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Magic Man
A charming novel of old Hollywood, first loves, and man with a touch of magic
A mysterious young man named Brae Orrack arrives in Venice, California, in 1928, claiming to be a magic man who can turn stones to bees. Brae also comes carrying a curse. He says he will die unless he can find true love---and find it soon. Is he a con man or is he telling the truth? With Brae, it's hard to tell. Like Elwood P. Dowd and Harvey, Brae, with his old-fashioned charm and ease, invites the reader to embrace just a little bit of magic.
Desperate for rent money, Brae agrees to become the chauffeur-bodyguard for a spoiled young actor named Frank (Gary) Cooper, whose womanizing ways always seem to land him in trouble. Entering the glamorous world of early Hollywood, Brae falls for a gorgeous, spunky world traveler named Nell Devereaux, who also happens to be the lover of a powerful Cuban dictator. Finally, he has found the love that will save him. Or has he?
Brae quickly learns that love does not come easily. New York gangsters, bootleggers, Hollywood producers, and homicidal dictators conspire to complicate Brae's life at every turn. He befriends a young hood named George Raft, saves the life of movie star Clara Bow, and outwits a family of killers in Key West, Florida. He deftly maneuvers his way out of all sorts of life-threatening situations, but time is running out and Brae must somehow win Nell and save his life. Yet even in Hollywood, skepticism of a "magic" man runs high, and Brae battles conventional reality---not to mention his own impending mortality---at every turn.
Ron Base writes a witty, charming tale of a man desperately in search of his destiny. Magic Man is part fable and part adventure, a love story about the impossibility of love.
"Beautiful women and gangsters, movie stars and dictators all rub shoulders in this delicious tongue-in-cheek debut set in 1920s Hollywood.... Base works his own magic as he crisply choreographs the entrances and exits of his large cast. There will be thrills aplenty before we are done, and disillusionment, but never defeat for the resilient Brae. A page-turner, spiffy and irresistible."
---Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Inventive and evocative...There's something for humor, mystery
suspense, nostalgia and, of course, a little magic."
-- Publisher's Weekly "What a rich and vivid portrait of Hollywood as the talkies came in and the magic of the silents ebbed away. Ron Base's naïve romantic young hero leaves a trail of mayhem and chaos in his wake. There are mercilessly funny portraits of Gary Cooper, George Raft, Clara Bow, and many others."---John Boorman, director of Deliverance, Excalibur, Hope and Glory, and The Tailor of Panama "It takes off with relentless speed, refusing to permit us to catch our breath. Never boring,Magic Man makes for an entertaining and engrossing tale...If (Base) sometimes relies too often on writer-director David Mamet's tried technique, where nothing ever appears as it seems, then we are the lucky, breathless recipients."
-- The Edmonton Journal
"Superbly crafted...I read it in one sitting...Base kept me guessing to the very end. Luring the reader into believing that a typical Hollywood climax is in store, I was caught completely off guard by Base's end game. Scheduled to make its way into bookstores later this month, Magic Man is a gripping narrative that surprises right to the very last page. Bravo."
-- Hour Magazine (Montreal)
A mysterious young man named Brae Orrack arrives in Venice, California, in 1928, claiming to be a magic man who can turn stones to bees. Brae also comes carrying a curse. He says he will die unless he can find true love---and find it soon. Is he a con man or is he telling the truth? With Brae, it's hard to tell. Like Elwood P. Dowd and Harvey, Brae, with his old-fashioned charm and ease, invites the reader to embrace just a little bit of magic.
Desperate for rent money, Brae agrees to become the chauffeur-bodyguard for a spoiled young actor named Frank (Gary) Cooper, whose womanizing ways always seem to land him in trouble. Entering the glamorous world of early Hollywood, Brae falls for a gorgeous, spunky world traveler named Nell Devereaux, who also happens to be the lover of a powerful Cuban dictator. Finally, he has found the love that will save him. Or has he?
Brae quickly learns that love does not come easily. New York gangsters, bootleggers, Hollywood producers, and homicidal dictators conspire to complicate Brae's life at every turn. He befriends a young hood named George Raft, saves the life of movie star Clara Bow, and outwits a family of killers in Key West, Florida. He deftly maneuvers his way out of all sorts of life-threatening situations, but time is running out and Brae must somehow win Nell and save his life. Yet even in Hollywood, skepticism of a "magic" man runs high, and Brae battles conventional reality---not to mention his own impending mortality---at every turn.
Ron Base writes a witty, charming tale of a man desperately in search of his destiny. Magic Man is part fable and part adventure, a love story about the impossibility of love.
"Beautiful women and gangsters, movie stars and dictators all rub shoulders in this delicious tongue-in-cheek debut set in 1920s Hollywood.... Base works his own magic as he crisply choreographs the entrances and exits of his large cast. There will be thrills aplenty before we are done, and disillusionment, but never defeat for the resilient Brae. A page-turner, spiffy and irresistible."
---Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Inventive and evocative...There's something for humor, mystery
suspense, nostalgia and, of course, a little magic."
-- Publisher's Weekly "What a rich and vivid portrait of Hollywood as the talkies came in and the magic of the silents ebbed away. Ron Base's naïve romantic young hero leaves a trail of mayhem and chaos in his wake. There are mercilessly funny portraits of Gary Cooper, George Raft, Clara Bow, and many others."---John Boorman, director of Deliverance, Excalibur, Hope and Glory, and The Tailor of Panama "It takes off with relentless speed, refusing to permit us to catch our breath. Never boring,Magic Man makes for an entertaining and engrossing tale...If (Base) sometimes relies too often on writer-director David Mamet's tried technique, where nothing ever appears as it seems, then we are the lucky, breathless recipients."
-- The Edmonton Journal
"Superbly crafted...I read it in one sitting...Base kept me guessing to the very end. Luring the reader into believing that a typical Hollywood climax is in store, I was caught completely off guard by Base's end game. Scheduled to make its way into bookstores later this month, Magic Man is a gripping narrative that surprises right to the very last page. Bravo."
-- Hour Magazine (Montreal)
- GenresFiction
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
2 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Ron Base
39 books41 followersRon Base was born in Belleville, Ontario, Dec. 9. His bank manager father, Eric, moved the family—mother Jean and younger brother Ric—from Belleville to Cobourg to Picton, and finally to Brockville, Ontario. Here Base finished elementary school and then attended Brockville Collegiate Institute and Vocational School.
He began writing for a weekly newspaper, The United Counties Packet, when he was 15 years old. Based on his work for the weekly, he landed a part-time job at the daily Recorder and Times where he wrote a column for teenagers and worked as a general assignment reporter during the summer. He was also the Brockville correspondent for the Kingston Whig Standard.
He dropped out of high school at the age of 18 but was able to attend the journalism school at Algonquin College for one year in 1967-1968. While at the college, he wrote freelance pieces for the Ottawa Journal.
Although he did not graduate from Algonquin, Base landed a fulltime job as general assignment reporter at the Oshawa Times in the summer of 1968. Three months later, he was hired at the Windsor Star where he wrote obituaries before being assigned to the night desk. Several months later, he was named the paper’s media columnist.
After five years at the Windsor Star, Base was hired by publisher Douglas Creighton as a feature writer when the Toronto Sunday Sun began publication in 1973. He wrote pieces for the Sunday newspaper’s magazine section and also did the weekly cover story for the paper’s TV guide.
After three years at the Sun, he left to work briefly at the Toronto Star, returned to the Sun, just as briefly, before leaving to write magazine pieces. During this period, Base worked for a New York-based magazine syndicate, Writers Bloc, and produced profiles on everyone from actgor Peter O’Toole and former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller to author Tom Wolfe, mystery writer Mickey Spillane, and Robert Blake before he was accused of killing anyone.
Those stories and others appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, New York Newsday, The New York Post, Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and the Los Angeles Times. He also wrote several profiles for Cosmopolitan magazine and freelanced for Maclean’s Magazine, first as its television critic and later as a contributing editor writing profiles.
Among the other publications Base wrote for during that period: TV Guide, Chatelaine, Quest Magazine, Canadian Business, and Toronto Life.
Returning to the Toronto Star in 1980, Base wrote TV criticism for a year and then replaced the newspaper’s longtime movie critic Clyde Gilmour. From 1981 to 1987, Base wrote movie reviews as well as profiled the major stars of the day, including Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Michael Caine, Eddie Murphy, Richard Burton, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Woody Allen, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Kevin Costner.
During this time, he hosted a syndicated radio show, Marquee Magazine at the Movies and also co-hosted The Movie Show with Alex Barris for TV Ontario. The series lasted for two seasons before being cancelled. He also appeared frequently on the CTV network’s Canada AM to talk about movies.
Heavenly Bodies, a script Base had co written while freelancing, was released by MGM in 1985, and sank at the box office. However, the movie about three young women who start their own workout club found renewed life in the burgeoning home video market, and, much to Base’s continuing bemusement, refused to go away, becoming something of a cult hit, complete with an annual screening in Los Angeles.
During this time, Doubleday published Base’s first novel, Matinee Idol. Base left the Star in 1987 and co-produced and wrote a thriller, White Light, directed by Al Waxman and starring Martin Kove. The film played theatrically in Canada.
He also worked with David Haslam, publisher of Marquee Magazine, to produce a number of movie-orient
He began writing for a weekly newspaper, The United Counties Packet, when he was 15 years old. Based on his work for the weekly, he landed a part-time job at the daily Recorder and Times where he wrote a column for teenagers and worked as a general assignment reporter during the summer. He was also the Brockville correspondent for the Kingston Whig Standard.
He dropped out of high school at the age of 18 but was able to attend the journalism school at Algonquin College for one year in 1967-1968. While at the college, he wrote freelance pieces for the Ottawa Journal.
Although he did not graduate from Algonquin, Base landed a fulltime job as general assignment reporter at the Oshawa Times in the summer of 1968. Three months later, he was hired at the Windsor Star where he wrote obituaries before being assigned to the night desk. Several months later, he was named the paper’s media columnist.
After five years at the Windsor Star, Base was hired by publisher Douglas Creighton as a feature writer when the Toronto Sunday Sun began publication in 1973. He wrote pieces for the Sunday newspaper’s magazine section and also did the weekly cover story for the paper’s TV guide.
After three years at the Sun, he left to work briefly at the Toronto Star, returned to the Sun, just as briefly, before leaving to write magazine pieces. During this period, Base worked for a New York-based magazine syndicate, Writers Bloc, and produced profiles on everyone from actgor Peter O’Toole and former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller to author Tom Wolfe, mystery writer Mickey Spillane, and Robert Blake before he was accused of killing anyone.
Those stories and others appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, New York Newsday, The New York Post, Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and the Los Angeles Times. He also wrote several profiles for Cosmopolitan magazine and freelanced for Maclean’s Magazine, first as its television critic and later as a contributing editor writing profiles.
Among the other publications Base wrote for during that period: TV Guide, Chatelaine, Quest Magazine, Canadian Business, and Toronto Life.
Returning to the Toronto Star in 1980, Base wrote TV criticism for a year and then replaced the newspaper’s longtime movie critic Clyde Gilmour. From 1981 to 1987, Base wrote movie reviews as well as profiled the major stars of the day, including Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Michael Caine, Eddie Murphy, Richard Burton, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Woody Allen, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Kevin Costner.
During this time, he hosted a syndicated radio show, Marquee Magazine at the Movies and also co-hosted The Movie Show with Alex Barris for TV Ontario. The series lasted for two seasons before being cancelled. He also appeared frequently on the CTV network’s Canada AM to talk about movies.
Heavenly Bodies, a script Base had co written while freelancing, was released by MGM in 1985, and sank at the box office. However, the movie about three young women who start their own workout club found renewed life in the burgeoning home video market, and, much to Base’s continuing bemusement, refused to go away, becoming something of a cult hit, complete with an annual screening in Los Angeles.
During this time, Doubleday published Base’s first novel, Matinee Idol. Base left the Star in 1987 and co-produced and wrote a thriller, White Light, directed by Al Waxman and starring Martin Kove. The film played theatrically in Canada.
He also worked with David Haslam, publisher of Marquee Magazine, to produce a number of movie-orient
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 16, 2013
Found a little magic in this one.
Every so often, a mysterious novel comes along that no one has ever heard of or seldom remembers. I found this book right as I was about to walk out of a Borders bookstore. It was in the bargain box, only two copies, with a hard black cover and purple writing. Knowing nothing about the author, I decided to flip through this one. When I read I like to be tugged into a book. I can't stand it when the story doesn't get going until page 200. This one surprised me from the first line to the last. Just standing there, engulfed in the story, I began to realize that this book was making me tone out my surroundings. After flipping through five pages, I bought the book.
Magic man is the story of Brae Orrack, a supposedly forgotten hidden man in Hollywood, dying of a mysterious curse set upon his head, whose manuscript of his adventures was discovered in a soundstage on a famous studio lot. His introduction is crisp and intriguing. His humor is dry and engaging. And the voice in which he tells the story and paints the picture is one that stands on it's own. His adventures, as a magic man, takes him to seedy hotels, glorious neighborhoods bumping shoulders with and having eccentric run-in's with George Raft, Garry Cooper and Clara Bow at a time when the film industry was changing in 1928. When the pictures made the transition to sound, that's when all this hidden, poignant chaos began. It has car chases, romance, mysterious characters and unforgettable scenes with dialogue that will keep you glued to your seat almost breathless by the time you reach the next chapter.
This lost treasure of a book is one I would read again and recommend to others for just a good old fashioned story. It seems that this is the first and only fictional tale Ron Base chose to right. Well, one thing is for certain, it certainly left an impression . . . and made me believe in magic once again.
Every so often, a mysterious novel comes along that no one has ever heard of or seldom remembers. I found this book right as I was about to walk out of a Borders bookstore. It was in the bargain box, only two copies, with a hard black cover and purple writing. Knowing nothing about the author, I decided to flip through this one. When I read I like to be tugged into a book. I can't stand it when the story doesn't get going until page 200. This one surprised me from the first line to the last. Just standing there, engulfed in the story, I began to realize that this book was making me tone out my surroundings. After flipping through five pages, I bought the book.
Magic man is the story of Brae Orrack, a supposedly forgotten hidden man in Hollywood, dying of a mysterious curse set upon his head, whose manuscript of his adventures was discovered in a soundstage on a famous studio lot. His introduction is crisp and intriguing. His humor is dry and engaging. And the voice in which he tells the story and paints the picture is one that stands on it's own. His adventures, as a magic man, takes him to seedy hotels, glorious neighborhoods bumping shoulders with and having eccentric run-in's with George Raft, Garry Cooper and Clara Bow at a time when the film industry was changing in 1928. When the pictures made the transition to sound, that's when all this hidden, poignant chaos began. It has car chases, romance, mysterious characters and unforgettable scenes with dialogue that will keep you glued to your seat almost breathless by the time you reach the next chapter.
This lost treasure of a book is one I would read again and recommend to others for just a good old fashioned story. It seems that this is the first and only fictional tale Ron Base chose to right. Well, one thing is for certain, it certainly left an impression . . . and made me believe in magic once again.
September 22, 2025
Ron Base certainly is a romantic, isn't he? Otherwise, I don't think he would have been able to write a book like this.
When I say this book was "all over the place," I don't mean it in the traditional sense that it was scattered and disorganized. I mean that it was really a wide-ranging tale, and by the time I got halfway through, I had almost forgotten about a curse and the ability to turn stones into bees, as I was so caught up in the thrills of 1920s cinema and Cuban gangsters.
All in all, an excellent read. I've yet to read a Ron Base book that has disappointed me. And this one, while it certainly was a sibling to his The Sanibel Sunset Detective series, was delightfully unique in its own right. Is it too on-the-nose to say it was "magical"? I suppose I don't really care. It was magical. And I'm rather sad that it's over.
When I say this book was "all over the place," I don't mean it in the traditional sense that it was scattered and disorganized. I mean that it was really a wide-ranging tale, and by the time I got halfway through, I had almost forgotten about a curse and the ability to turn stones into bees, as I was so caught up in the thrills of 1920s cinema and Cuban gangsters.
All in all, an excellent read. I've yet to read a Ron Base book that has disappointed me. And this one, while it certainly was a sibling to his The Sanibel Sunset Detective series, was delightfully unique in its own right. Is it too on-the-nose to say it was "magical"? I suppose I don't really care. It was magical. And I'm rather sad that it's over.
August 23, 2008
I found this to be a very interesting book. The setting is Venice, CA in 1928 at the time of the transition to talkies. Brae Orrack has been cursed by his father. To lift the curse, he has to find true love, so he heads to LA. His talent as a Magic Man is turning stones to bees, but the Venice police take a dim few of his performing on the pier. In search of means to support himself, he ends up as driver, and body guard for Gary Cooper. George Raft, Clara Bow, a mysterious woman, a Cuban dictator, and bootleggers figure in his quest for true love. The language and the sentence structure is evocative of the time period, with a few slips to modern slang. I thought it was a swell book.
November 12, 2024
Unlike most people who head to Hollywood seeking fame, Brae goes seeking the love that he is convinced will save him from a death curse placed on him by his magician father. Brae has his own magical skills, namely turning stones into bees, however he discovers he is unable to earn a living with his magic. Seeking a source of income while he searches for the love he believes will save him he is hired to watch over Gary Cooper, saves the life of Clara Bow and hangs out with the actor George Raft who has underworld connections. While Brae believes his father has killed his mother and that he killed his father in return, what is the reader to think when Brae’s father shows up, especially when he seems to want to help Brae. What is really going on? Have fun trying to figure it out.
July 15, 2011
Magic Man turned out to blow my mind. I was a little hesitant to read it through at first because it's not the usual type of book I read. I loved the small tidbits of history from the silent movie era coming to a close, and the witty descriptions of the old movie stars. The novel was full of humor, 1920's gangsters, and old school Hollywood, I would definately reccomend this to anyone looking for a great summer book (with a twist of course).
September 28, 2007
A light yet disturbing novel written about an era I don't read much about - the late 1920's in Hollywood. Enough whimsey to hold my interest, enough darkness to disturb me.
December 23, 2011
Didn't hold my interest enough for me to pass page 20.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews