Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleishman, HarperCollins/ Publishers, 2006, $18.99, 210 pages

By Joel A. Moskowitz, M.D

It wouldn't be a surprise to learn that a survey asking "Name two famous magicians" would most likely elicit "Merlin and Houdini".  Indeed, for many "Houdini" epitomizes of magic.  The statistics might also reveal that books written about Houdini rival in number those written about
Abraham Lincoln.  So when Sid Fleishman, raised in San Diego, California, writes about Erich Weiss, born in Budapest, Hungary, who is the former and why should he write about the latter?  

Fleishman is a magician and as such has sworn not to divulge the tricks of the trade.
But do not lose heart, much is revealed even for those Houdini addicts who feel compelled to acquire anything which mentions the master's name.  These Houdini aficionados will benefit from this fresh retelling.

The publisher counsels that this book is for those ages 9 and up (which age curiously is the age alleged to be when Erich Weiss began his career in conjuring.) Weiss became fascinated with the story of Robert Houdin, an internationally renowned prestidigitator, whose fame in putting down a
rebellion may have contributed to his title as the "father of modern magic." Weiss' admiration for Houdin prompted him to take the modified name, Houdini. 

With so many volumes dedicated to telling the tale of master self-promoter Houdini, why would another be of interest?  No new trick secrets have been revealed since the first magic book I owned (at age nine of course), written by Walter Gibson.  But Author Fleishman does offer something new. He includes black and white photos given to him by Houdini's widow.  As a
youth, Fleishman was an acolyte of the handcuff king and Bess, Houdini's widow, having relocated to Southern California became "the den mother to us young West Coast magicians," writes Sid.   How lucky can one get?

It is the friendly peppy prose in this well crafted biography that induces this reviewer to take, with admiring respect, the liberty of referring to Mr. Fleishman by his first name.  In his self-revealing prior work, The Abracadabra Kid, A Writers Life, Sid described his passion for magic.
His enthusiasm translates into an attractive fresh history of an immigrant youth who, when asked what was his greatest escape, responded, "From Appleton, Wisconsin."  Houdini was a determined entertainer.  A contemporary, A. M. Wilson, Kansas City editor of the leading magician's journal, "The Sphinx", reacted negatively to Houdini's "shameless vanity
and megaphone self promotion".  Houdini countered, in 1906, by launching
his own Conjurers' Monthly Magazine, which quickly outsold "The Sphinx".

Houdini refused to be defeated.  One story is particularly charming: Locked in the cell which had held the assassin of President James Garfield, a cell with a specially brick recessed iron gate and a lock  deviously located three feet away around a corner, Houdini escaped!  As if this miracle was not enough, he proclaimed that he had released the other prisoners as well.  The shocked warden rushed in expecting to find a disastrous situation.  The prisoners were locked up but in different cells. There was no end to surprises when Houdini was in the act.

Houdini's struggles, out of handcuffs, trunks, and straightjackets as well as  out of obscurity as just another card conjurer; his ventures into cinema and becoming the first to fly a plane in Australia all can serve youngsters  as a model for tenacity leading to achievement.  Some had
theorized that audiences packed Houdini's performances  hoping that danger would triumph.  Conversely, time and time again, Houdini proved he could master the impossible.  If he could,
could they?

Writer Fleishman is an award-winning author. Recipient  (in 1987) of the Newberry Medal for his book The Whipping Boy  he was honored for a most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.   His son won the same medal two years later.  Readers won't be
surprised when Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini results in Mr. Fleishman receiving another medal.