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A review by rebelbelle13
Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman
4.0
My father always spoke of Houdini with reverence- as if he had known the man or witnessed one of his death-defying escapes. The man is a legend, to be sure. One can hardly breathe the word 'magician' without referencing the escape artist. I knew Harry Houdini's basic story- that the name that gave him such recognition wasn't his birth name, most of his stage tricks, and his death. There were several things I didn't realize going into this biography- one, that he was such a narcissistic, egotistical man, and two, that he seemed to have massive ADD- swapping his obsessions regularly. I suppose it makes sense that he was full of himself. He outdid any other magician of his era, time and time again. Any challenge, he accepted, and beat. I think I might be a little full of myself too. What surprised me was his shameless self-promotion- which, ironically, is what made him the legend his is today. People know his name because he was constantly putting himself out there- on posters, in movies, and in the newspapers. He made sure he was never far from the limelight; which is why he stays there even today, 90 years after his death.
The pictures in this book are plentiful and fascinating. It even encouraged me to look up some clips on youtube featuring some of his escapes.
I have one gripe here. I did not care for how the author presented the information. It seemed to me as if this method of delivery would have been fantastic if orated- like an old crotchety uncle telling a story about his younger days- than written down in a book. The author wavers. Jumps around. Puts in his own two cents. Goes off on tangents. I understand that he knew Bess Houdini personally, which is why he tells the story the way he does. If nothing else, this author has inspired me to read another book on Houdini- one that isn't so tainted with opinions and doesn't have that old-man-long-story flair.
The pictures in this book are plentiful and fascinating. It even encouraged me to look up some clips on youtube featuring some of his escapes.
I have one gripe here. I did not care for how the author presented the information. It seemed to me as if this method of delivery would have been fantastic if orated- like an old crotchety uncle telling a story about his younger days- than written down in a book. The author wavers. Jumps around. Puts in his own two cents. Goes off on tangents. I understand that he knew Bess Houdini personally, which is why he tells the story the way he does. If nothing else, this author has inspired me to read another book on Houdini- one that isn't so tainted with opinions and doesn't have that old-man-long-story flair.