Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #80412 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Customer Reviews

A superb evocation of turn of the century magic
In this excellent book Jim Steinmeyer transports the reader back to the times where magic shows were the biggest draws in town. He leads us backstage to witness the scheming and stealing, and professional jealousies that drove the leading magicians of the age in their quest to find the next big trick. Considering the American background of the author he gives a surprisingly large part of the book over to the British magicians Maskelyne, Devant and Morrit.

Mr Steinmeyer knows his subject very well - he is currently the world's leading designer of stage illusions (he's the guy who designed Copperfield's Disappearance of the Statue of Liberty). He is able to describe the technical aspects of the tricks well, giving just enough information to understand the mechanics without ruining the flow of the story. He clearly revels in the innovation of Devant, Morrit and Jarrett and is capable of passing that enthusiasm to the reader.

Highly recommended.

Remarkably pacy
I originally bought this as it had a similar cover to "Carter Beats the Devil" and its theme looked similar. It is about late 19th and early 20th century magic but is a non fictionalised account of all the great conjurors of them time. As expected there is double crossing and subterfuge and u get a real feel for the particular shows and characters. Depsite not following a strict chronological narrative it is a surprisngly pacy piece of work and recommended to anyone who likes human interest stories. It doesn't often tell you how tricks are done but when it does it is fascinating.

Make a gap in your knowledge disappear!!!
If you have or have had any interest in stage magic then do yourself a favour and get this book. It is an absolute joy to read. A really well written and page-turning history of the many characters who created the illusions which are still being used today. What I found most surprising was how attached I became to the main protagonists in my reading, so by the time you reach the 1920s-30s toward the end of the book and they start to pass away (as people tend to do) I found it all a bit sad. Yet again, this is down to Mr. Steinmeyer's wonderful style and passion for his subject. Superb!