Carter Beats the Devil
by Glen David Gold · first published 2001
50% recommend50% neutral
"America in the 1920s is a nation obsessed with magic. Not just the kind performed in theaters and on stages across the country, but the magic of technology, science, and prosperity. Enter Charles Carter - a.k.a. Carter the Great - a young master performer whose skill as an illusionist exceeds even that of the great Houdini. Fueled by a passion for magic born of desperation and loneliness, Carter has become a legend in his own time.". "Carter the Great's thrilling act involves outrageous stunts carried out on elaborate sets before the most demanding of audiences. Night after night, in towns a
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My favourite book to recommend is 'Carter Beats the Devil' by Glen David Gold. Perhaps the best praise I can give it is that I've recommended it quite a lot, with many varied friends and relatives reporting they found it most enjoyable. I find it difficult…
on “Ask HN: What are some great fiction reads for someone that reads non-fiction” ↗Carter beats the devil, by Glen David Gold. It is sort of a mystery-thriller fiction novel, set in a real-ish historical context of stage magicians, when technology is entering the scene. I found it very enjoyable, rarely…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗…The danger is - and Argo is one example but there are far, far worse (cough Dan Brown cough) - where you get fiction "based on true events". There are some lovely fictional biopics based on real people (Carter Beats the Devil springs to mind) but when you get the likes of the Da Vinci Code being taken as having some underlying truth I can see where you're coming from. But I doubt very much that those people believing the…
on “The Best Books I Read in 2013” ↗