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Editorial Reviews
“There is no greater expert on the history of stage magicians than Jim Steinmeyer. His deep knowledge of the subject, combined with a remarkable mastery of magical know-how, makes this book a smart, fantastic read. I can’t recommend it enough!”
-Neil Patrick Harris
“Jim Steinmeyer knows the outside-in world of magic from the inside; he is a celebrated ‘invisible man’ – inventor, designer and creative brain behind many of the great stage magicians of the last quarter-century… Steinmeyer writes about events a century ago as vividly as if he had been there; and in a sense, he has been… No author has ever better conveyed the way the love of conjuring consumes a magician’s life with magic’s joys, terrors and longings.”
-Teller (of Penn and Teller), The New York Times Book Review
Review
Jim Steinmeyer’s excellent new biography of Howard Thurston (1869-1936) is a welcome addition to the literature of the theatre and that of the history of magic. The dogged research by the author is noticeable on every page as we find our subject first on the outskirts of society as a petty thief and then rising to the heights of being an American institution — parading the largest touring magic show ever. Thurston made his success in Europe at the turn of the century at the same time another young Hungarian emigre named Erich Weiss also left for England to seek his fortune. Of course, Erich had changed his name to an appropriation of France’s greatest magician: Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, and began calling himself brazenly HOUDINI. That HOUDINI has become a legend is undeniable, and this book seeks to settle a score, if only for historical accuracy, that, in their day, the early 1900′s Thurston was the King of Magic.
Thurston was never eclipsed by the syllable accenting American Houdini. In fact, it is clearly shown by this expertly written tome that Houdini was a top of the bill vaudeville star with his name spelled in letters twice the size of any other act, while Thurston appeared in legitimate theatre and at the White House several times. Thurston made woman float in the air, and sawed women in halves, and gave a three-hour extravaganza that took several train cars to carry, even providing a full orchestra as well. The problem that brought his downfall was the Great Depression and the rise of the “flickers” which we all know today as the movies. Thurston was as much a part of the Roaring Twenties as Al Capone or Babe Ruth and that his star has faded is a shame.
Yet, like the great phoenix he was, this book, brilliantly written and researched and engendering the same kind of thrilling enthusiasm Thurston brought in his audiences, brings back the master magician in all his glory, if only in a slightly bittersweet way. Bravo to Jim Steinmeyer for a wonderful read. I unreservedly advise all who love a good tale, love magic history, and love the truth of the early 20th century theatre to run out and buy this book. You will not regret it. 5 stars! – B. Robinson, Amazon.Com Customer Review
The Most Famous Magician You’ve Never Heard Of
NPR Book Review – February 12, 2011 (Excerpt)
Mention the name Howard Thurston these days and you’re likely to get a blank stare. But 90 years ago, Thurston was the greatest stage magician in the country, and one of the biggest names in show business.
“It was a name that was known like Ziegfeld, like Ringling Brothers, like George M. Cohan,” says author and magician Jim Steinmeyer. He tells All Things Considered weekend host Guy Raz that Thurston toured the East Coast and the Midwest constantly during the first decades of the 20th century, bringing bigger and fancier stage shows every year.
“In 1926, ’27, he was making a horse disappear onstage. Lines of showgirls. His great feature was always the levitation illusion that was included in every show. Later, he added a vanishing automobile to his show, the Indian rope trick, anything that could be turned into a poster that would attract audiences back again,” Steinmeyer says.
Steinmeyer is the author of a new book on Thurston, called The Last Greatest Magician in the World: Howard Thurston Versus Houdini & the Battles of the American Wizards. He says Thurston’s stage manner kept the audiences captivated. [Read the full article...]
Queen of Misfortune
A Lady Jane Grey Novel by Peter Carroll
Queen Of Misfortune is the fictional story of Lady Jane Grey as told by her beloved tutor, John Aylmer. At the time of her execution a stranger is recorded to have assisted her when, blind folded, she lost her way upon the scaffold. Was it the same ‘stranger’ who was also recorded to have visited her when she was imprisoned in the Tower? Little is known of this unfortunate girl who was beheaded for treason in the 16th Century. She was only 16. She is omitted from the list of monarchs but was actually queen for nine days. Author Peter Carroll, in his novel, follows John Aylmer’s close relationship with Jane as her tutor and later, as she grows up, her lover. [More...]
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