced card magic, he practiced card magic. In my youthful ignorance, I delved into spiritualism & communicating with the dead. When I grew up, I wanted to be just like… well… you get the picture.
“But Lance, you’re not Houdini! Get over yourself.”
No crap, Sherlock. (You might that joke in a moment). I recount my childhood superhero to show the deep, intimate connection I have with the whole of Eric Weiss’s life, from Hungarian Eric to Harry Houdini. Every bit of this book taught me about myself while it taught me about him. Beyond the straightjackets, metamorphoses and lock picks sits a melancholy choleric pensive who struggled between arrogance and honest ambition, service and secret service all his life. That’s me in a cracked nutshell.
Kalush and Sloman chisel away chunks of historical farces to hew a statue of Houdini both mysterious and masterful – one enlisted as a secret service agent and assassinated by spiritualists. They show Houdini making friends with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and then unfriending him just as fast. They show his consistent connections with the military, the secret service and the birth of aviation – Harry was, after all, the first to fly in Australia. They argue all of this in hypothetical non-stance that, rather than seeming passive, strengthens their argument. They leave the reader to decide the truth as well as to double check their COPIOUS footnotes for themselves. No wonder there’s a Secret Life of Houdini planned for the silver screen.
I think this marks the first book review on here I didn’t crack the book to write. It just came out. Yes the book’s big – as in 568 single-spaced biography pages big. Yes, sections dragged for me. Didn’t even care. Loved every second of it – even the handful of boring parts.
Five out of Five.
August 25, 2012
Not to keep you in suspense any longer: The secret is that Harry Houdini may have been a spy, an operative for the U.S. Secret Service, and other police organizations here and abroad. Unfortunately, the evidence is circumstantial, the biographers' conclusions inconclusive.
To be sure, Houdini hung out with cops and ops. He was, after all, the handcuff king, escaping from every kind of lock and chain the fuzz fettered him with — including treacherous thumb cuffs that tore the skin on Houdini's fingers to the bone. Pardon the patois. I picked it up from William Kalush and Larry Sloman, whose hokey-cum-portentous prose is catchy, if not convincing.
Houdini was a showman and a fakeout artist. As a master of publicity, a dabbler in magic, the occult, card tricks, and just about everything else he absorbed from his early days in the circus, it is a wonder that he did not at least hint that he was also a spook. But of course, covert enterprises are by definition hidden from view — like Houdini himself when he retired behind a curtain to rid himself of his manacles.
The biographers are entertaining, with accounts of Houdini's breathtaking escapes and encounters with skeptics determined to prove him a fraud. But Houdini's brand of entertainment was suspect by nature — the series of conversations and scenes that accompany it belong in a novel, not a biography.
Messrs. Kalush and Sloman assure us in "The Secret Life of Harry Houdini." "We've made nothing up; in some cases we've just turned the facts into dialogue." That sentence is footnoted: "Every fact in this book has been substantiated, but the notes are so extensive, that we have decided to publish them online instead, at www.conjuringarts.org."
But when facts are turned into dialogue — beware! Facts? I hate to sound pedantic, but what do they mean by facts? Evidently, they mean newspaper reports, letters, diaries, and other documents that are evidence but not facts. The result of their masquerading evidence as drama is a bogus "you are there" spectacle.
This questionable conversion of evidence into dialogue was propagated in the early 1920s by Andre Maurois and other practitioners of what was called the "new biography," an attempt to enliven a stodgy genre that could not compete with the vivacity of the novel. By 1927, Maurois had recanted in "Aspects of Biography," regretting that he had blurred the line between fiction and biography. Since then, reputable biographers have rarely used dialogue unless it was presented as such in their sources. Even Norman Mailer, who wanted to stretch the boundaries of biography, was careful to note that he invented dialogue in "Marilyn" (1973) in order to speculate about matters his sources could not confirm.
The dialogue in "The Secret Life of Houdini" is sometimes taken from Houdini's own accounts of his exploits. The biographers give, for example, a blow-by-blow account of how Houdini escaped from the Carette, the "dreaded Siberian Transport Cell," lined with zinc sheeting and secured with steel bars.
After reading their account, you will know exactly how it was done. But do you really know? Turn to "Houdini!!!" (1996), by Houdini biographer Kenneth Silverman:
Unfortunately this legendary feat [escaping from the Carette] is poorly documented. No photographs of it exist, nor even any accounts in the Moscow press . . . Nothing remains but Houdini's boastful, questionable retellings, and a poster he later produced in Leipzig, picturing the scene.
Mr. Silverman then carefully assesses the different ways Houdini may have performed his feat, in the process showing how canny his subject was about not disclosing details of his technique.
And what about all that spying? Much of it amounts to Messrs. Kalush and Sloman noting that Houdini knew spies and wrote to some of them — and that he appears in a spy's diary. But here is an example of the "facts": Inspector Melville of Scotland Yard's Special Branch notes in his diary, "Called at War Office to pass on letter from HH." The biographers call the letter a "field report" and say the diary entry acknowledges the importance of Houdini's information. Melville's mention of Houdini is intriguing but hardly enough on which to build a biography.
An even more egregious example: "It is interesting that an apolitical escape artist paid such close attention to the budding Russo-Japanese conflict, expressing amazement that the ‘Japs were able to bring the Russian bear to his haunches.'" If this is a specimen of Houdini's "intelligence," I wonder what value Scotland Yard saw in his "field report." Having read raw FBI files, I know that the amount of junk, gossip, and hearsay that intelligence agencies collect is astounding. And yet an agent like Melville would feel obliged to pass on the "chatter" — as it is now called — just in case some nugget of truth might emerge. Houdini liked to feel important, and he seems to have cultivated law enforcement and intelligence agents who were intrigued by magic and escape artists. Who was fooling whom is always an appropriate question to ask with respect to such relationships.
There isn't much reason to read "The Secret Life of Harry Houdini" because whatever Houdini might have done by way of intelligence gathering is still secret. Better to read or reread Kenneth Silverman, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning biographer, who writes in "Houdini!!!" with the care and elegance that befit a state-of-the-art biography.
To be sure, Houdini hung out with cops and ops. He was, after all, the handcuff king, escaping from every kind of lock and chain the fuzz fettered him with — including treacherous thumb cuffs that tore the skin on Houdini's fingers to the bone. Pardon the patois. I picked it up from William Kalush and Larry Sloman, whose hokey-cum-portentous prose is catchy, if not convincing.
Houdini was a showman and a fakeout artist. As a master of publicity, a dabbler in magic, the occult, card tricks, and just about everything else he absorbed from his early days in the circus, it is a wonder that he did not at least hint that he was also a spook. But of course, covert enterprises are by definition hidden from view — like Houdini himself when he retired behind a curtain to rid himself of his manacles.
The biographers are entertaining, with accounts of Houdini's breathtaking escapes and encounters with skeptics determined to prove him a fraud. But Houdini's brand of entertainment was suspect by nature — the series of conversations and scenes that accompany it belong in a novel, not a biography.
Messrs. Kalush and Sloman assure us in "The Secret Life of Harry Houdini." "We've made nothing up; in some cases we've just turned the facts into dialogue." That sentence is footnoted: "Every fact in this book has been substantiated, but the notes are so extensive, that we have decided to publish them online instead, at www.conjuringarts.org."
But when facts are turned into dialogue — beware! Facts? I hate to sound pedantic, but what do they mean by facts? Evidently, they mean newspaper reports, letters, diaries, and other documents that are evidence but not facts. The result of their masquerading evidence as drama is a bogus "you are there" spectacle.
This questionable conversion of evidence into dialogue was propagated in the early 1920s by Andre Maurois and other practitioners of what was called the "new biography," an attempt to enliven a stodgy genre that could not compete with the vivacity of the novel. By 1927, Maurois had recanted in "Aspects of Biography," regretting that he had blurred the line between fiction and biography. Since then, reputable biographers have rarely used dialogue unless it was presented as such in their sources. Even Norman Mailer, who wanted to stretch the boundaries of biography, was careful to note that he invented dialogue in "Marilyn" (1973) in order to speculate about matters his sources could not confirm.
The dialogue in "The Secret Life of Houdini" is sometimes taken from Houdini's own accounts of his exploits. The biographers give, for example, a blow-by-blow account of how Houdini escaped from the Carette, the "dreaded Siberian Transport Cell," lined with zinc sheeting and secured with steel bars.
After reading their account, you will know exactly how it was done. But do you really know? Turn to "Houdini!!!" (1996), by Houdini biographer Kenneth Silverman:
Unfortunately this legendary feat [escaping from the Carette] is poorly documented. No photographs of it exist, nor even any accounts in the Moscow press . . . Nothing remains but Houdini's boastful, questionable retellings, and a poster he later produced in Leipzig, picturing the scene.
Mr. Silverman then carefully assesses the different ways Houdini may have performed his feat, in the process showing how canny his subject was about not disclosing details of his technique.
And what about all that spying? Much of it amounts to Messrs. Kalush and Sloman noting that Houdini knew spies and wrote to some of them — and that he appears in a spy's diary. But here is an example of the "facts": Inspector Melville of Scotland Yard's Special Branch notes in his diary, "Called at War Office to pass on letter from HH." The biographers call the letter a "field report" and say the diary entry acknowledges the importance of Houdini's information. Melville's mention of Houdini is intriguing but hardly enough on which to build a biography.
An even more egregious example: "It is interesting that an apolitical escape artist paid such close attention to the budding Russo-Japanese conflict, expressing amazement that the ‘Japs were able to bring the Russian bear to his haunches.'" If this is a specimen of Houdini's "intelligence," I wonder what value Scotland Yard saw in his "field report." Having read raw FBI files, I know that the amount of junk, gossip, and hearsay that intelligence agencies collect is astounding. And yet an agent like Melville would feel obliged to pass on the "chatter" — as it is now called — just in case some nugget of truth might emerge. Houdini liked to feel important, and he seems to have cultivated law enforcement and intelligence agents who were intrigued by magic and escape artists. Who was fooling whom is always an appropriate question to ask with respect to such relationships.
There isn't much reason to read "The Secret Life of Harry Houdini" because whatever Houdini might have done by way of intelligence gathering is still secret. Better to read or reread Kenneth Silverman, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning biographer, who writes in "Houdini!!!" with the care and elegance that befit a state-of-the-art biography.
May 4, 2018
I started reading the book this morning and couldn't put it down the whole day. It's 4 am and I just finished the book. Everything about Houdini's life is incredible. Not just becoming the world's greatest escape artist, but also his work in international espionage and his crusade to demystify the emerging religion of fraudulent spiritualism by creating a network of spies to infiltrate their séances.
In a wonderful description, after Houdini preformed a trick for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes novels and a devote believer in spiritualism, Houdini said,
“Sir Arthur, I have devoted a lot of time and thought to this illusion; I have been working on it, on and off, all winter. I won’t tell you how it was done, but I can assure you it was pure trickery. I did it by perfectly normal means. I devised it to show you what can be done along those lines. Now, I beg of you, Sir Arthur, do not jump to the conclusion that certain things you see are necessarily ‘supernatural,’ or the work of ‘spirits,’ just because you cannot explain them. This is as marvelous a demonstration as you have ever witnessed, given you under test conditions, and I can assure you that it was accomplished by trickery and by nothing else. Do, therefore, be careful in the future, in endorsing phenomena just because you cannot explain them.”
In a wonderful description, after Houdini preformed a trick for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle author of the Sherlock Holmes novels and a devote believer in spiritualism, Houdini said,
“Sir Arthur, I have devoted a lot of time and thought to this illusion; I have been working on it, on and off, all winter. I won’t tell you how it was done, but I can assure you it was pure trickery. I did it by perfectly normal means. I devised it to show you what can be done along those lines. Now, I beg of you, Sir Arthur, do not jump to the conclusion that certain things you see are necessarily ‘supernatural,’ or the work of ‘spirits,’ just because you cannot explain them. This is as marvelous a demonstration as you have ever witnessed, given you under test conditions, and I can assure you that it was accomplished by trickery and by nothing else. Do, therefore, be careful in the future, in endorsing phenomena just because you cannot explain them.”
June 13, 2017
I knew about as much as the layman about Houdini; he was the greatest magician ever and an expert at escapes. This book was really revelatory and fascinating. I never realized Houdini grew up as an extremely poor Jewish Hungarian immigrant who left home as a teenager to make it big. More than just a magician he was an author, an actor, an investor, one of the early airplane pilots, a spy (though I'm not sure how involved he was), and the leading antagonist against spiritualist mediums communicating with the dead. Not that he didn't want to find a true medium to his dead parents, but he easily saw through all of the fakes and could duplicate their tricks. He was very well read and always pushing the boundaries of his abilities, whether physical, mental, or social. It was also really interesting to see him interact with leading figures of his age: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jack London (here in Oakland), the Russian Royal family, Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, and others. Even at 500+ pages this book was full of interesting material that kept my attention and helped me understand one of the most well-known names in modern history as well as the era in which he lived.
June 1, 2008
I just couldn't get through it. Although I am very interested in Houdini, the style of this book made it difficult to get into. I found myself struggling to get through chapters, and not looking forward to picking it up each time. That's not the kind of book I want to read, especially about a character as interesting as Houdini.
Another problem for me came in the unorthodox style of the narrative. Overall, it was chronological as you would expect, but within sections it would jump around forward or backwards 5 or 10 years, making it hard to be sure exactly what year the current events were taking place.
In the end, it was just too slow, plodding, and obtuse to enjoy, which was all the more frustrating because the subject matter was far from any of those things.
I may resume it at a later date, but only to read specific items for a short span of time.
Another problem for me came in the unorthodox style of the narrative. Overall, it was chronological as you would expect, but within sections it would jump around forward or backwards 5 or 10 years, making it hard to be sure exactly what year the current events were taking place.
In the end, it was just too slow, plodding, and obtuse to enjoy, which was all the more frustrating because the subject matter was far from any of those things.
I may resume it at a later date, but only to read specific items for a short span of time.
August 25, 2017
4 stars earned because the subject of this book led such an interesting life. 2 stars earned because the tedious writing style pulled off the feat of making Houdini's exploits seem quite mundane. So I've split the difference to give it 3 stars. Overall I'm glad I read this book. What I came into it already knowing about Houdini only scratched the surface of his accomplishments. I had no idea that he was a major participant in the earliest days of airplane flight. Not until reading the jacket cover did I know he most likely participated in spying for the government. Turns out he was also a Hollywood star (writing, directing, acting), a bibliophile who amassed practically a public library's worth of books, a man on a mission to warn the public against con artists who promised (for a price) to provide connections to the dearly departed, and perhaps least surprising - a ladies man. Houdini proved to be much better at escaping from all manner of devices than at keeping his extramarital affairs secret from his wife. The subject matter of this biography is juicy but the prose manages to be overlong and repetitive and I'll just say that it's way less of a page turner than it could have been. But I read through to the end and now feel that I know just about everything there is to know about Harry Houdini EXCEPT how he managed to pull off all that wonderful magic. He is and probably forever will be the gold standard of mystifying entertainment.
July 23, 2016
The excerpt from the London Sunday Times review that appears on the dust jacket of The Secret Life of Houdini praises the authors Kalush and Sloman for raking through “every known Houdini archive to produce the most comprehensive and controversial biography ever written about the man, with its contention that he was a spy who may have been murdered by a cult.” If all the facts are fully documented, why is there any controversy?
In their Introduction the authors state, “To make certain stories come alive for the reader, we’ve dramatized scenes…We’ve made nothing up; in some cases, we’ve just turned the facts into dialogue.” This is the first problem with the work. One can never quite be sure what Houdini actually said, and what he might have said. Since the book does not have notes, the reader cannot make a judgment concerning the reliability of anything written. To get the notes one must buy a two-volume set that includes another copy of their book and a bound version of the notes entitled The Secret Life of Houdini, Laid Bare.
Documentation alone is not sufficient, because not all sources are equally reliable. Many of the stories told by Houdini and reported in the first Houdini biography by Harold Kellock should not be taken at face value. A great story, but probably apocryphal, is Houdini’s escape from the Siberian prison transport van. Silverman in his biography wrote, “Unfortunately this legendary feat is poorly documented… Nothing remains but Houdini’s boastful, questionable retelling, and a poster he later produced in Leipzig, picturing the scene.” In their notes, Kalush and Sloman acknowledge the skepticism. “Notwithstanding other Houdini expert opinions, there is more than enough evidence to show that Houdini really did escape from the carette in Russia.” Yet they decline to provide even a little of this evidence.
Kalush and Sloman’s assertion that Houdini was a spy for British intelligence is based on the flimsiest evidence. There is no denying that Houdini had met William Melville, the founder of MI5, at Scotland Yard in 1900. However, there is no evidence that Houdini was ever recruited for espionage. If there was anything to this claim, one would think that Andrew Cook in his book, M: MI5’s First Spymaster, would have written about it himself.
It appears that possibly under the influence of Larry Sloman (who collaborated with “shock jock” Howard Stern on Private Parts) the decision was made to sensationalize parts of the book so that it would not be just another run-of-the-mill biography. A reader who merely wants to delve into the Houdini legend and mystique will find the book quite satisfactory, but the serious researcher seeking historic accuracy should look elsewhere.
Anyone interested in a more detailed critique may contact me through Goodreads.
In their Introduction the authors state, “To make certain stories come alive for the reader, we’ve dramatized scenes…We’ve made nothing up; in some cases, we’ve just turned the facts into dialogue.” This is the first problem with the work. One can never quite be sure what Houdini actually said, and what he might have said. Since the book does not have notes, the reader cannot make a judgment concerning the reliability of anything written. To get the notes one must buy a two-volume set that includes another copy of their book and a bound version of the notes entitled The Secret Life of Houdini, Laid Bare.
Documentation alone is not sufficient, because not all sources are equally reliable. Many of the stories told by Houdini and reported in the first Houdini biography by Harold Kellock should not be taken at face value. A great story, but probably apocryphal, is Houdini’s escape from the Siberian prison transport van. Silverman in his biography wrote, “Unfortunately this legendary feat is poorly documented… Nothing remains but Houdini’s boastful, questionable retelling, and a poster he later produced in Leipzig, picturing the scene.” In their notes, Kalush and Sloman acknowledge the skepticism. “Notwithstanding other Houdini expert opinions, there is more than enough evidence to show that Houdini really did escape from the carette in Russia.” Yet they decline to provide even a little of this evidence.
Kalush and Sloman’s assertion that Houdini was a spy for British intelligence is based on the flimsiest evidence. There is no denying that Houdini had met William Melville, the founder of MI5, at Scotland Yard in 1900. However, there is no evidence that Houdini was ever recruited for espionage. If there was anything to this claim, one would think that Andrew Cook in his book, M: MI5’s First Spymaster, would have written about it himself.
It appears that possibly under the influence of Larry Sloman (who collaborated with “shock jock” Howard Stern on Private Parts) the decision was made to sensationalize parts of the book so that it would not be just another run-of-the-mill biography. A reader who merely wants to delve into the Houdini legend and mystique will find the book quite satisfactory, but the serious researcher seeking historic accuracy should look elsewhere.
Anyone interested in a more detailed critique may contact me through Goodreads.
March 27, 2010
Before reading this, I knew next to nothing about Harry Houdini. But after getting through this incredibly long slog of a book, I feel like he and I have come out on the other side as friends. It's like we were both in it together, and the whole time he was saying to me, "Hey, don't blame me, I didn't write this thing" and I just kept saying, "Don't worry Harry, it's not your fault." He was an incredibly interesting and all around amazing and likable guy. He definitely had his crazy moments, but overall he had a good heart and I'm glad I've gotten to know him.
Now THE BOOK, on the other hand, was not so likable. I think the authors basically just found a way to cram every single thing they ever read about him into it. The whole thing read like, "And then he did the handcuff trick in Chicago. And then he did the handcuff trick in Buffalo. And then he did the handcuff trick in London. And then...and then...." The book jumps around a lot in time, seemingly to fit everything together in a neater package than it actually happened. Toward the end I just started skipping around. And that last like hundred pages worth of his war on mystics just felt interminable and pointless.
I can't say this book was necessarily *bad*, I definitely enjoyed getting to know Harry, so it ultimately achieved its goal. It just could have been about two hundred pages shorter, and edited down quite a bit.
Now THE BOOK, on the other hand, was not so likable. I think the authors basically just found a way to cram every single thing they ever read about him into it. The whole thing read like, "And then he did the handcuff trick in Chicago. And then he did the handcuff trick in Buffalo. And then he did the handcuff trick in London. And then...and then...." The book jumps around a lot in time, seemingly to fit everything together in a neater package than it actually happened. Toward the end I just started skipping around. And that last like hundred pages worth of his war on mystics just felt interminable and pointless.
I can't say this book was necessarily *bad*, I definitely enjoyed getting to know Harry, so it ultimately achieved its goal. It just could have been about two hundred pages shorter, and edited down quite a bit.
May 26, 2022
I agree with the review written by Orsolya, a member of the GoodReads community . . . I refer you to her good work (She gave it a "2 Stars" review)
This book is "2 Stars" on a good day. I can't take it anymore. I have read more than half, and I am calling it quits
This book is "2 Stars" on a good day. I can't take it anymore. I have read more than half, and I am calling it quits
February 28, 2019
This was a great research book for my novel, THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON, the love triangle between Houdini, Jack London and his wife, Charmian London. These historians uncover things about Houdini never revealed, including the affair with Charmian London, but also alluding to Houdinis work as a spy! Entertaining and educational.
May 23, 2013
An enjoyable trip back to my youth, when I was fairly completely obsessed with Houdini. So were most kids back then, I suppose. I'm not sure if he's the cultural icon now as he was then.
I never knew (or didn't remember) that he was deeply involved in the early aviation days. The book says he was the first person to fly a plane in Australia. I've read since that is debatable, but still, no one doubts that he was one of the earliest aviators.
Nearly half of the book is a deep look at his fights with "Spiritualists" of the 1910s and 1920s. It goes so far as to imply that his death was the result of a an assassination plot by rabid spiritualists. This seems far fetched these days, when we look back at Spiritualists as misinformed and misled saps - kind of funny with their seances and "automatic" writing. On the other hand, they were as fanatical and rabid about their beliefs as any fundamentalist Christian or Muslim is now. And no one would doubt a murder plot hatched from a modern day religious fundamentalist group. In any event, Houdini gave Spiritualists ample reason to wish him dead. Most of the latter part of his life was devoted to exposing and destroying them on a daily basis.
I didn't buy the speculation in the book that Houdini served as a type of spy or super-secret-agent. If you're going to need a spy, you probably won't turn to someone who is currently the most recognizable person in the world. But you can't deny he had access to a lot of police and government officials, wherever he went.
All in all, a detailed overview of the life of Houdini. There's been no one like him since his death.
I never knew (or didn't remember) that he was deeply involved in the early aviation days. The book says he was the first person to fly a plane in Australia. I've read since that is debatable, but still, no one doubts that he was one of the earliest aviators.
Nearly half of the book is a deep look at his fights with "Spiritualists" of the 1910s and 1920s. It goes so far as to imply that his death was the result of a an assassination plot by rabid spiritualists. This seems far fetched these days, when we look back at Spiritualists as misinformed and misled saps - kind of funny with their seances and "automatic" writing. On the other hand, they were as fanatical and rabid about their beliefs as any fundamentalist Christian or Muslim is now. And no one would doubt a murder plot hatched from a modern day religious fundamentalist group. In any event, Houdini gave Spiritualists ample reason to wish him dead. Most of the latter part of his life was devoted to exposing and destroying them on a daily basis.
I didn't buy the speculation in the book that Houdini served as a type of spy or super-secret-agent. If you're going to need a spy, you probably won't turn to someone who is currently the most recognizable person in the world. But you can't deny he had access to a lot of police and government officials, wherever he went.
All in all, a detailed overview of the life of Houdini. There's been no one like him since his death.
June 3, 2012
Very interesting life of Ehrich Weiss AKA Harry Houdini, was a very interesting figure. This book discussed the meagre upbringing of Houdini and how he was able to turn a childhood passion of magic to a brilliant career. During his zenith, he was very wealthy man. It also delved into the dispute with the spiritualists and how eventually lead him to his downfall. This was an interesting book. I was not sure if I would like this book, but I enjoy biographies. I enjoy story of resilience where people overcome the odds. This book delivers on that.
Houdini died on Halloween from a ruptured appendix caused by a surprise punch to the stomach. It is believed that this was done on purpose because of his disdain for the spiritualist movement. Ironically, the suspected person that ordered the hit was none other than Sr. Arthur Connon Doyle. His wife was one of the most well-known Spiritualist and the target of Harry Houdini.
Houdini died on Halloween from a ruptured appendix caused by a surprise punch to the stomach. It is believed that this was done on purpose because of his disdain for the spiritualist movement. Ironically, the suspected person that ordered the hit was none other than Sr. Arthur Connon Doyle. His wife was one of the most well-known Spiritualist and the target of Harry Houdini.
July 10, 2008
I really wanted to love this book -- Houdini has been one of my favorite characters from history since childhood. I watched the Tony Curtis movie about him over and over again, got really into magic (had my parents take me to see David Copperfield live, I bought many magic trick kits), and was always fascinated by him. I was obviously really excited when this book came out, but it became extremely boring very quickly. The book goes into such great detail and trudges along at such a slow pace, it starts feeling very redundant and tiresome. I kept trying to stick it out and get to the good stuff, but it just wasn't happening, so I gave up. It had so much potential but the pace was just way too slow, and they could have done without mentioning every single detail of every moment of his life.
March 18, 2017
What a fascinating man! I teach a short unit about Houdini in my sixth grade classroom and I thought I knew a lot about him. I learned so much from this book! This book goes into interesting details about his many years of struggles perfecting his many escapes. Knowing how he does some of them in no way diminishes his accomplishments. I was fascinated to read about his childhood complicated relationship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I don't want to spoil the book but if you know a lot or nothing about Houdini this book will entertain and enlighten you!
October 3, 2011
Fascinating study of Houdini's life. I learned so much in this book. The authors covered every aspect of Houdini's life and there were alot of areas that I was unaware of. They didn't try to hide Houdini's flaws, but went through ever phase of his life and career. Very good read.
March 19, 2024
Another DNF.
This is the second time I picked up and put down this book. It will also be the last time.
Three stars because the passion is there. The authors are dedicated to bringing Houdini to life which is no small order. But everything else, just fell short. In no imparticular order:
- The description of Bess, Houdini's one time assistant turned wife. The few sentences I read about her she was described as moody, prone to fits, and was implied to be a thorn in Houdini's side because he was always having to worry about her. A bit heavy handed and prejudiced. They take only Houdini's side. He left her nine notes a day because he wanted to make sure she'd be okay. But then they glazed over the fact that he could have had a wondering eye. Okay, yeah because that makes sense.
-the format was so choppy. There wasn't a flow. He's in Dresden. Now he's in Boston. Now he's in London
-no historical context. Typically in other biographies I've read about historical personalities the time in which they lived is discussed. The length can vary but still the reader is given enough to get the barrings. Not in this book. Only when his Jewishness is mentioned do the authors mention why that might be problematic at times
-a majority of the photos aren't dated. Some have dates scribbled on them but that's about it. The reader is left to assume that the picture correlates to time being discussed in the previous or following pages.
This is the second time I picked up and put down this book. It will also be the last time.
Three stars because the passion is there. The authors are dedicated to bringing Houdini to life which is no small order. But everything else, just fell short. In no imparticular order:
- The description of Bess, Houdini's one time assistant turned wife. The few sentences I read about her she was described as moody, prone to fits, and was implied to be a thorn in Houdini's side because he was always having to worry about her. A bit heavy handed and prejudiced. They take only Houdini's side. He left her nine notes a day because he wanted to make sure she'd be okay. But then they glazed over the fact that he could have had a wondering eye. Okay, yeah because that makes sense.
-the format was so choppy. There wasn't a flow. He's in Dresden. Now he's in Boston. Now he's in London
-no historical context. Typically in other biographies I've read about historical personalities the time in which they lived is discussed. The length can vary but still the reader is given enough to get the barrings. Not in this book. Only when his Jewishness is mentioned do the authors mention why that might be problematic at times
-a majority of the photos aren't dated. Some have dates scribbled on them but that's about it. The reader is left to assume that the picture correlates to time being discussed in the previous or following pages.
July 23, 2018
DNF. While Houdini’s life is fascinating, this account is not. I gave it 2 Stars only because the authors probably worked really hard to put so much detail into it. However, the detail and repetition caused me to finally give up after several starts and stops. I’m glad the book has finally escaped the heavy shackles of my bookshelf...
May 18, 2019
"A thousand thoughts cascaded through Harry's brain ..." And the sound you hear is this awful, bloated, badly organized and amateurish mess of a book hitting the wall.
I made it to page 23, admittedly by skipping the "dramatized" sections. Given how cramped and tiny the print is in my edition, that is probably equivalent to almost page 50.
From the pictures that are generously scattered throughout the text, it's clear that this was a labor of love, with lots of research and professional insights (both authors are involved in magic and the curating of its history). It's just a real shame that they assumed that their love for the subject would translate automatically into an interesting account. And when you don't know, you can make it up ...
I made it to page 23, admittedly by skipping the "dramatized" sections. Given how cramped and tiny the print is in my edition, that is probably equivalent to almost page 50.
From the pictures that are generously scattered throughout the text, it's clear that this was a labor of love, with lots of research and professional insights (both authors are involved in magic and the curating of its history). It's just a real shame that they assumed that their love for the subject would translate automatically into an interesting account. And when you don't know, you can make it up ...
November 6, 2025
DNF I'd have had to be way more obsessed with Houdini to finish this incredily slow, detailed monster
November 6, 2017
Good, but every Houdini book I read feels like a supplement. Nothing seems definitive.
November 28, 2025
Fascinating and mysterious person, yet quite bit sad that he was in fight with Doyle.
October 18, 2022
This was fascinating. I got this book for free at a local book sale. I never knew much about Houdini, and I really enjoyed learning about him.
December 6, 2015
First published on Booking in Heels.
This is the only biography of Harry Houdini that I have read, so I have no idea how it measures up in comparison to any others. However, I can tell you how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I whipped through this thick, fairly heavy non-fiction in three days and enjoyed every second. It's engrossing, accessible and just generally fascinating throughout.
To begin with, it's thorough but not to the point of boredom. I don't feel the need for biographies to tell me the minutiae of the subject's life and Mr Kalush and Mr Sloman have respected my wishes in this area. It begins with Houdini's childhood but provides only a brief summary, for which I respect the book even more. Then we're straight onto his magic and escapism, which is conversely extremely in-depth.
It covers a lot of different areas - aviation, films, the Secret Service, the army, his challenges, his fellow magicians, etc. Naturally some are more interesting than others, but I never knew he dabbled in so many different things. Did you know he was the first person to a plane in Australia? Oh, and let's not forget the 'spy' rumours. I hadn't heard these before, but on the blurb of a different edition it says 'in exchange for his cooperation, the governments of these two countries (Britain and America) facilitated his rise to the top of the world stage.' Apparently it's A Thing that Harry Houdini was a secret agent. I would have automatically disbelieved it, but there is evidence (and I'm a lawyer - I'm holding them to a high standard of proof!) that he reported back to his government on the conditions of German jail cells and trained certain agents in escaping from restraints. I'm sceptical that he was involved any more than this, but it's still amazing that he actually was part of the war effort.
That's partly the conclusion I've come to, actually. I'm not sure he was a nice man (judging by his arrogance and how aggressively he denounced his competition), but I do think he was a good one. He spent $50,000 (back then!) just on entertaining the troops during the War and funded several charities with varying objectives, not to mention his perseverance in debunking fake mediums.
Ah yes. Spiritualists. I learnt an awful lot about this particular area and it was written absolutely amazingly. I had no idea he was so politically active - he tried to push a Bill through to prohibit phony mediums completely and attending every meeting to demonstrate how fake seances could be pulled off. He became such a threat that there were several attempts on his life by the spiritualists.
Which leads me neatly to Arthur Conan Doyle. Yes, that one. This part had me on the edge of my seat and opened my eyes to all sorts of new information. Did you know his wife was a medium and he was actually an active Spiritualist? He died with very little money due to opening a psychic bookstore near Westminster, just as an off-side. Anyway, apparently he and Houdini used to be good friends until this debacle exploded and well... spoilers! I didn't have a clue about any of this previously but now I think of it every time I see a Sherlock Holmes book. It just doesn't add up in my head with the methodical fictional detective!
I've somehow ended up reviewing the man instead of the book, haven't I? Sorry. Well, it's good, anyway. It's written in a strange mix of styles that actually works really well. A chapter will begin written almost like a story, with proper dialogue, thoughts and feelings but then switches almost seamlessly into standard non-fiction. It's weird, but I liked it. It might not be for everybody though - my boyfriend started to read this book but the style annoyed him to such an extent that he got distracted by something shiny and gave up.
Clearly Harry Houdini was the basis for books like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. He created his own magical encyclopaedia, controlled his own magazine, refused to recognise any theories but his own... Sound familiar? He does seem like he should have been a fictional character, which makes reading a biography all the more entertaining. The fun of a story, but you're learning! *shocked face*
I've done it again, haven't I? *swooshes back to discussing the actual damn book* Anyway, believe it or not, there are facts about Harry Houdini that I haven't already told you in this review, so you should go buy the book and learn them. It's well-written, entertaining and impartial (for the most part), so it's an excellent place to learn more about the legend you thought you already knew.
This is the only biography of Harry Houdini that I have read, so I have no idea how it measures up in comparison to any others. However, I can tell you how much I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I whipped through this thick, fairly heavy non-fiction in three days and enjoyed every second. It's engrossing, accessible and just generally fascinating throughout.
To begin with, it's thorough but not to the point of boredom. I don't feel the need for biographies to tell me the minutiae of the subject's life and Mr Kalush and Mr Sloman have respected my wishes in this area. It begins with Houdini's childhood but provides only a brief summary, for which I respect the book even more. Then we're straight onto his magic and escapism, which is conversely extremely in-depth.
It covers a lot of different areas - aviation, films, the Secret Service, the army, his challenges, his fellow magicians, etc. Naturally some are more interesting than others, but I never knew he dabbled in so many different things. Did you know he was the first person to a plane in Australia? Oh, and let's not forget the 'spy' rumours. I hadn't heard these before, but on the blurb of a different edition it says 'in exchange for his cooperation, the governments of these two countries (Britain and America) facilitated his rise to the top of the world stage.' Apparently it's A Thing that Harry Houdini was a secret agent. I would have automatically disbelieved it, but there is evidence (and I'm a lawyer - I'm holding them to a high standard of proof!) that he reported back to his government on the conditions of German jail cells and trained certain agents in escaping from restraints. I'm sceptical that he was involved any more than this, but it's still amazing that he actually was part of the war effort.
That's partly the conclusion I've come to, actually. I'm not sure he was a nice man (judging by his arrogance and how aggressively he denounced his competition), but I do think he was a good one. He spent $50,000 (back then!) just on entertaining the troops during the War and funded several charities with varying objectives, not to mention his perseverance in debunking fake mediums.
Ah yes. Spiritualists. I learnt an awful lot about this particular area and it was written absolutely amazingly. I had no idea he was so politically active - he tried to push a Bill through to prohibit phony mediums completely and attending every meeting to demonstrate how fake seances could be pulled off. He became such a threat that there were several attempts on his life by the spiritualists.
Which leads me neatly to Arthur Conan Doyle. Yes, that one. This part had me on the edge of my seat and opened my eyes to all sorts of new information. Did you know his wife was a medium and he was actually an active Spiritualist? He died with very little money due to opening a psychic bookstore near Westminster, just as an off-side. Anyway, apparently he and Houdini used to be good friends until this debacle exploded and well... spoilers! I didn't have a clue about any of this previously but now I think of it every time I see a Sherlock Holmes book. It just doesn't add up in my head with the methodical fictional detective!
I've somehow ended up reviewing the man instead of the book, haven't I? Sorry. Well, it's good, anyway. It's written in a strange mix of styles that actually works really well. A chapter will begin written almost like a story, with proper dialogue, thoughts and feelings but then switches almost seamlessly into standard non-fiction. It's weird, but I liked it. It might not be for everybody though - my boyfriend started to read this book but the style annoyed him to such an extent that he got distracted by something shiny and gave up.
Clearly Harry Houdini was the basis for books like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. He created his own magical encyclopaedia, controlled his own magazine, refused to recognise any theories but his own... Sound familiar? He does seem like he should have been a fictional character, which makes reading a biography all the more entertaining. The fun of a story, but you're learning! *shocked face*
I've done it again, haven't I? *swooshes back to discussing the actual damn book* Anyway, believe it or not, there are facts about Harry Houdini that I haven't already told you in this review, so you should go buy the book and learn them. It's well-written, entertaining and impartial (for the most part), so it's an excellent place to learn more about the legend you thought you already knew.
July 25, 2020
Good review of Harry Houdini's life. Dispelled some rumours surrounding his death. Very interesting read.
January 15, 2008
i knew next to nothing about harry houdini (the erstwhile erich weiss) before reading this book. after reading it, i felt like i'd know houdini my entire life. such is the incredible detail the authors injected into the book. and i think i can honestly say he's the coolest dood ever.
more than anything, i came away from the reading with a profound admiration for the man behind the magic. he may very well be the most dynamic personality of the first quarter of the 19th century. while he's primarily known as an escape artist (and perhaps appropriately so), houdini also had a large role in ushering in the age of flight and film, among many other things. it's fascinating to read about his devotion to his craft, inventing new escapes, his absolute mastery of publicity, his keen understanding of human nature, and the fierce protectiveness of his creations (it wasn't unusual for houdini to expose and humiliate those who tried to copy his acts)-- except in the case of a south african magician who asked houdini for permission to perform the water escape. and here we see the generous side of the man. houdini glady gave the magician permission simply because the magician credited houdini with the trick and and appropriately asked for the rights. other accounts of his generosity, particularly with children and the poor, are plenty.
by far the most fascinating and informative portion of the book comes in the last 200 pages in which the authors relate houdini's 'friendship' with sir arthur conan doyle, and houdini's compulsive battle to expose fraudulent mediums, particularly the notorious bostonian medium by the name of'margery.' it's utterly compelling reading. the houdini vs. margery/condon/bird/doyle chapters are so wonderful that i spent 2.5 hours straight reading it. furthermore, houdini's 'own secret service'(a collection of fellow magicians, newspaper people, reporters, and extended family members employed for the sheer purpose of exposing fraudulent mediums) is the kind of stuff that, i'm sure, we'll see on the silver screen before too long. it's simply too good a story to NOT be immortalized on celluoid.
yes, it's a long book (550+ pages), but it reads very easily. never once did i find myself looking down at the pages wondering how much i'd read that night. simply put, it's a great and wonderful story. you'll come away wondering how such a man came to be: brilliant, dogged, generous, charitable, mystifying, determined, but ultimately human (the authors don't avoid his shortcomings and character flaws). it's one of those rare books that draws the reader in and makes him or her lose sense of time and place, much like the magician himself. and that's about the best compliment i can give it.
more than anything, i came away from the reading with a profound admiration for the man behind the magic. he may very well be the most dynamic personality of the first quarter of the 19th century. while he's primarily known as an escape artist (and perhaps appropriately so), houdini also had a large role in ushering in the age of flight and film, among many other things. it's fascinating to read about his devotion to his craft, inventing new escapes, his absolute mastery of publicity, his keen understanding of human nature, and the fierce protectiveness of his creations (it wasn't unusual for houdini to expose and humiliate those who tried to copy his acts)-- except in the case of a south african magician who asked houdini for permission to perform the water escape. and here we see the generous side of the man. houdini glady gave the magician permission simply because the magician credited houdini with the trick and and appropriately asked for the rights. other accounts of his generosity, particularly with children and the poor, are plenty.
by far the most fascinating and informative portion of the book comes in the last 200 pages in which the authors relate houdini's 'friendship' with sir arthur conan doyle, and houdini's compulsive battle to expose fraudulent mediums, particularly the notorious bostonian medium by the name of'margery.' it's utterly compelling reading. the houdini vs. margery/condon/bird/doyle chapters are so wonderful that i spent 2.5 hours straight reading it. furthermore, houdini's 'own secret service'(a collection of fellow magicians, newspaper people, reporters, and extended family members employed for the sheer purpose of exposing fraudulent mediums) is the kind of stuff that, i'm sure, we'll see on the silver screen before too long. it's simply too good a story to NOT be immortalized on celluoid.
yes, it's a long book (550+ pages), but it reads very easily. never once did i find myself looking down at the pages wondering how much i'd read that night. simply put, it's a great and wonderful story. you'll come away wondering how such a man came to be: brilliant, dogged, generous, charitable, mystifying, determined, but ultimately human (the authors don't avoid his shortcomings and character flaws). it's one of those rare books that draws the reader in and makes him or her lose sense of time and place, much like the magician himself. and that's about the best compliment i can give it.
September 26, 2013
Most of my understanding of Harry Houdini comes from the musical Ragtime, and his songs are usually the first up on the abridgment chopping block, so almost everything in this biography was new information to me. I was aware that Houdini was the child of Jewish immigrants, and that he was a famous magician/escape artist who died after inviting someone to punch him in the abdomen: that was it.
I had no idea that Houdini was involved in (and most famous for in his time for) unmasking and discrediting fraudulent spirit mediums. I was mostly aware of spiritualism as a Victorian era fad, a cheesy convention of period literature. I was kinda horrified to learn the true historical extent of its influence. A huge portion of the world's English-speaking population, among them some of the most bright and learned men and women of its time, bought into the mania enthusiastically. It seemed to them that extracting information instantly from the ether was the natural progression of the technological leaps and bounds in communication, and they weren't entirely wrong--behold the internet. But they were so eager to believe that they allowed themselves to be suckered by charlatans and pretenders who didn't even need to do the heavy lifting of selling the impossible--it was already bought and paid for.
Of course there were plenty of people who knew which side the mediums' bread was buttered on. The cultural schism between skeptics and believers was so fierce that violence frequently erupted between the two groups. (Houdini himself may have been a victim of the vicious cycle of discrediting and sabotage--the physical assault upon him may have been transacted by the mediums he sought to destroy.) It brought me a small amount of consolation to know that scientific skepticism has always been a feature of our culture, even in ages of great discovery and invention. Spiritualists and anti-vaxxers are variations on the theme of distrusting mainstream scientific opinion, and perhaps today's issues will fade too, if given enough time.
Houdini was an interesting man, and he lived in an interesting time. For me, the star attraction of this biography was the ideological battle between spiritualists and skeptics, and Houdini was merely a convenient case study. This book suffered a bit from amateurish attempts at novelizing historical scenes; the opening, in particular, took too many liberties and colored the research skills of the author unfavorably...but Kalush knocked it off eventually, and his research bore out. A very interesting subject, and a fun deviation for me.
I had no idea that Houdini was involved in (and most famous for in his time for) unmasking and discrediting fraudulent spirit mediums. I was mostly aware of spiritualism as a Victorian era fad, a cheesy convention of period literature. I was kinda horrified to learn the true historical extent of its influence. A huge portion of the world's English-speaking population, among them some of the most bright and learned men and women of its time, bought into the mania enthusiastically. It seemed to them that extracting information instantly from the ether was the natural progression of the technological leaps and bounds in communication, and they weren't entirely wrong--behold the internet. But they were so eager to believe that they allowed themselves to be suckered by charlatans and pretenders who didn't even need to do the heavy lifting of selling the impossible--it was already bought and paid for.
Of course there were plenty of people who knew which side the mediums' bread was buttered on. The cultural schism between skeptics and believers was so fierce that violence frequently erupted between the two groups. (Houdini himself may have been a victim of the vicious cycle of discrediting and sabotage--the physical assault upon him may have been transacted by the mediums he sought to destroy.) It brought me a small amount of consolation to know that scientific skepticism has always been a feature of our culture, even in ages of great discovery and invention. Spiritualists and anti-vaxxers are variations on the theme of distrusting mainstream scientific opinion, and perhaps today's issues will fade too, if given enough time.
Houdini was an interesting man, and he lived in an interesting time. For me, the star attraction of this biography was the ideological battle between spiritualists and skeptics, and Houdini was merely a convenient case study. This book suffered a bit from amateurish attempts at novelizing historical scenes; the opening, in particular, took too many liberties and colored the research skills of the author unfavorably...but Kalush knocked it off eventually, and his research bore out. A very interesting subject, and a fun deviation for me.
March 22, 2010
Honestly, this is the only book on Harry Houdini most people will ever need. This tome covers his ancestry and birth in Hungary as Ehrich Weiss, his family's emigration to the United States, his growing fascination and obsession with magic, his long and phenomenally successful career as the greatest theatrical performer of the first half of the 20th century, as well dropping loud hints about a potential side career doing espionage work and how it evolved into an obsession with debunking spirit mediums and fortune tellers that he pursued with single-minded zeal right through to the last moments of his all-too-short life.
The research is strong, there are plenty of good illustrations and photographs scattered throughout the text, and the writing keeps things moving. It does, however, suffer from glossing over some aspects of Houdini's story. The implication that Houdini did some spy work for the United States is dropped repeatedly, with no actual follow up facts to corroborate it, except that gosh, he sure seemed to be able to get in to meet with a lot of police captains to check out their local jails. His obsession with aviation, and with being the first to fly an airplane in Australia, is just far enough outside of logic that it requires an explanation about why he sacrificed so much time, money and effort to try something so briefly, only to drop it and come home after a couple of successful flights. A hundred years ago, halfway around the world was a far longer trek than it is today. A bit more on why he did it would have been welcome.
These may sound like quibbles, but they do sometimes distract from the greater arc of the story, which is unfortunate. Harry Houdini was unquestionably a brilliant man, an intellectual genius, with founts of drive and resourcefulness beyond anything I've borne witness to in my own life, ever. And this book covers a ton of ground, detailing the tricks he used, the projects on which he focused, and the turbulent relationships he had with his wife, family, friends, and occasional indiscretions. But I didn't stay with this book to read about his potential affairs or his marital spats; I did so to find out more about about his magic and illusions, his spy work, and his research debunking the claims of the paranormal, because it is in those things -- the actual stuff of being the real superhero advertised in the title -- that this otherwise impressive biography falls short.
The research is strong, there are plenty of good illustrations and photographs scattered throughout the text, and the writing keeps things moving. It does, however, suffer from glossing over some aspects of Houdini's story. The implication that Houdini did some spy work for the United States is dropped repeatedly, with no actual follow up facts to corroborate it, except that gosh, he sure seemed to be able to get in to meet with a lot of police captains to check out their local jails. His obsession with aviation, and with being the first to fly an airplane in Australia, is just far enough outside of logic that it requires an explanation about why he sacrificed so much time, money and effort to try something so briefly, only to drop it and come home after a couple of successful flights. A hundred years ago, halfway around the world was a far longer trek than it is today. A bit more on why he did it would have been welcome.
These may sound like quibbles, but they do sometimes distract from the greater arc of the story, which is unfortunate. Harry Houdini was unquestionably a brilliant man, an intellectual genius, with founts of drive and resourcefulness beyond anything I've borne witness to in my own life, ever. And this book covers a ton of ground, detailing the tricks he used, the projects on which he focused, and the turbulent relationships he had with his wife, family, friends, and occasional indiscretions. But I didn't stay with this book to read about his potential affairs or his marital spats; I did so to find out more about about his magic and illusions, his spy work, and his research debunking the claims of the paranormal, because it is in those things -- the actual stuff of being the real superhero advertised in the title -- that this otherwise impressive biography falls short.
December 27, 2009
A good book. I'd never read anything in depth about Houdini. I knew him as a magician, an escape artist. This book introduced me to Houdini the aviator (first man to fly in Australia), Houdini the spy, Houdini the public crusader.
The authors set out to prove, as the subtitle suggest, that Houdini was America's first superhero, the first superman. Houdini worked his whole life, beginning as a kid and eventually getting into vaudeville. His break came when he visited a police station in Chicago and asked to be allowed to escape from their highest security cell and ended up on the front page.
The government was looking for people with magician's skills before WWI, so Houdini, being the greatest magician and escape artist, got recruited. His shows allowed him an excuse to travel all over Europe and Russia; later, he traveled around America and caught bootleggers.
In the last part of his life, Houdini launched a crusade against the Spiritualist religion. Spiritualism was based around mediums who claimed to communicate with the dead, and Houdini couldn't stand the thought of innocent, bereaved people being robbed by fakers who claimed to speak to dead loved ones. Houdini devoted a third of his shows to debunking Spiritualist techniques.
Now, this is not the book to read if you want to know a little more about Houdini. This is an incredibly in-depth, detailed biography. The authors make extensive use of letters and newspaper clippings to put together Houdini's personal life. Unfortunately, much of Houdini's personal correspondence and papers were burned after his death, at his request, so while some original documents exist, many were lost. Kalush and Sloman met with a happy accident: they met the descendant of a major medium Houdini worked to depose--you might say Marjery was Houdini's nemesis--at a Houdini seance, and she agreed to give them access to her ancestor's private letters and documents (I can't remember if Marjery was the lady's great grandmother or great great). The research for the book is so extensive that foot/endnotes are not included in the book itself; the authors have listed a website devoted to the notes.
An incredibly well-researched book. Endlessly interesting. Very long (almost 600 pages). Very detailed. Very good. Even if it took me months to finish.
The authors set out to prove, as the subtitle suggest, that Houdini was America's first superhero, the first superman. Houdini worked his whole life, beginning as a kid and eventually getting into vaudeville. His break came when he visited a police station in Chicago and asked to be allowed to escape from their highest security cell and ended up on the front page.
The government was looking for people with magician's skills before WWI, so Houdini, being the greatest magician and escape artist, got recruited. His shows allowed him an excuse to travel all over Europe and Russia; later, he traveled around America and caught bootleggers.
In the last part of his life, Houdini launched a crusade against the Spiritualist religion. Spiritualism was based around mediums who claimed to communicate with the dead, and Houdini couldn't stand the thought of innocent, bereaved people being robbed by fakers who claimed to speak to dead loved ones. Houdini devoted a third of his shows to debunking Spiritualist techniques.
Now, this is not the book to read if you want to know a little more about Houdini. This is an incredibly in-depth, detailed biography. The authors make extensive use of letters and newspaper clippings to put together Houdini's personal life. Unfortunately, much of Houdini's personal correspondence and papers were burned after his death, at his request, so while some original documents exist, many were lost. Kalush and Sloman met with a happy accident: they met the descendant of a major medium Houdini worked to depose--you might say Marjery was Houdini's nemesis--at a Houdini seance, and she agreed to give them access to her ancestor's private letters and documents (I can't remember if Marjery was the lady's great grandmother or great great). The research for the book is so extensive that foot/endnotes are not included in the book itself; the authors have listed a website devoted to the notes.
An incredibly well-researched book. Endlessly interesting. Very long (almost 600 pages). Very detailed. Very good. Even if it took me months to finish.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 343 reviews