The Secret Life of Houdini
The Making of America's First Superhero

In this book's introduction the authors state that although they did an extensive amount of research, they made a decision at times to spin fact into imagined dialogue. That should set your expectations for this biography: wildly entertaining, often sensationalized, but decently informative nonethel......more

(originally @ [URL not allowed] ) As a kid, I ingested Houdini biographies like most kids ingest chocolate. As a kid, Houdini snatched up Robert Houdin biographies like most kids snatched up wallets. I found myself taunting my brother to handcuff, shackle and hog tie me to my o......more

I started reading the book this morning and couldn't put it down the whole day. It's 4 am and I just finished the book. Everything about Houdini's life is incredible. Not just becoming the world's greatest escape artist, but also his work in international espionage and his crusade to demystify the e......more

I knew about as much as the layman about Houdini; he was the greatest magician ever and an expert at escapes. This book was really revelatory and fascinating. I never realized Houdini grew up as an extremely poor Jewish Hungarian immigrant who left home as a teenager to make it big. More than just a......more

I just couldn't get through it. Although I am very interested in Houdini, the style of this book made it difficult to get into. I found myself struggling to get through chapters, and not looking forward to picking it up each time. That's not the kind of book I want to read, especially about a charac......more