Fooling houdini, p.28
Fooling Houdini, page 28
I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to my agent, Elyse Cheney, who truly does work magic, and to all the folks at Cheney Literary—Alexander Jacobs, Sarah Rainone, Hannah Elnan, Kristen O’Toole, and Nicole Steen—for their outstanding work. I am indebted to Beth Rashbaum for her feedback, help, and astute commentary. Thanks also to Christopher Glazek for checking my facts.
A number of friends and relatives contributed to this book and, in many cases, suffered through early drafts. Kristen Richardson’s impeccable taste and unerring guidance inform every chapter. Kate Villanova’s unwavering support, sage advice, and sound judgment made this book—not to mention my life—better in countless ways, both large and small. Tim Farrington offered detailed criticism and helped me sharpen my writing—for which I still owe him several dinners. Konstantin Kakaes was an exceptionally obliging and careful reader. Nick Stang was an unflinching supporter from day one. Rachel Jones provided many thoughtful suggestions during the formative stages of the manuscript. Burkhard Bilger was an unflagging booster who encouraged me to get this project off the ground. Corey Powell at Discover was a terrific boss and mentor. Ellen Rosenbush, Roger Hodge, Ben Metcalf, and Miriam Markowitz at Harper’s were a joy to work with. Thanks also to Sinclair Smith, Anaheed Alani, Steven Levitt, Ira Glass, John Hodgman, Buzz Bissinger, Angie Smithmier Eilers, Bonnie Talbert, Allison Schrager, Theresa Hong, Sarah Gelman, Camille Roman, Alex Hamowy, Sarah Grossbard, Marisa Biaggi, Kimberly Katz, Emir Kamenica, Jen Chu, Nathaniel Mendelsohn, David Weintraub, Jeff Enos, Miriam Enos, Maria Richard, Kristin Wall, Kate Enoch, Jessamyn Conrad, Amanda Simson, Tracy Rossi, Daniel Chapmen, Joy Didier, Gary Cheng, Pontus Ahlqvist, Becky Grossman, Amber Miller, Gabriel Perez-Giz, Joseph Thurakal, and John Kehayias.
Finally, thanks to my family for their love and support.
Hundreds of sources went into the reporting, writing, and fact-checking of this book. To save space (and trees), detailed information about source material has been made available online at: www.FoolingHoudini.com.
About the Author
ALEX STONE has written for Harper’s, Discover, Science, and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in New York City
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
Credits
Cover design by Jarrod Taylor
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Conjuring Arts Research Center for permission to reprint the image of the advertisement in chapter 11.
Copyright
FOOLING HOUDINI. Copyright © 2012 by Alex Stone. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stone, Alex.
Fooling Houdini : magicians, mentalists, math geeks, and the hidden powers of the mind / Alex Stone.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-176621-3
1. Stone, Alex. 2. Magicians—United States—Biography. 3. Magicians—United States. 4. Magic—Psychological aspects. 5. Magic—Social aspects. I. Title.
GV1545.S78A3 2012
793.8092—dc23
[B]
2011041927
* * *
Epub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN: 9780062098016
12 13 14 15 16 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1 - The Magic Olympics
Chapter 2 - Mystery School
Chapter 3 - Miracles on Thirty-fourth Street
Chapter 4 - The Touch Analyst
Chapter 5 - The Hype
Chapter 6 - Breaking the Code
Chapter 7 - It’s Annoying and I Asked You to Stop
Chapter 8 - How to Steal a Watch
Chapter 9 - The Mentalists
Chapter 10 - Clowning Around
Chapter 11 - The Perfect Shuffle
Chapter 12 - Flight Time
Magic Terminology
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Alex Stone, Fooling Houdini
