bedsitter23

The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini by Joe Posnanski

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Posnanski is one of my most favorite sportswriters, and Harry Houdini one of my favorite biographical topics.

So, I was a bit torn, actually; because I have read enough about Houdini. I didn't really need another book about him.

Anyway, I bought it and I enjoyed it.

Less a bio, it's equally about his Legacy. Houdini is a person everyone has heard of, regardless of age and location. Heck, even today's stars are not that ubiquitous.

It's a bit in the style of "Confederates in the Attic", interviewing some of the world's biggest Houdini experts, including David Copperfield. Never staying on one topic for too long (and I mean that in a good way), it moves quickly and doesn't drag like biographies sometimes can.

There is a lot of subjects touched upon. Why is Houdini so great? Experts will tell you he's at best an average magician.

Certainly myth helps Houdini. Much of what people believe about Houdini comes from those myths. Posnanski explores some of the history and stories that make him enduring, and what is true and what isn't.. This is not a biography, per se. However, I think it could definitely fill those needs for most. Nor is it one-sided, it covers all aspects of the Man.

I am still awestruck about the Man. Posnanski talks about magic and why it works (not in a physical sense, but in a transcendent sense)- how Houdini could paint an image in our mind, why magicians of today must do certain things to succeed and what drives them.

I like the parts too where Posnanski and other experts try to figure out the unsolvable mysteries of Houdini. Again, why it works, is because Posnanski touches on so many things, and shares the most interesting elements.

This is a book I will read and read again, and is a terrific addition to a Houdini shelf. It is interesting that Posnanski in the afterword, said he was going to write about Babe Ruth (Jane Leavy and others have got there first), but his main goal was to write about "Wonder".

He certainly succeeded.

This is a really fun book

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