The great Houdinis: A vaudeville

by Melville Shavelson

1st Star 1977 edition paperback vg+ In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

175 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 1976

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do we count novelizations of TV movies as books? Anyway, I read this when I was around 11 or so, and I thought it was a big fat thrill because there was this one scene where a lady took off all her clothes and Houdini kneels down to look at her naked body and it talks about his looking at "her perfectly formed hips, her breasts, her vagina." (Yes, I am embarrassed that I remember it in such detail.) This was the first time I'd read a fiction book that used the word "vagina" and I was all, "Ooooooooooooh." (Ok, when I was 11 I didn't notice the fact that the author meant to say "vulva" instead of vagina, so sue me.) So that's what I remember. It was a novelization, though, so I'm giving it two stars.

[Dennis Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though some license should be allowed when fictionalizing a real person, the liberties taken in this book ended up being too jarring. There are several great biographies on Houdini. They are a more worthy description of the man. This ended up being everything Houdini himself despised.