If you’re even vaguely interested in Houdini, Posnanski’s book is a great deal of fun and does a lot to separate the myths from the facts. As for the rest of the book, while it’s technically fine, it doesn’t quite capture the imagination. Secondly, he lets his interview subjects dunk on Houdini from time to time - pointing out that he wasn’t a great card or technical magician. Posnanski takes a great deal of glee in relating the best stories - and debunking the worst ones - and his excitement is infectious. First, it lets Posnanski tell Houdini stories, which usually turn out to be interesting or fun. I am entirely pleased to be ambivalent about him. He states, in one passage, that you simply can’t be ambivalent about Houdini. I don’t think you can question the general thesis, but I seriously doubt that Houdini’s legacy is quite as pervasive as Posnanski makes it out to be. a biography, after a fashion, although a sketchy one. While the book itself is perfectly, if narrowly, delightful, I hope that its particular genre doesn’t catch on. If there is indeed something a little suspect about Houdini’s disregard for the truth, can’t the same be said of us when we justify printing the myth? Read Full Review > They require a constant audience, an organic promotional machine that consists of those who are willing to accept and repeat the folklore unchallenged as well as those who are willing to let it slide-celebrate it, even-in the name of showmanship. The Life and Afterlife shows that Houdini’s career and his enduring legacy are not just the work of a single entertainer with a yearning for fame. Joe Posnanski’s book transcends its subject. Posnanski’s dreamy reverence for the brotherhood of magicians and their code, such as either exists, is one kind of rationalization his romanticization of tall tales and folklore as entertainment is another. Beyond that, it is an attempt- intentional or not-to defend the fiction. a casual, idiosyncratic effort to sift through the jumbled mass of Houdiniana and separate the more established fact from the more persistent fiction.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |