Fleischman does an excellent job noting the places where records don’t match up and giving possible scenarios for the reader to decide among. One of the things that made The Story of the Great Houdini so fascinating to me is the fact that Harry Houdini had a bad habit of doctoring his own history, including in his own diary, making many of the details of his life difficult to pin down. And you know what? I love Fleischman for that. Like any good magician, Fleischman doesn’t give away any of Houdini’s secrets – there is little or no discussion on how he does the tricks, but rather the focus is on Houdini’s life and career and lasting fame, eighty years after his death. He even met Houdini’s wife, Bess, when he was young, so he had a particular interest in this man. Sid Fleischman, who won the Newbery award 22 years ago for The Whipping Boy, was, apparently, something of an amateur magician himself and worshiped Houdini (like virtually every other young magician). escape! The story of the great houdini by sid fleischman
Was it the 20’s or the 60’s? I had no earthly idea.
And I couldn’t have even told you what decade he died in. I knew he’d been punched in the stomach by a college student a few days before he died, but I wasn’t sure if it had caused his death or how or if that was even true. I have heard about him for as long as I can remember.īut many of the details about his life were very very fuzzy to me. And, of course, Harry Houdini has always been king. My dad is an amateur magician and our hallway is covered in framed magic posters. Escape! The Story of The Great Houdini is a phenomenal book for both fiction and non-fiction readers.
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