Houdini: A Magician Among the Spirits

Incredibly interesting book. I've talked to people about it several times before I finished.
I've known next to nothing about Houdini before reading this. He was a smart guy, and I appreciate his honesty and thorough research into whether or not spirit mediums are legit. He's also very sassy and funny at points.

Something that does bother me, though, is now often he makes comparisons to his own tricks, saying "I can do this trick without the help of spirits, so the fact that mediums can do it is not confirmation of spirits." While true, he also can't go into detail on his own tricks and how he does them. I understand why, obviously, but it often feels like you can't quite bridge the connection to totally understanding, since he denies you the chance to learn HOW to do it. So, unfortunate casualty. Sometimes he had examples of other magicians' tricks, who'd told him how they accomplished it (for the purpose of this book). I think the really damning part against mediums is toward the end, where he has a letter from the guy who basically makes most, if not all, of the trick tables and tools mediums use for their seances. Literally a magic shop supply guy. I had thought it weird as I was reading that so many of these people could figure out how to make trick cabinets and tables - and it came together at the end.

The older english was a bit tiring for me at times, but also interesting to see how often Houdini writes run-on sentences. I feel less bad about myself.