Download The Right Way to Do Wrong Harry Houdini 9780486834061 Books
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Download As PDF : The Right Way to Do Wrong Harry Houdini 9780486834061 Books
With this remarkable book, the legendary magician conducts a master class in crime by revealing the trade secrets of crooks. Harry Houdini is known not only as an illusionist and escaper of handcuffs and jail cells, but also as a debunker of phony spiritualists and other charlatans. His interest in exposing fakery led Houdini to interview both police and criminals around the world. The result is this captivating volume, intended to help readers avoid being victimized by pickpockets, con artists, and other thieves.
Written with verve and humor, these lively chapters recount the techniques of burglars, sneak thieves, shoplifters, and pickpockets as well as those of faith healers, fortune tellers, art forgers, card sharks, and counterfeiters. The instructive and amusing book concludes with an autobiographical essay, in which Houdini discusses the early days of his career and the experiences that contributed to his renown as the Handcuff King and Prison Breaker.
Download The Right Way to Do Wrong Harry Houdini 9780486834061 Books
"I thought it would be a kick to read this old book from the great Harry Houdini. It was probably pretty interesting when first written, but gives quite vague and relatively uninteresting information now."
Product details - Paperback 80 pages
- Publisher Dover Publications; Reprint edition (March 20, 2019)
- Language English
- ISBN-10 0486834069
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The Right Way to Do Wrong Harry Houdini 9780486834061 Books Reviews :
The Right Way to Do Wrong Harry Houdini 9780486834061 Books Reviews
- To make extra cash, Houdini sold copies of this slim tome in the lobbies of the theaters he played. It's unclear how much he knew about crime, but since would cozy up to police chiefs in Europe and America to boost publicity by arranging a jail break for publicity purposes, he certainly had good sources, and it's written in a breezy style.
- Good little book and a super easy read. Some of the pictures are faded from being photocopied versions of the super old and worn original, but nothing too bad.
- Ho hum
- I thought it would be a kick to read this old book from the great Harry Houdini. It was probably pretty interesting when first written, but gives quite vague and relatively uninteresting information now.
- I read about this book while reading Derren Brown's very entertaining book titled Tricks of the Mind. I thought it sounded interesting and would provide a glimpse into the mind of Houdini.
I was sorely disappointed. The book is a replicated copy of the original 1906 book which contains all of the printing press mistakes and crude drawings. This I didn't mind.
What was disturbing is the complete lack of any depth to the subject matter. Each chapter was very sketchy and also childish in it's brevity of both substance and knowledge. Indeed, from watching TV and general reading, I propose that most modern people could have penned a book superior to this novelty tome.
Houdini's tales of beggars, pickpockets, spiritualist and burglars are neither instructive nor very amusing. In fact, I found the totality of the work to be rather bland and unevenly written. The editorial review stated that he was a "entertaining writer". He was obviously great with magic and escapes but he should have left the writing to the experts.
This is not a book I would recommend for fans of true crime or even Houdini fans. Still yet, I am still pondering whether to buy Houdini A Magician Among the Spirits (I never seem to learn).
I hope you find this review helpful.
Michael L. Gooch - I can't wait to travel back in time to a hundred years ago and embark on a crime spree. This book is full of ye olde scams. Fun!
- Well Written, informative and very interesting. Book is put together well, and pictures are great. Thanks! That should be all the information you need to buy a book but insists that I type a longer review even though I could have not reviewed the item at all.
- Houdini's book was written in an age of higher standards for criminals. The people who would got to the effort of committing crimes of the sophistication described in the first half of this book, have pretty much shifted their efforts to the crimed in the second half.
The first half of the book is dedicated to quaint but relatively sophisticated theft. Second story men, pickpockets, safe crackers, and other thefts that are more than just opportunity or brute force are covered. The second half is scams, con games, proto-phishing schemes, and other crimes requiring a greater degree of thought. The second half is the part with some contemporary relevance. The sleight of hand behind the housing market collapse of 2008 would have made complete sense to the con artists Houdini described.
Overall, a fun book and an interesting glimpse at the crime threats in America before WWII.
E. M. Van Court
