Book of the Month for March 2007: The Secret Life of Houdini

Finally I got back on Track!  I am very happy to present to the book of the month for March 2007, The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Super Hero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman

I first heard about this book during a radio interview with the authors.  I was immediately interested. I have always been a fan of magic ever since I was kid watching Doug Henning and David Copperfield. I wanted to be those guys I even have several slightly used magic kits that one day will be destined for a garage sale. What was amazing to me about this book is that it reads like a fictional story, and more amazing to me is that when your realize that this was Houdini's life.  It is a great book!

Erich Weiss who grew up to become the Magician Harry Houdini was first a foremost a magician and showman. However, he was also a clever businessman, a shrewd marketer, a secret service agent, a pilot (he flew in the era of the Wright brothers) just to name a few. Amazing stuff! 

I even remember my first exposure to Harry Houdini was the 1953 movie (Houdini (1953)) staring Tony Curtis as Houdini. BTW he did not die because of the Pagoda (aka Chinese Water Torture), however the story of him being punched in the stomach has a bit of truth in it.   I really wanted to know more about how he became the great showman that allowed the name (heck it is almost a verb) Houdini to live on through the ages. Well this booked answered that question and gave me much more. 

Just a bit of caution if you are looking for how some of the tricks are done this book, you may be a bit disappointed. However, you will gain some insight, into the methodology and process’ that Harry Houdini used to insure that he was the King of Handcuffs. More importantly you will learn more about his life in this interesting book.

Take a look at my other book of the months here: https://blogs.technet.com/matthewms/archive/tags/Book+of+the+Month/default.aspx

Please comment if you have read the book and let me know what you think!