The Magician and the Cardsharp: The Search for America's Greatest Sleight-of-Hand Artist - Softcover

Johnson, Karl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0805080597 ISBN 13: 9780805080599

Publisher: Holt Paperbacks, 2006

Synopsis

"Johnson details exciting anecdotes of scams, hoaxes, and instances of conjuring . . . His stories unfold like magic." ―David Blaine, Entertainment Weekly

In the 1920s, during an era when Americans were crazy for magic, Dai Vernon earned a reputation as a genius of the magical arts. When hard times descended after the crash of '29, the lights of New York faded, audiences dwindled, and Vernon headed west. Little did he realize that his life was about to change.

In Wichita, Kansas, while swapping secrets with a Mexican gambler, Vernon was told a story he didn't quite believe, the tale of a legendary cardsharp who could pull off the impossible―dealing perfectly from the center of the deck. Vernon set out to find the reclusive cardsharp, discovering a fascinating and dangerous kingdom of games and tricksters along the way. Did he finally get his man or did the greatest cardsharp who ever lived just vanish into thin air?

A story with the nostalgic quality of an old-fashioned fable, The Magician and the Cardsharp is a unique and endlessly entertaining piece of history.

About this title

About the Author:

Karl Johnson, a former editor and reporter for the New York Daily News, has written for many major newspapers and periodicals. The Magician and the Cardsharp grew out of an article published in American Heritage magazine. He lives in New York City.

From Publishers Weekly:

This engrossing detective story traces the quest of Dai Vernon, né David Verner (1894–1992), to find the man who perfected the art of dealing from the center of the deck. An accomplished card cheat, sleight-of-hand magician and silhouette portraitist, Vernon was so expert at duplicitous card techniques that he once fooled Houdini with tricks he'd learned as a child from S.W. Erdnase's classic The Expert at the Card Table. Proficient at dealing from the top and bottom of the deck, he was astounded to learn that someone in the Midwest had the ability to win by dealing from the center. Johnson, a former editor at New York's Daily News, details Vernon's long search for Allen Kennedy (1865–1961), a cardsharp who plied his trade with loaded dice and deceitful deck handling. By recounting the shadowy careers of these two men, the author successfully evokes the picturesque world of illegal gambling during the 1920s, '30s and '40s. Johnson vividly conveys how obsessed Vernon was with magic and card tricks, and how much time, energy and practice gamblers put into learning how to cheat at cards.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0805080597
• ISBN 13: 9780805080599
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368