The Riddle of Chung Ling Soo

by Will Dexter

The exciting story of Chung Ling Soo, billed as the "World's Greatest Conjuror," whose death in 1918 was enshrouded in mystery

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Fraser Sherman]

3.5 This 1955 books chronicles the story of William Robinson, a talented magician around the turn of the 20th century. Competition was stiff so he finally broke out from the pack by posing as a Chinese magician, giving his act an extra exotic edge (he was also a very talented performer--it wasn't just the novelty value). I knew Chung Ling Soo from the story of his death, which happened when the "gun trick" (let someone shoot you, but catch the bullet) misfired. An interesting story, and informative, though it's odd now that Dexter assures us Robinson hated imitating other magicians when he won stardom by imitating a real Chinese conjurer.

[Rich Rosell]

Originally published in 1955, this is bio of turn-of-the-century magician Chung Ling Soo (aka William Robinson) who died in 1918 after an unsuccessful bullet catch routine. Dexter's narrative is flowery and anachronistic, but he paints a fairly solid explanation of how Robinson became Chung Ling Soo, and his rise to fame.

This is likely only of interest to magician nerds (Hello, my name is Rich) - but I enjoyed this.

[Yu Huihang]

Interesting read for those who is interested in history.

[Ryan Jones]

great interesting book about a past magician who lived in Houdini's era named chung ling soo.