I really don't know if I should be buying or even blogging about these books. They are not freshly researched biographies, nor do they appear to be written by people with any real interest in Houdini or even a point of view (I'm convinced the last one was written by a bot). These are whipped up with info found on the net, both good and bad, and seem created just to list on Amazon. This particular author is a self-publishing empire all his own, with many similar books on current events and conspiracies.
But maybe that's what makes these books worth getting? Are these unique products of this time? Will these become collectible like chapbooks are now, or will they be considered junk of the early days of print-on-demand publishing? I really don't know. But I do know they shouldn't be purchased for the purpose of learning about Houdini. There are many other better books for that.
Having said all that, you can buy Harry Houdini: A Harry Houdini Biography by Phil Coleman at Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amzon.co.uk (UK).
Related:
Just opened the "Look Inside" feature for the book on Amazon. Hopefully, the rest of the book was proofed more carefully than the introduction; e.g., "Through the course of this book we shall look explore his humble origins..."
ReplyDeleteIt's not. :)
DeleteCatchy title though! ;)
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