![]() ![]() ![]() The UK art was designed by William Webb with a photo credit to the Radner Collection. Both hardcover editions featured very nice cover art. first edition shows only the 1993 copyright date). where it was published by Random House in October 1994 (although the U.S. It would take a year for the book to find its way "across the pond" to the U.S. The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini was first published in Great Britain by Martin Secker & Warburg Limited in 1993. In fact, for people who want an easy read on Houdini, it's still a biography I'd recommend, impotency theory and all. It provided Houdini buffs with a nice "everything we know up to now" biography while we waited for the great game changer, Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weissby Kenneth Silverman. It had been 24 years since the last major Houdini biography ( Houdini The Untold Story by Milbourne Christopher), and while Brandon didn’t really break new ground, she nicely consolidated a lot of the important new research from smaller, individual studies. Certainly in 1993 it was a very welcome book. (Unless the idea of robbing the great debunker of his sexual power could be considered an attack?)īut if we move beyond the bedroom, I think The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini has a lot to recommend it. However, I see no real evidence of this in the book itself. I’ve also heard whispers over the years that Brandon, who authored the 1984 book, The Spiritualists, had a pro-spiritualist agenda. Of course, the reason the Houdinis didn’t have children had to do with Bess's inability to do so, something her niece, Marie Blood, said she would have shared with Brandon had the author shown any interest (I got the feeling that Brandon had rubbed Marie the wrong way). It even found its way into popular culture via a mention on Seinfeld. This was promoted as the sensational revelation of the book, and the author repeatedly shared her theory on TV and in documentaries. Brandon admitted this notion was not based on any evidence, just a "guess." But she believed it was the best explanation of why the Houdinis never had children. ![]() ![]() This is largely due to Brandon's pet theory, as expressed in the book, that Houdini was impotent. The 1993 biography The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini by Ruth Brandon is maligned by Houdini buffs. Continuing my examination of books about Houdini using images and insights from my own collection. ![]()
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