num_pages: 400
description: 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 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 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.
language: English
title: The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini
titlecomplete: The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini
characters: Harry Houdini
genres: Magic, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, History
ratings_count: 178
publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks