Description
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction Lance Burton
Preface Todd Karr
Part One
Chapter One: We’re off to see the Wizard…
Chapter Two: A Magician for his Time
Chapter Three: Under Magic Wood
Chapter Four: A Long, Long Trail A-Winding
Chapter Five: London Pride
Chapter Six: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
Chapter Seven: A New World Beckons
Chapter Eight: The Big Time
Chapter Nine: The Returned Magician
Part Two
Chapter Ten: Practice Makes Perfection
Chapter Eleven: Act as Known
Chapter Twelve: The Sincerest Form of Flattery?
Part Three
Chapter Thirteen: An Actor’s Life for Me?
Chapter Fourteen: A Changing World
Chapter Fifteen: Amateurs and Professionals
Chapter Sixteen: The Phantom, the Professor, and the Pretender
Chapter Seventeen: A Magician for all Seasons
Chapter Eighteen: The Magic Box
Chapter Nineteen: Sleight of Heart
Chapter Twenty: Final Curtain
Bibliography
Index
REVIEWS
Cardini was one of the greatest performing magicians of all time, and this volume is guaranteed to cast his spell the instant you enter its magical pages…a truly wonderful production…the bounty of images reproduced in this volume is nothing short of astounding. This long-awaited and well-deserved testament to one of the most important magicians of the twentieth century is an inordinately welcome addition to magic’s historical literature.
— Jamy Ian Swiss, Genii magazine
Cardini: The Suave Deceiver is not only great, it’s important. If you are remotely interested in Cardini, you must have it. One of magic’s most perfect acts…is thoroughly and completely described…(and) may make you laugh out loud at the sheet beauty of Cardini’s masterwork. The images are breathtaking.
— Brad Henderson, Magic Magazine
John Fisher has written the definitive biography of the magician imitated by more vaudeville artists than anyone else. With extraordinary photos and material from the archives of Cardini’s daughter, Carole, the book fills a gaping hole in the written history of magic. Todd Karr has done his usual fine job in putting together a volume which every magician will want to add to his library.
— Matthew Field, The Magic Circular
Cardini The Suave Deceiver is technically a biography, but at the risk of rhetorical excess, I prefer to call it a musical epic. Sweeping in scope, lavish in production, visually engrossing, and often lyrical in its prose, this work is a masterpiece worthy of its subject. The 800 illustrations (350 from the famed 1957 TV special alone) are mesmerizing.
— Michael Claxton, Magicol
More delighted reviews
Cardini: The Suave Deceiver is an adventure story, a love story, and a book about being a magician. This book has consumed me totally for the past few days.
John Fisher has written the definitive work on this great magician. I cannot even imagine the amount of effort that has gone into the writing of this book. Here is the information that I had seeked out for so many years. Much more than a biography, throughout this book you will read the thoughts of those who knew him or saw him work. These thoughts will grab at your soul and teach you what it means to be a magician.
This is an important book. It must be read. Not reading this book is like saying you’re a magician but have never read a book on Houdini. This is not a book for “tricksters”; this is a book for MAGICIANS!
— Denny Haney
Another superlative job !! Kudos to you and Mr. Fisher for putting together the definitive book on the evolution of manipulation acts. Highly recommended …worth every penny.
— Jonathan Neal Brown
Mr. Fisher and the entire Miracle Factory staff are to be congratulated for a monumental achievement in producing this book, a textbook for anyone aspiring to raise the performance of magic to an art.
John Fisher brings to his biography of Cardini the same attention to detail that made Cardini a magician without equal. Thanks to this book, many of the unanswered questions I had about Cardini the magician have been answered, and I have for the first time gotten a glimpse of the man behind the magic.
This is a book that will stand forever as a contribution to the history of magic as significant as The Memoirs of Robert-Houdin. Although Fisher tells us that Cardini was an agnostic, I am sure that if there is a heaven, Cardini is beaming with pride that his accomplishments have been immortalized in this way.
— Amado Narvaez
I wanted to congratulate you on doing such a spectacular job on the Cardini book. It is fabulous!
— Thomas C. Meseroll
You did it again! The Cardini book is great! I received it yesterday and have been spending hours reading it. I did not think you could top or even equal the Benson book but this is definitely on par with that book. You just keep hitting home runs with your books.
— Christopher H. Hanna
The book is an extremely important addition to the history of the craft. Thanks for another grand production.
— James B. Alfredson
It is another masterpiece of publishing. Thank you so much for doing this and to John Fisher of course as well! You may tire of all the praise, but please never tire from the work you do in putting out the most beautiful works of magic literature. We truly need you!
— Christopher Maniaci
Another stunning book in both content and production!
— Stephen Minch
The Cardini book is what a magical (not “magic”) book should be: weighty with intent, content, and gravitas. Nostalgia and elegiac emotions permeate the pages, but nothing is mournful or abject. The blood, sweat, tears, and, yes!, exuberance is happily evident. If readers spent half the time the producers of this book spent putting it together, they will be richly rewarded. My thanks to you and John Fisher for bringing us this rare, literary gift.
— Jon Racherbaumer
The Cardini book arrived this morning. I opened the package with great excitement, aiming to just to browse through it for a minute or two, intending to read it later. A couple of hours flew by as I sat enthralled by its contents, and the story of one of the greatest magic acts of its kind. The book is beautifully produced, and brings to life Dick Pitchford’s life as he and Swan enchanted the world with their artistry.
John Fisher has done a wonderful job in writing this book, and you have produced a beautiful book full of anecdotes and photographs of a period rich in magical history. This book sits proudly on my book shelf with your other wonderful publications.
— Tony Griffith
