Synopsis
In 1918 Harry Houdini performed a single illusion that has been hotly debated ever since: he made a live elephant disappear on stage. How did he do it? The answer lies in this dazzling tale of innovation, chicanery and keen competition that is the backstage story of the golden age of magic. Hiding the Elephant chronicles the race among history's most legendary conjurers to make things levitate and disappear. A master illusionist and captivating storyteller, Steinmeyer introduces us to the eccentric personalities behind floating ghosts, disembodied heads and vanishing ladies and takes us backstage to reveal the mechanics of their mysteries. He carries us to a time when Queen Victoria held private seances and all of England believed in magic.
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About the Author
Jim Steinmeyer has designed illusions for David Copperfield, Ricky Jay, Siegfried & Roy and Orson Welles, and for six broadway shows including The Beauty and the Beast. A consultant for a forthcoming BBC documentary on the history of magic and producer of a Channel 4 documentary, he is currently working on Richard Eyre's Mary Poppins and is a contributing editor of Magic magazine.
From the Inside Flap
'Simply the finest, best told, most graceful history of the Golden Age of magic I've ever read. It belongs on that elite shelf of historical explorations, like Longitude or The Professor and the Madman, which are so entertaining, so informative, that the reader with no prior interest will feel educated and enthralled on every page... A terrific yarn.' -- Glen David Gold, author of Carter Beats the Devil
'A loving celebration of the genius, glamour and gargantuan egos of stage magic... 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 & Teller), New York Times
'Steinmeyer presents magic as an art, and Hiding the elephant will captivate anyone interested in the subject.' -- David Blaine
'They say the hand is quicker than the eye, but no one's mind is quicker than Jim Steinmeyer's. Not only does he dazzle us in Elephant with the technical ingenuity of great stage magic, but he also captures the romance of the art form itself. Houdini will turn in his grave -- with envy.' -- William Link, co-creator of Murder, She Wrote
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Hiding The Elephant
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Hiding The Elephant
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Hiding The Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible
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William Heinemann Ltd 04/11/2004, 2004
ISBN 10: 0434013250
ISBN 13: 9780434013258
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Hiding The Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible
Published by
William Heinemann Ltd 04/11/2004, 2004
ISBN 10: 0434013250
ISBN 13: 9780434013258
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Hiding the Elephant : How Magicians Invented the Impossible
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Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible
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Hiding the Elephant How Magicians Invented the Impossible,
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Hiding The Elephant: How Magicians Invented The Impossible
Published by
William Heinemann Ltd, London, 2004
ISBN 10: 0434013250
ISBN 13: 9780434013258
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Tight Firm Clean Copy - First Edition First Printing With All Numbers 1 Through To 10 - No Signatures, Inscriptions Or Notations Discovered. Photo Illustrations. Yellow Cloth Hard Cover With Gold Gilt Titles To Spine - Faint Wear. Unclipped Jacket In Similar Condition. Seller Inventory # 007216