{"product_id":"houdini-the-elusive-american-9780300230796","title":"Houdini: The Elusive American","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Adam Begley\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Yale University Press\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Yale University Press\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Entertainment \u0026amp; Performing Arts - General\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the prizewinning \u003ci\u003eJewish Lives \u003c\/i\u003eseries, an exuberant biography of the world's greatest escape artist\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Will leave [readers] entertained and astonished, and that's a kind of magic of its own.\"--Jerry Z. Muller, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eJewish Review of Books\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1916, the war in Europe having prevented a tour abroad, Harry Houdini wrote a film treatment for a rollicking motion picture. Though the movie was never made, its title, \"The Marvelous Adventures of Houdini: The Justly Celebrated Elusive American,\" provides a succinct summary of the Master Mystifier's life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Born Erik Weisz in Budapest in 1874, Houdini grew up an impoverished Jewish immigrant in the Midwest and became world-famous thanks to talent, industry, and ferocious determination. He concealed as a matter of temperament and professional ethics the secrets of his sensational success. Nobody knows how Houdini performed some of his dazzling, death-defying tricks, and nobody knows, finally, why he felt compelled to punish and imprison himself over and over again. Tracking the restless Houdini's wide-ranging exploits, acclaimed biographer Adam Begley tells the story of a mystifying man's astonishing career. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout Jewish Lives: \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Jewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eMore praise for Jewish Lives: \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Excellent.\"--\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Exemplary.\"--\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Distinguished.\"--\u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Superb.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Atlantic Books","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46311065026711,"sku":"9780300230796","price":1772.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780300230796.webp?v=1768666028","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/houdini-the-elusive-american-9780300230796","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}