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Fingers_Fidge
Regular user
England
103 Posts
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Posted: Jan 31, 2004 4:07pm
Hi
Can anyone recommend any Fictional novels that are either about magicians or have a magic theme in them, the ones that come to mind to me are:
The Houdini Girl
Carter Beats the Devil
52 ways to magic America
Hocus Corpus & Abra Cadaver
The War Magician
The Magicians Wife
Anyone else have any ideas ?
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John Smetana
???? - 2009
499 Posts
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Posted: Jan 31, 2004 5:32pm
Quote:
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On 2004-01-31 16:07, Fingers_Fidge wrote:
Hi
Can anyone recommend any Fictional novels that are either about magicians or have a magic theme in them, the ones that come to mind to me are:
The Houdini Girl
Carter Beats the Devil
52 ways to magic America
Hocus Corpus & Abra Cadaver
The War Magician
The Magicians Wife
Anyone else have any ideas ?
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I would suggest you get in touch with Michael Canick in New York City. He sells a listing of "Magic Fiction" that you should have. There are hundreds of titles in his listing and he has many of them available for sale.
You can find his website by searching on Google.com.
I also collect magic fiction and thought that I had a decent number of books, a hundred or so, until I saw Canick's list. I haven't even scratched the surface.
Good luck with your quest.
Best thoughts,
John Smetana 
PS BTW "The War Magician" isn't magic fiction.
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hitmouse
Loyal user
248 Posts
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Posted: Feb 1, 2004 8:19am
Hi
this one has been discussed a few times before.
you could do much worse than look at :
The Magus by John Fowles
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies.
Both heavyweight good literature and very good reading.
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enriqueenriquez
Inner circle
New York
1287 Posts
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Posted: Feb 1, 2004 9:46am
Carter Beats The devil is Outstanding!
“Love and other Games of Chance”, by Lee Siegel, comes to mind. You maybe would like it.
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Grey
New user
Portland, OR
30 Posts
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Posted: Feb 2, 2004 1:23am
Although only peripherally dealing with magic (the main character practices sleight of hand), "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman is a great book. It piqued my interest in sleights enough to actually learn a few!
It is an interesting novel as well.
Enjoy.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jim Elliot 1927-1956
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canick
New user
5 Posts
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Posted: Feb 3, 2004 1:02pm
Greetings:
First, thanks John for your referral to my book "Magic in Fiction: A Short-Tltle Checklist." It lists hundreds of novels & stories in a variety of genres.
Please forgive the commercial notes, but as John mentioned as well, we sell many works of magic fiction & have a whole bookcase of cheap paperbacks of this type for people who want reading copies.
On a more personal note, what I enjoy about these books -- aside from the literary/entertainment value of many of them -- is the way that the author presents magic. I attempt to understand how much he/she knows about the subject, how accurately the trick(s) is presented in the text, how seemingly impossible tricks could be performed, etc.
Here are a few personal recommendations:
Rawson, Clayton. 4 Novels & 16 short stories featuring the magician detective Merlini.
Straub, Peter. Shadowland. A gripping scary story w/ lots of magic performed as well.
Singer, Isaac. Magician of Lublin. There are many different editions of this Passover tale.
Davies, Robertson. Deptford Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore, World of Wonders -- this last featuring a magician as protagonist). While you're at it, read as many of Davies' books as you can <g>
Swain, Jim. Grift Sense, Funny Money & Sucker Bet. These are 3 well-written recent detective novels about gambling & cheating by a noted authority. [Disclaimer: he's a friend of mine]
I could go on & on w/ this list, but I'll end now by noting that I know of at least 3 different books whose title is "Abra Cadaver" (which someone mentioned in this thread).
Hope this helps.
Michael Canick
canick@panix.com
www.canick.com
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stine
Regular user
TN
122 Posts
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Posted: Feb 3, 2004 7:53pm
You gotta read "Nightmare Alley".william Lindsay Gresham
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magicdano
Regular user
Danny Habel
134 Posts
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Posted: Apr 28, 2012 5:48pm
Last post on tis was ten years ago. Any body have books to add in the last 10 years other than the Harry Potter Series?
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edh
Inner circle
4702 Posts
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Posted: Apr 28, 2012 10:35pm
The Prestige.
Magic is a vanishing art.
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Vlad_77
Inner circle
The Netherlands
3980 Posts
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Posted: Apr 29, 2012 6:59am
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Magic by William Goldman
While the next book takes place in a circus, I wanted to include it because circus and magic are tied so closely together. Besides, the book is a marvelous read: Spangle by Gary Jennings.
Ahimsa,
Vlad
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sleightly
Elite user
New Hampshire
468 Posts
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Posted: Apr 29, 2012 1:54pm
The Man Who Was Magic - Paul Gallico.
www.troublewit.net
www.threeshellgame.com
www.absomagic.com
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todsky
Inner circle
Montreal, Canada
1980 Posts
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Posted: Apr 29, 2012 8:38pm
Quote:
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On 2012-04-29 13:54, sleightly wrote:
The Man Who Was Magic - Paul Gallico.
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A great book! From the man who wrote The Poseidon Adventure, believe it or not! Highly recommended!
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todsky
Inner circle
Montreal, Canada
1980 Posts
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Posted: Apr 29, 2012 8:42pm
Quote:
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On 2012-04-29 06:59, Vlad_77 wrote:
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Magic by William Goldman
While the next book takes place in a circus, I wanted to include it because circus and magic are tied so closely together. Besides, the book is a marvelous read: Spangle by Gary Jennings.
Ahimsa,
Vlad
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Anything William Goldman writes is a page-turner. You'll never look at Do as I Do the same way after reading Magic.
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Voodini
Inner circle
1090 Posts
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Posted: Apr 30, 2012 3:28am
Another vote for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. A most excellent book.
Voodini - cold reading, past life regressions, remote viewing, Q&A, palm reading, bizarre & seance...
www.readerofminds.co.uk
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Richard Paddon
Loyal user
Australia
203 Posts
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Posted: Apr 30, 2012 7:07am
The Saviour by Hugh Miller
See here http://www.gdprice.com/books/23910.htm
Richard
Hollywood Princess, Knight's Tour Unlocked, PsyLock, Digital Video Deck, Colaura, Probe, Cards for Probe: Phobia, Emotion, PetSense, CinemaSense, AstroSense
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ljsviol
Loyal user
260 Posts
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Posted: Apr 30, 2012 11:09am
There's a thread in the forum "A turn of the page" about "Novels about magic":
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=111237&forum=135&49&start=30
Larry S.
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Larry Barnowsky
Inner circle
Cooperstown, NY where bats are made from
3906 Posts
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Posted: Apr 30, 2012 6:41pm
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Michael Chabon
Won Pulitzer Prize for fiction 2001
NOW SHIPPING The Book of Destiny +DVD http://www.barnowskymagic.com/bookofdestiny.html
Kingdom of the Red Book and DVD http://www.barnowskymagic.com/kotr1.html
21ST CENTURY COIN MECHANICS Book + Video CD www.barnowskymagic.com almost Out of Print
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MagicBus
Inner circle
Kalamazoo, Michigan
2263 Posts
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Posted: Apr 30, 2012 8:35pm
The brand new "Illusion" by Frank Peretti.
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steve_seguin
New user
London, Ontario
70 Posts
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Posted: Apr 30, 2012 8:50pm
Two of my favorites:
Paul Quarrington's The Spirit Cabinet: http://www.amazon.com/The-Spirit-Cabinet-Paul-Quarrington/dp/0802138071/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335833257&sr=8-1
Paul Theroux's Millroy the Magician: http://www.amazon.com/Millroy-Magician-Paul-Theroux/dp/0241950538/ref=sr_1_47?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335833390&sr=1-47
Both are very quirky and fun.
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Necromancer
Inner circle
Chicago
2566 Posts
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Posted: May 1, 2012 12:26am
The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
The Red Magician, Lisa Goldstein
Tourists, Lisa Goldstein
Now You See It, Richard Matheson
Sleight of Crime, 15 Tales of Murder, Mayhem and Magic, edited by Cedric Clute and Nicholas Lewin
APPEARING WEEKLY IN SUPERNATURAL CHICAGO.
See our promo video and TV montage now!
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mindmagic
Special user
London
637 Posts
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Posted: May 1, 2012 4:31am
Sherlock Holmes and the Houdini Birthright - Val Andrews
Confessor - John Gardner
The Magic Shop (short story) - H G Wells
Barry
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gypsyfish
Regular user
136 Posts
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Posted: May 1, 2012 9:39am
Daniel Stashower has written a series of Houdini mysteries, where he solves mysteries, that are pretty enjoyable. A couple titles are The Dime Store Murder and The Floating Lady Murder.
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Juble
Veteran user
316 Posts
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Posted: May 1, 2012 5:50pm
The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver
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Mike M
Loyal user
236 Posts
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Posted: May 2, 2012 2:19pm
I also recommend The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver - More twists than a barbershop pole!
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John Kokot
New user
91 Posts
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Posted: May 3, 2012 12:21pm
"Memoirs of Hecate County," by Edmund Wilson. Widely regarded as the preeminent American man of letters of the twentieth century, Wilson (1895-1972)was also reputed to be a magic buff.
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