Bookish Thursday - Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibon and Morris N. Young

Yep, here it is a few days later and another book review for WOW-Women on Writing!

But first the 'business' end of things...

Book Summary

Incredible escapes, fantastic sleight-of-hand-Houdini's most challenging performances are dramatically portrayed in Houdini's Fabulous Magic. Walter Gibson, co-author, was in close touch with Harry Houdini for a number of years before his death and worked with the master magician in preparing material for the book. It is with the aid of Houdini's own scrapbooks and notes that this book was written.

The spectacular highlights of Houdini's career are described-and explained-here. Included are the famous escapes: escapes from a padlocked milk can filled with water; from locked jail cells; from a water-filled Chinese torture cell while suspended upside down; from packing cases weighted under water. Again, in this book, Houdini walks through a brick wall, vanishes a 10,000-pound elephant and is buried alive. Once more, Houdini and his wife Bessie mysteriously exchange places in a locked trunk-in three seconds!

And Houdini the man is not ignored. His impact on the world in the early years of the twentieth century was enormous. He was a public hero who, in his own way, helped sweep out the cobwebs of nineteenth-century thinking. While doing so, he distinguished himself as a patriot, writer, collector of magic, aviator, movie idol, philanthropist, and crusader against fraudulent spiritualistic practices.

This is a technical manual for magicians, complete with illustrations and diagrams, but it is also an astute analysis of the best of Houdini's magic and a readable biography of a man who turned himself into a legend. It is a book for would-be conjurers, for professional necromancers, for those curious about the methods and means of one of the most enchanting men of the previous century.

Publisher: Vine Leaves Press

ISBN-10: 0517180747

ISBN-13: 978-0517180747

ASIN: ‎B0BH8L1LRC

Print length: 249 pages

Purchase a copy of Houdini's Fabulous Magic on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.

About the Author

Walter B. Gibson (1897-1985)

​

Walter, a graduate of Colgate University, was a prolific writer including The Shadow novels under his pen name Maxwell Grant. For a time he was Houdini's personal secretary. Following Houdini's death, the attorney for the estate permitted Walter to examine many of Houdini's private scrapbooks and notes from which Gibson wrote Houdini's Magic and Houdini's Escapes. Houdini's scrapbooks, papers and other documents form the background for Houdini's Fabulous Magic. Also a magician, Walter toured with and wrote for magicians such as Blackstone (Sr.), Thurston and Raymond. He was a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the American Society for Psychical Research, the Magician's Guild of America and the Magician's Club of London.

Morris N. Young, M.D. (1909-2002)

​

Morris, a graduate of M.I.T., Harvard and Columbia University was Director of Ophthalmology at Beekman Downtown Hospital in New York City. Aside from his numerous professional memberships, he was a member of the Society of American Magicians (to which Houdini had helped him join as a young man), the International Brotherhood of Magicians and a member of the Inner Circle of the Magic Circle (London). He was a founder of the Magic Collectors Association including their publication MAGICOL. Along with his wife Chesley, he established the largest private holdings on memory and mnemonics which now resides at the University of San Marino. Along with his friend John McManus, in 1955 they established the McManus-Young Collections at the Library of Congress, The University of Texas, Austin and the University of California in Berkeley.  Morris' other book publications include Hobby Magic, Houdini on Magic (with Walter Gibson), Presto Prestige, Bibliography of Memory, How To Develop An Exceptional Memory (with Walter Gibson), The Complete Guide to Science Fair Competition (with John Stolzfus) and Radio Music Live (with John Stolzfus).

You can visit the website created by Morris N. Young's children, Charles C. Young and Cheryl L. Young: https://www.musicmagicandmore.com/

Advance Praise of the Book

Teller of Penn & Teller says: "I've loved this books for sixty years. My first copy was borrowed from the Philadelphia Public Library when I was fourteen, and I kept renewing the loan till I could afford to own my own copy.  Houdini's Fabulous Magic has just the right blend of history, technical secrets, and romance to fire the passion of a young magician.  Four pieces of the Penn & Teller repertoire were directly inspired by Houdini's Fabulous Magic--four times more than any other book in my library".

John Cox in his "Wild About Harry" website (​Wildabouthoudini.com) and blog said of the earlier editions:  Houdini's Fabulous Magic by Walter B. Gibson and Morris N. Young is the best forgotten Houdini book. I say that because when one thinks of books on Houdini's methods, one tends to turn to Houdini The Key by Patrick Culliton, The Secrets of Houdini by J.C. Cannel, or even Gibson's earlier work, Houdini's Escapes and Magic. Maybe because Fabulous Magic contains some reprinted material from the earlier Gibson book it tends to be thought of as a somewhat recycled work. But it's actually one of the very best books on Houdini's major feats and methods and maybe the best book for the layperson. It also contains historical tidbits that aren't found elsewhere. So let's remember it today!"

Now, my opinion!

First off, while I am not a magician, I did grow up during a time where there were specials on TV which featured magicians. David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Mark Wilson and the like. Back then, it was so much fun to watch and try to figure out how they did what they did. Today, unfortunately, you have to think 'it's computer generated'. So much of the 'magic' in magicians seems to have faded.

Secondly, when I started college in 1975, one of the guys in my program was a magician. He did parties locally and was so involved in his art he actually brought his doves to college. It was so cool to be around him.

And finally, my dad's business partner was a past president of the magic society in Dallas, Texas. My mom actually when with his wife after he passed, to several of the International meetings. He was so involved in magic that their house was wired with a video system so when they hosted a gathering, people could be preforming magic in one room and it could be watched throughout the house. And this was the late 1960's, early 70's!

About the book itself.

I don't think anyone (well, maybe these days they don't) doesn't know the name Harry Houdini. He is a legend in the Magic world. This book, Houdini's Fabulous Magic, is a fun and interesting read. I basically read a chapter or two and put it down, picking it up later to read another chapter or two.

The book skillfully weaves together Houdini's story with how many of the tricks were performed. Even a non-magician would find the stories interesting. And with sketches accompanying many of the tricks, I feel if you have a young magician in your life, the book would not be all that hard for them to read.

But don't just take my opinion of the book, check out the opinions of other reviewers! It's magical!