A Magician Among the Spirits
Gelesen von PhyllisV
Harry Houdini
(4,8 Sterne; 10 Bewertungen)
Houdini, an escape artist and illusionist, became interested later in his life in debunking spiritualists, disbelieving anyone who claimed to have supernatural powers. This was during an era where paranormal phenomena, especially seances, were extremely popular. Although skeptical of their claims, he longed to find a credible source to communicate with family members he had lost. This book chronicles his travels and the many people he spoke with and his observations of their 'powers' and along the way also reveals many of the tricks they employed to deceive their paying customers. - Summary by Phyllis Vincelli (11 hr 3 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
Fascinating
Echolallies
(5 Sterne)
Like a latter-day Derren Brown or James Randi, Houdini was what we would call a sceptic - as well as a master magician - although as he says in the Introduction, he would gladly have "proof" of genuine communication with spirits, despite a life spent searching for it, all he ever found were tricks and legerdemain. He even went as far as setting up secret signals, handshakes and codes with multiple people, so that if they "returned" via a medium, Houdini would know them by the secret signal - but all to no avail. This wonderfully read book is an absolute delight. It is brilliant to see how methodical he is in his approach, and the vignettes he drops about his life, inter alia, are fabulous - like the time he commanded the rain to stop, and then on being told it was due to stop raining anyway, made it begin raining again - all recounted with his dry wit. For anyone with even a passing interest in magic and magic history, this book is essential reading
Great Discussions of BS
TLocke
(4 Sterne)
Well written and well read, this biography illuminates how cons stole from the public. It is sad that those in deep grief were used in such awful ways. A Good read.