Kalush, William & Larry Sloman: The Secret Life of Houdini
The Making of America's First Superhero
©2006 Light & Heavy Inc., Atria Books, NY
Hardcover, 592 pages
ISBN-13: 9780743272070
ISBN-10: 0743272072

Also in paperback

Comments:
Contents (chapters, from book ToC):

ix Foreword
xi Introduction
1 Chapter 1 The Oath
25 Chapter 2 Starving For A Living
47 Chapter 3 The Celebrated Clairvoyants
65 Chapter 4 Quid Pro Quo
77 Chapter 5 The King Of Handcuffs
97 Chapter 6 M
109 Chapter 7 Police State
131 Chapter 8 Taming The Bear
143 Chapter 9 The Challenge Of The Mirror
171 Chapter 10 Leap Of Faith
199 Chapter 11 Kill Thy Father
215 Chapter 12 Death Visits The Stage
239 Chapter 13 Above The Down Under
258 Chapter 14 The Emperor Of Sympathy-Enlisters
279 Chapter 15 Chinese Water Torture
293 Chapter 16 Forgive
311 Chapter 17 Fighting Our Way To The Grave
331 Chapter 18 Death By Misadventure
349 Chapter 19 Art Imitates Life
375 Chapter 20 Saul Among The Prophets
405 Chapter 21 Little Sister Will Do Exactly As Big Brother Says
427 Chapter 22 Margery’s Box
451 Chapter 23 My Own Secret Service
481 Chapter 24 I...Am A Fake
517 Chapter 25 An Eye For An Eye
537 Chapter 26 There is No Death
551 Epilogue
561 Acknowledgements
569 Index
592 About the Authors

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Handcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar. Since his death over eighty years ago, Harry Houdini's life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and best-selling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy.

After years of struggling on the dime museum circuit, Harry Houdini got a break that put him on the front page of a Chicago newspaper. He never looked back. Soon Houdini was performing for royalty, commanding vast sums, and exploring the new power of Hollywood to expand on his legend.

At a time when spy agencies frequently co-opted amateurs, Houdini went to London and developed a relationship with a man who would run MI-5. For the next several years, the world's most famous magician traveled to Germany and Russia and routinely reported his findings.

After World War I was successfully concluded, Houdini embarked on a battle of his own. He created a group of disguised field operatives to infiltrate the seamy world of fake spirit mediums. In doing so, Houdini triggered the wrath of fanatical Spiritualists, led by the esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Death threats became an everyday occurrence, but the group would pose an even greater danger to Houdini's legacy.

Rigorously researched, and as exciting as a good thriller, The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide legend, initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic. In this remarkable book, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend.