Mount TBR #43

I read this book for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge hosted over at My Reader’s Block from January 1 – December 31, 2015. The challenge is to read books that you already own.

Houdini: The Untold Story – Melbourne Christopher

Worth study for  readers interested in Houdini, the great escape artist and exposer of spiritualist fakers. Christopher was a famous magician first and an author second. So not always clear are source materials utilized – interviews? Memoirs? Newspaper clippings? Letters? But Christopher is intelligent and fair, even telling stories that hardly put the subject in a flattering light. Christopher provides substantial information on Houdini’s father, a man who struggled as tutor, soapmaker, and rabbi to support his family. He also goes over Houdini’s self-made career in making movies, a subject the Gresham bio only lightly handles.