New book examines Houdini (1953)

The new book Invented Lives, Imagined Communities: The Biopic and American National Identity professes to be the first full-length examination of American movie biopics. Among the biopics put under the microscope is the Tony Curtis classic Houdini (1953) in an essay by Murray Pomerance called "Empty Words: Houdini and Houdini."

The essay is highly academic and this book is probably published for use as a college textbook, which explains the inflated price of $90. However, you can read a good chunk of the Houdini essay via Amazon's preview feature for free.

Some of the other films examined are: Patton, The Great White Hope, Ed Wood, Milk, and Steven Spielberg's Lincoln.

Invented Lives, Imagined Communities: The Biopic and American National Identity is available as a hardcover and Kindle eBook on Amazon.com.

Related:

• HOUDINI (1953)
• Houdini (1953) makes list of 10 most inaccurate biopics