The Escape Artist

David Wagoner's beloved, coming-of-age classic is finally back in print!. Danny Masters is a teenage magician, pick-pocket and escape artist who learned it all from his late father. All he wants to do is make it in the big city. But along the way he picks the wrong pocket, stealing a wallet full of stolen cash, and finds himself having to use all of his skills just to stay alive ... while still chasing his dreams.. "The language is consistently taut, meticulous, and imaginative." San Francisco Examiner. "Fast, gaily-detailed, satisfying." Sydney Morning Herald. "This yarn holds you like a pair of handcuffs." Pasadena Star-News. "A skillfully underplayed comic novel." Longview Daily News. "Wildly hilarious." Los Angeles Times. This book became a 1982 movie directed by Caleb Deschanel starring Griffin O'Neal and Raul Juliá, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Melissa Mathison, who later wrote E.T.