William Lindsay Gresham
Author
Summary
Nightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a carnival-show geek--alcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowd's gleeful disgust and derision--going about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There's no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him. And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak...
Author
Summary
First published in 1959, this is a fascinating look at the life and career of magician and escape-artist Harry Houdini (1874-1926). Author William Gresham interviewed many people who knew Houdini personally, adding greatly to the book's accuracy and authoritativeness, and he also reviewed all of the available books, and newspaper and magazine articles on the magician. Gresham explains many of Houdini's illusions, and debunks some of the many myths...