book review: the secret life of houdini: the making of america's first superhero

i knew next to nothing about harry houdini [the erstwhile ehrich weiss] before reading this book. the only image i had of houdini i had was him hanging upside down in a straightjacket. it's a pretty iconic photograph, so i'm sure you've probably seen it. a good friend of mine bought this book for my birthday [thanks, cory!] after she saw it on my amazon.com wish list. what a great gift! little did i know that after starting this book i would completely absorbed the world of houdini, and by the time i finished larry sloman's and william kalush's book, i felt like i'd know houdini my entire life. and i wanted to hang out with him. what a cool dood!

i think it's a fair statment to say that houdini was the most famous american during the first quarter of the twentieth century. houdini was a master of publicity and self-promotion. newspapers and magazines covered his every escape and tens of thousands of people would gather to watch his latest feat. houdini wasn't simply a man, he was an event and he felt a duty to make sure the people got their money's worth. it wasn't unusual for him to take ninety minutes to escape a certain trap. if it took longer, then it took longer, but he always escaped. one man commented that houdini's forearms were covered in scars. houdini himself said that if he had to tear of a piece of flesh to make his escape, he'd do it. and many of escapes were not magical at all, but the result of uncommon, brute strength and determination. people paid good money to see him escape, so he made sure he did. and while he's primarily known as an escape artist [not so much a 'magician' as popular opinion says], houdini was instrumental in the advent of flight, the development of motion pictures, and, as the authors hypothesize, a spy for the united states of america. while the anecdotal evidence to support the claim is pretty compelling and pretty darn interesting to read, i don't think the authors proved their claim beyond doubt; but if it is true, it makes all the sense in the world that the government, or certain people within the government, would draft houdini into the world of secret operations. as houdini travelled the world, foreign jail houses were a popular stop. every local police chief and constable wanted the great houdini to try and escape from his cell and devised all manner of handcuffs, manacles and locks to prevent him from doing so [they were never successful]. this gave houdini unprecedented access to sensitive data which he could easily steal, or with his incredible memory, memorize and write down later. amazing stuff.

houdini was fiercely protective of his inventions and escape acts and did anything he could to expose or humiliate anyone who tried to capitalize on the acts he carefully developed, invented, and mastered; but despite that protectiveness, he was also a very generous man. there was a magician in south africa who wanted to perform some of houdini's escape acts and wrote houdini to ask permission with the promise he give houdini proper credit for inventing the escape. houdini, always a man of integrity, returned the kindness. he gave the magician permission to perform his acts and didn't ask for royalties or any portion of the man's potential income. he was also very generous with his time and money. having grown up among the poorest of the poor, houdini [a very wealthy man during his adult years] gave freely and liberally those who were growing up in circumstances similar to his own.

one of the more interesting stories involves houdini being contacted by the russian royal family. as rasputin was gradually gaining more and more influence in the czar's court, extended family members contacted houdini and asked him to come to russia to expose rasputin as a fraud. he never made the trip, but it may have been the first time he heard of someone gaining influence and favor through 'magic.' i think that realization was a sort of catalyst for the events that shaped the last thirteen years of his life in which he fought in almost daily battle against the blooming spiritualist movement that nearly overtook the country in the wake of world war 1. that's when the book really takes off.

the last two hundred pages deals strictly with houdini's almost daily battle with the spiritualists. the spiritualist movement reached it's apex in the wake of world war 1. so many people were so distraught over the loss of loved ones, that they began to seek out 'mediums' who could put them in contact with the dearly departed. it was an economic windfall for anyone who could pass him or herself as a medium as the broken-hearted were ready to pay large sums of money for the chance at contacting the dead. at that time mediums numbered in the thousands in the new england area alone and it's believed that many prominant goverment leaders, including the president, relied on mediums. houdini was furious that the mediums would prey on the destitute and did everything he could to expose them. he employed an impressive network of friends, family, associates, journalists and reporters [his very own 'secret service'] with the sole purpose of ferreting out mediums. his rag tag team would scout out venues were mediums were performing, take note, and report back to houdini. houdini, in turn, would attend a performance in disguide, study the act, and figure out how the mediums were pulling off their tricks. he would then return the next night in disguise and as soon as the lights of the auditorium dimmed and the medium began his or her routine, houdini was stand up, rip off his diguise and exclaim, 'i am houdini and you are a fraud!' he would then tell the gathered audience how they were being fooled and misled, much to the chagrin of the medium on the stage. he single-handedly put dozens upon dozens of fraudulent mediums out of work. when asked the difference between what mediums did and what he did, houdini simply stated that when an audience came to see him perform, they knew they were being tricked and it was their job to figure out the trick. with mediums, the audience didn't know they were being deceived, and he made it mission to make sure they knew.

the most famous medium of the time was a bostonian woman named margery who was compulsively supported and defended by none other sir and mrs. arthur conan doyle. houdini made it his personal mission to expose margery as a fraud. after sitting in on several of margery's seances, he had figured her out. what follows is a utterly readable and compelling tit-for-tat played out in public between houdini and doyle--one time friends--and an escalating war between houdini and spiritualists that may, as the author's propose, have ultimately cost him his life. if it sounds interesting, believe me when i say it is. i read the last couple hundred pages in one sitting, which for me is really saying something. i won't give away any more than i have as it's quite a thing to read how houdini figured out margery's trickery and tried to expose her for what she really was. it's absolutley mind-blowing stuff.

i don't know that i've admired too many people more than i admire harry houdini. he was a man true to the core and you'll come away from the reading wondering how such a man came to be: brilliant, dogged, generous, charitable, mystifying, determined, but ultimately human. 'the secret life of houdini: the making of america's first superhero' is one of those rare books that draws you in and makes you lose sense of time and place, much like the magician himself. and that's about the best magic trick of all.

→ spitcake verdict: buy it, read it, pass it along! [if you want to read it, you can borrow my copy].