I have annotated the diary so readers can easily follow all the wild ups and downs of Houdini's struggling days. When I was invited by publisher Mike Caveney to do this project, I had expected it to be a largely academic exercise. What I didn't expect to find was such an amazing story within this incredible artifact. That story is now yours.
Publisher Mike Caveney says:
Three things made me want to publish this nearly illegible diary. First, the great Houdini historian, John Cox, agreed to decipher and then annotate the text found on each and every page. Second, my friends in the magic collecting world stepped up with an unbelievable array of suitable photographs, many of which have never appeared in print. And lastly, my old friend and graphic designer extraordinaire, Michael Albright, agreed to assemble this complicated jigsaw puzzle into a beautiful, full-color book of 373 pages measuring 9 by 12 inches. The final result is nothing short of breathtaking.
The book is available exclusively from Mike Caveney's Magic Words in a Regular and Deluxe Edition. I hope you all love it.
UPDATE: The Deluxe Edition has already sold out, making it the fastest selling Deluxe Edition in Mike Caveney's Magic Words history. But there are still Regular Editions available. The print run is not huge, so it's possible the book could sell out entirely. Just saying.
Woot wooooooot! 😆 - Abby Martin
ReplyDeleteBEAUTIFUL BOOK, CANT GET ENOUGH.
ReplyDeleteI’m going to have to save up for it! Eee! Worth it though! Have to pay rent. I have an interview for a cleaning job over the summer break. I hope I get to be part of the crew for it. It’ll be my next birthday present! That is if there will still be copies available. - Abby Martin
DeleteI mean, the book looks humongous John! It’ll be so worth it! 😃 - Abby Martin
DeleteI'll purchase a copy for you Abby. Give John your shipping address and he'll forward it to Mike. Pay me back when you can.
DeleteI sent John an email! Took me a while to think about it but I have a plan. Thank you so much Leo! - Abby Martin
DeleteI'm still wondering how John cracked that diary. The knowledge he has accumulated on HH kicked in? Newspapers.com?
ReplyDeleteAll of the above! It was amazing how much info I already had at hand in my chronology. I would see and "x" on a date in the diary and look at that date in my chronology and, hey, I think I know what that "x" means! In fact, there was a lot that HH didn't include in the diary, and I was able to fill all that in. Newspapers.com certainly helped me crack a few mysteries that have probably baffled earlier biographers. I sometimes felt like I was being guided to my answers.
DeleteThe biggest challenge was reading the damn thing! I had a lot of help in that, especially from our friend Colleen Bak, whose ability to read Houdini's handwriting is second to none.
Kudos to anybody who can read his handwriting without hiccups. It's like chicken scratch. The spirit of Fletcher guided?
DeleteI ordered mine! I've been looking forward to this new book. Jack C.
ReplyDelete