Who was this man who could walk through brick walls and with a snap of his fingers vanish elephants In these pages you will meet the astonishing Houdinimagician ghost chaser daredevil pioneer aviator and king of escape artists No jail cell or straitjacket could hold him He shucked off handcuffs as easily as gloves In this fresh witty biography of the most famous bamboozler since Merlin Sid Fleischman a former professional magician enriches his warm homage with insider information and unmaskings Did Houdini really pick the jailhouse lock to let a fellow circus performer escape Were his secrets really buried with him Was he a bum magician as some rivals claimed How did he manage to be born in two cities in two countries on two continents at the same instant Here are the stories of how a knockabout kid named Ehrich Weiss the son of an impoverished rabbi presto-changoed himself into the legendary Harry Houdini Here too are rare photographs never before seen by the general reader.
