The Sharper Detected and Exposed

The Sharper Detected and Exposed
Author: Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2019-12-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

"The Sharper Detected and Exposed" is a brilliant work by Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin, a French watchmaker, magician, and illusionist widely recognized as the father of the modern style of conjuring. In his book, he tells real stories about card sharps and other crooks he met in life. He gives detailed descriptions of the cheating methods used by card sharps and technical details of the methods used to cheat people.

The Darrow Enigma

The Darrow Enigma
Author: Melvin L. Severy
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2019-12-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

In 'The Darrow Enigma' by Melvin L. Severy, a physician recounts his accidental rise to fame due to a chance cure of Mrs. P. His fame leads him to meet chemist George Maitland, who shares his interest in experimentation. The physician dreams of curing ailments by injecting missing chemicals into patients' blood, similar to how Cornell University had done with plants. Maitland seeks the physician's acquaintance to get to know Gwen Darrow, daughter of the physician's patient, John Darrow, which begins a complex web of secrets, intrigue, and mystery.

Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, ambassador, author and conjurer

Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, ambassador, author and conjurer
Author: Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2019-12-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, ambassador, author, and conjurer is a book by Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. It presents the fictive tale of Robert Houdin, a performer in France during the 19th Century – who is thought to be the father of contemporary magic and illusion.

The Lives of the Conjurors

The Lives of the Conjurors
Author: Thomas Frost
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2024-06-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 3385517966

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

Pranksters

Pranksters
Author: Kembrew McLeod
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0814796303

From Benjamin Franklin's newspaper hoax that faked the death of his rival to Abbie Hoffman’s attempt to levitate the Pentagon, pranksters, hoaxers, and con artists have caused confusion, disorder, and laughter in Western society for centuries. Profiling the most notorious mischief makers from the 1600s to the present day, Pranksters explores how “pranks” are part of a long tradition of speaking truth to power and social critique. Invoking such historical and contemporary figures as P.T. Barnum, Jonathan Swift, WITCH, The Yes Men, and Stephen Colbert, Kembrew McLeod shows how staged spectacles that balance the serious and humorous can spark important public conversations. In some instances, tricksters have incited social change (and unfortunate prank blowback) by manipulating various forms of media, from newspapers to YouTube. For example, in the 1960s, self-proclaimed “professional hoaxer” Alan Abel lampooned America’s hypocritical sexual mores by using conservative rhetoric to fool the news media into covering a satirical organization that advocated clothing naked animals. In the 1990s, Sub Pop Records then-receptionist Megan Jasper satirized the commodification of alternative music culture by pranking the New York Times into reporting on her fake lexicon of “grunge speak.” Throughout this book, McLeod shows how pranks interrupt the daily flow of approved information and news, using humor to underscore larger, pointed truths. Written in an accessible, story-driven style, Pranksters reveals how mischief makers have left their shocking, entertaining, and educational mark on modern political and social life.