It is also about the power of imagination and self-invention. In California, an actor and Vietnam War veteran finds purpose in his life by uncovering the secrets of his hero.īut the unique phenomenon of Houdini was always more than his death-defying stunts or his ability to escape handcuffs and straitjackets. In Australia, an eight-year-old boy with a learning impediment feels worthless until he sees an old poster of Houdini advertising “Nothing on earth can hold Houdini prisoner,” and begins his path to becoming that nation’s most popular magician. In rural Pennsylvania, a thirteen-year-old girl finds the courage to leave a violent home after learning that Houdini ran away to join the circus she eventually becomes the first female magician to saw a man in half on television.

Every generation produces new disciples of the magician, from household names in magic like David Copperfield and David Blaine to countless other followers whose lives have been transformed by the power of Houdini. The dog who vanishes and reappears in the neighbor’s garden? Houdini. The baby who frees herself from her crib? Houdini. The name Houdini still leaps to mind whenever we witness a daring escape. Nearly a century after Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926, he feels as modern and alive as ever.

Joe Posnanski enters the colorful world of Harry Houdini and his legions of devoted fans to explore the illusionist’s impact on global culture-and why his legacy endures to this day.

The great houdini book