The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini - Softcover

Brandon, Ruth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 081297042X ISBN 13: 9780812970425

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2003

Synopsis

For many performers, stage life and real life are separate identities. For master illusionist Harry Houdini, the two were inextricably linked. In this widely acclaimed biography, Ruth Brandon shows how Houdini’s obsession with his own mortality drove him to create death-defying stunts that not only captivated the public but also subdued his own raging psychological demons.


As Brandon relates Houdini’s methods of escape, she asks: What was he trying to escape from? Her exploration of the psychic landscape of one of the most enduringly famous performers of the twentieth century makes for utterly fascinating reading. Brandon reveals much that is new: how Houdini invented a phantom son; why he wrote long daily letters to his wife, Bess, who lived one floor below him; his combative relations with mediums and spiritualists, including Arthur Conan Doyle; and the first full description of his fabled death. This definitive biography allows readers to peer into Houdini’s psyche and understand him more deeply than ever before.

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Brandon is a prominent historian, biographer, and novelist. Her widely acclaimed books include Other People's Daughters: The Life and Times of the Governess; The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini; Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917–1945; and Being Divine: A Biography of Sarah Bernhardt.

From the Back Cover

For many performers, stage life and real life are separate identities. For master illusionist Harry Houdini, the two were inextricably linked. In this widely acclaimed biography, Ruth Brandon shows how Houdini's obsession with his own mortality drove him to create death-defying stunts that not only captivated the public but also subdued his own raging psychological demons.

As Brandon relates Houdini's methods of escape, she asks: What was he trying to escape from? Her exploration of the psychic landscape of one of the most enduringly famous performers of the twentieth century makes for utterly fascinating reading. Brandon reveals much that is new: how Houdini invented a phantom son; why he wrote long daily letters to his wife, Bess, who lived one fl oor below him; his combative relations with mediums and spiritualists, including Arthur Conan Doyle; and the fi rst full description of his fabled death. This defi nitive biography allows readers to peer into Houdini's psyche and understand him more deeply than ever before.

From the Inside Flap

For many performers, stage life and real life are separate identities. For master illusionist Harry Houdini, the two were inextricably linked. In this widely acclaimed biography, Ruth Brandon shows how Houdini s obsession with his own mortality drove him to create death-defying stunts that not only captivated the public but also subdued his own raging psychological demons.


As Brandon relates Houdini s methods of escape, she asks: What was he trying to escape from? Her exploration of the psychic landscape of one of the most enduringly famous performers of the twentieth century makes for utterly fascinating reading. Brandon reveals much that is new: how Houdini invented a phantom son; why he wrote long daily letters to his wife, Bess, who lived one ?oor below him; his combative relations with mediums and spiritualists, including Arthur Conan Doyle; and the ?rst full description of his fabled death. This de?nitive biography allows readers to peer into Houdini s psyche and understand him more deeply than ever before.

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 081297042X
• ISBN 13: 9780812970425
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400