-
The Secret Life of Houdini
- The Making of America's First Superhero
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $14.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
After years of struggling on the dime-museum circuit, Harry Houdini got a break that thrust him into the spotlight, performing for royalty and commanding vast sums. At a time when spy agencies frequently co-opted amateurs, Houdini went to London and developed a relationship with a man who would run MI-5; for the next several years, he traveled to Germany and Russia and routinely reported his findings. After World War I, Houdini set out to infiltrate and expose the seamy world of fake spirit mediums, triggering the wrath of a group of fanatical spiritualists led by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Death threats became an everyday occurrence, but the group would pose an even greater danger to Houdini's legacy.
As exciting as any good thriller, The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide legend and initiates the listener into the arcane world of professional magic.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author Joe Posnanski enters the world of Harry Houdini and his legions of devoted fans in an immersive, entertaining, and magical work on the illusionist’s impact on American culture - and why his legacy endures to this day.
-
-
Very much less than average
- By Kevin on 07-08-21
By: Joe Posnanski
-
The Secret History of Magic
- The True Story of the Deceptive Art
- By: Peter Lamont, Jim Steinmeyer
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you read a standard history of magic, you learn that it begins in ancient Egypt with the resurrection of a goose in front of the Pharaoh. You discover how magicians were tortured and killed during the age of witchcraft. You are told how conjuring tricks were used to quell rebellious colonial natives. The history of magic is full of such stories, which turn out not to be true. Behind the smoke and mirrors, however, lies the real story of magic.
-
-
Snoozefest
- By Eric Myers on 06-22-19
By: Peter Lamont, and others
-
Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon
- Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream
- By: David McGowan
- Narrated by: Bill Fike
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times. But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day.
-
-
My first review. This book changed me.
- By Robert on 06-30-19
By: David McGowan
-
Undisputed Truth
- By: Mike Tyson, Larry Sloman
- Narrated by: Joshua Henry
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon - Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most thrilling and ferocious boxers of all time - and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior.
-
-
Fascinating story about a train wreck of a life
- By Brock on 11-19-13
By: Mike Tyson, and others
-
How Magicians Think
- Misdirection, Deception, and Why Magic Matters
- By: Joshua Jay
- Narrated by: Joshua Jay
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The door to magic is closed, but it’s not locked. And now Joshua Jay, one of the world’s most accomplished magicians, not only opens that door but brings us inside to reveal the artistry and obsessiveness, esoteric history, and long-whispered-about traditions of a subject shrouded in mystery. In 52 short, compulsively listenable essays, Jay describes how he does it, whether it’s through the making of illusions, the psychology behind them, or the way technology influences the world of magic.
-
-
Joshua Jay Delivers
- By Travis N. on 12-15-21
By: Joshua Jay
-
David Copperfield's History of Magic
- By: David Copperfield, Richard Wiseman, David Britland
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin, David Copperfield
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this personal journey through a unique performing art, David Copperfield profiles some of the world’s most groundbreaking magicians. From the 16th-century magistrate who wrote an early book on conjuring, to the Roaring Twenties and the man who fooled Houdini, to the woman who levitated, vanished, and caught bullets in her bare hands, David Copperfield’s History of Magic takes you on a wild journey through the remarkable feats of some of the greatest magicians in history.
-
-
Interesting stories / bland reading
- By Salman Qureshi on 03-01-22
By: David Copperfield, and others
-
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author Joe Posnanski enters the world of Harry Houdini and his legions of devoted fans in an immersive, entertaining, and magical work on the illusionist’s impact on American culture - and why his legacy endures to this day.
-
-
Very much less than average
- By Kevin on 07-08-21
By: Joe Posnanski
-
The Secret History of Magic
- The True Story of the Deceptive Art
- By: Peter Lamont, Jim Steinmeyer
- Narrated by: Rory Barnett
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you read a standard history of magic, you learn that it begins in ancient Egypt with the resurrection of a goose in front of the Pharaoh. You discover how magicians were tortured and killed during the age of witchcraft. You are told how conjuring tricks were used to quell rebellious colonial natives. The history of magic is full of such stories, which turn out not to be true. Behind the smoke and mirrors, however, lies the real story of magic.
-
-
Snoozefest
- By Eric Myers on 06-22-19
By: Peter Lamont, and others
-
Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon
- Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream
- By: David McGowan
- Narrated by: Bill Fike
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times. But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day.
-
-
My first review. This book changed me.
- By Robert on 06-30-19
By: David McGowan
-
Undisputed Truth
- By: Mike Tyson, Larry Sloman
- Narrated by: Joshua Henry
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon - Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most thrilling and ferocious boxers of all time - and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior.
-
-
Fascinating story about a train wreck of a life
- By Brock on 11-19-13
By: Mike Tyson, and others
-
How Magicians Think
- Misdirection, Deception, and Why Magic Matters
- By: Joshua Jay
- Narrated by: Joshua Jay
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The door to magic is closed, but it’s not locked. And now Joshua Jay, one of the world’s most accomplished magicians, not only opens that door but brings us inside to reveal the artistry and obsessiveness, esoteric history, and long-whispered-about traditions of a subject shrouded in mystery. In 52 short, compulsively listenable essays, Jay describes how he does it, whether it’s through the making of illusions, the psychology behind them, or the way technology influences the world of magic.
-
-
Joshua Jay Delivers
- By Travis N. on 12-15-21
By: Joshua Jay
-
David Copperfield's History of Magic
- By: David Copperfield, Richard Wiseman, David Britland
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin, David Copperfield
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this personal journey through a unique performing art, David Copperfield profiles some of the world’s most groundbreaking magicians. From the 16th-century magistrate who wrote an early book on conjuring, to the Roaring Twenties and the man who fooled Houdini, to the woman who levitated, vanished, and caught bullets in her bare hands, David Copperfield’s History of Magic takes you on a wild journey through the remarkable feats of some of the greatest magicians in history.
-
-
Interesting stories / bland reading
- By Salman Qureshi on 03-01-22
By: David Copperfield, and others
-
Magical
- How Magic and its Star Performers Transformed the Entertainment Economy
- By: Bharat Rao
- Narrated by: Joel Daffurn
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are solo magicians today who are making over $20,000 per performance, while those in the big leagues routinely bring in over $20 million a year. How did they get there and what are the keys to their success? What skills and techniques do they possess and deploy that can be easily adapted for your own personal use? In this audiobook, you will learn of the key attitudes and practices that propel their success, as well as the path they have paved for other magicians and performers hoping to gain an entry into this competitive yet lucrative industry.
-
-
Stellar!
- By Bala Mulloth on 03-19-19
By: Bharat Rao
-
Encounters
- Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences: Explorations with UFOs, Dreams, Angels, AI and Other Dimensions
- By: D. W. Pasulka
- Narrated by: D. W. Pasulka
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revolution is underway. For the first time in human history, we are at the cusp of experiencing contact with nonhuman life-forms of all kinds due to technological innovations and research into the experiences of people at the forefront of this development. In Encounters, author D.W. Pasulka takes listeners to the forefront of this revolution, sharing the work of experts across a spectrum of fields who are working to connect humanity with unknown life-forms.
-
-
Discombobulated and unfocused.
- By Dillon on 11-08-23
By: D. W. Pasulka
-
The Witch of Lime Street
- Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World
- By: David Jaher
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1920s are famous as the golden age of jazz and glamour, but it was also an era of fevered yearning for communion with the spirit world, after the loss of tens of millions in the First World War and the Spanish-flu epidemic. A desperate search for reunion with dead loved ones precipitated a tidal wave of self-proclaimed psychics - and, as reputable media sought stories on occult phenomena, mediums became celebrities.
-
-
Houdini, Conan Doyle and Marjorie
- By Blue Dragonfly on 10-11-15
By: David Jaher
-
A Magician Among the Spirits
- By: Harry Houdini
- Narrated by: Russell Stamets
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I have spent a goodly part of my life in study and research. During the last 30 years, I have read every single piece of literature on the subject of spiritualism that I could. I have accumulated one of the largest libraries in the world on psychic phenomena, spiritualism, magic, witchcraft, demonology, evil spirits, etc - some of the material going back as far as 1489. And I doubt if any one in the world has so complete a library on modern spiritualism, but nothing I ever read concerning the so-called spiritualistic phenomena has impressed me as being genuine.
-
-
Fascinating book, awful narration
- By KJM on 12-29-23
By: Harry Houdini
-
Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen Fry - introductions
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 71 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since he made his first appearance in A Study In Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes has enthralled and delighted millions of fans throughout the world. Now Audible is proud to present Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, read by Stephen Fry. A lifelong fan of Doyle's detective fiction, Fry has narrated the definitive collection of Sherlock Holmes - four novels and four collections of short stories. And, exclusively for Audible, Stephen has written and narrated eight insightful introductions, one for each title.
-
-
Chapter Guide!
- By Katya Rice on 05-25-18
By: Arthur Conan Doyle, and others
-
Fooling Houdini
- Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind
- By: Alex Stone
- Narrated by: Alex Stone
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Alex Stone was five years old, his father bought him a magic kit - a gift that would spark a lifelong love. Years later, while living in New York City, he discovered a vibrant underground magic scene exploding with creativity and innovation and populated by a fascinating cast of characters: from his gruff mentor, who holds court in the back of a rundown pizza shop, to one of the world's greatest card cheats, who also happens to be blind. Captivated, he plunged headlong into this mysterious world.
-
-
I suppose the author thinks he's clever
- By Joe on 11-01-12
By: Alex Stone
-
AMORALMAN
- A True Story and Other Lies
- By: Derek DelGaudio
- Narrated by: Derek DelGaudio
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Derek DelGaudio believed he was a decent, honest man. But when irrefutable evidence to the contrary is found in an old journal, his memories are reawakened and Derek is forced to confront - and try to understand - his role in a significant act of deception from his past. Using his youthful notebook entries as a road map, Derek embarks on a soulful, often funny, sometimes dark journey, retracing the path that led him to a world populated by charlatans, card cheats, and con artists.
-
-
A perfect companion piece to In & Of Itself
- By jesse on 07-09-21
By: Derek DelGaudio
-
How to Close Every Sale
- By: Joe Girard, Robert L. Shook
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every salesperson knows that closing is the moment of truth. But closing isn't something that happens only at the end of your presentation. Joe Girard shows you how to set yourself up for success from the beginning and prepares you to deal with your biggest obstacles. Find out why people who give you the most initial resistance will become some of your best prospects. Learn how to avoid buyer's procrastination and create a sense of urgency. And discover why the sale really begins after the sale.
-
-
Wonderful Book
- By Blakley Friend on 05-10-24
By: Joe Girard, and others
-
Virgins
- An Outlander Short
- By: Diana Gabaldon
- Narrated by: Allan Scott-Douglas
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mourning the death of his father and gravely injured at the hands of the English, Jamie Fraser finds himself running with a band of mercenaries in the French countryside, where he reconnects with his old friend, Ian Murray. Both are nursing wounds, both have good reason to stay out of Scotland, and both are still virgins despite several opportunities to remedy that deplorable situation with ladies of easy virtue.
-
-
Don't expect an in depth story
- By ELZIE B HICKERSON on 10-30-16
By: Diana Gabaldon
-
11-22-63
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
-
-
I Owe Stephen King An Apology
- By Kelly - Write Well Academy on 04-16-12
By: Stephen King
-
Zen in the Art of Archery
- By: Eugen Herrigel
- Narrated by: Ralph Blum
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is almost impossible to understand Zen by studying it as you would other intellectual pursuits. The best way to understand Zen is, simply, to Zen. This is what author Eugen Herrigel allows us to do by sharing his own fascinating journey toward a comprehension of this illuminating philosophy. In Japan, an art such as archery is not practiced solely for utilitarian purposes such as learning to hit targets. Archery is also meant to train the mind and bring it into contact with the ultimate reality.
-
-
Terrific!
- By Peter S. on 04-02-18
By: Eugen Herrigel
-
Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
-
-
Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
By: Ken Follett
Related to this topic
-
The Witch of Lime Street
- Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World
- By: David Jaher
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1920s are famous as the golden age of jazz and glamour, but it was also an era of fevered yearning for communion with the spirit world, after the loss of tens of millions in the First World War and the Spanish-flu epidemic. A desperate search for reunion with dead loved ones precipitated a tidal wave of self-proclaimed psychics - and, as reputable media sought stories on occult phenomena, mediums became celebrities.
-
-
Houdini, Conan Doyle and Marjorie
- By Blue Dragonfly on 10-11-15
By: David Jaher
-
Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
-
-
Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
-
Dreamers and Deceivers
- True and Untold Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Jeremy Lowell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The new nonfiction from number-one best-selling author and popular radio and television host Glenn Beck.
-
-
Astounding History stories gather life
- By Gil on 11-13-14
By: Glenn Beck
-
A Kim Jong-Il Production
- The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power
- By: Paul Fischer
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Conceiving every movie made, he acted as producer and screenwriter. Despite this control, he was underwhelmed by the available talent and took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi) - South Korea's most famous actress - and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country's most famous filmmaker.
-
-
Absolutely terrifying
- By Anonymous on 02-19-15
By: Paul Fischer
-
Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination
- The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford's Theatre
- By: Thomas A. Bogar
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 14, 1865. A famous actor pulls a trigger in the presidential balcony, leaps to the stage, and escapes, as the president lies fatally wounded. In the panic that follows, forty-six terrified people scatter in and around Ford's Theater as soldiers take up stations by the doors and the audience surges into the streets chanting, "Burn the place down!" This is the untold story of Lincoln's assassination: The forty-six stage hands, actors, and theater workers on hand for the bewildering events in the theater that night.
-
-
Stars of an Unrehearsed Impromptu Drama
- By William G. Stuart on 08-17-15
By: Thomas A. Bogar
-
American Lightning
- Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was an explosion that reverberated across the country—and into the very heart of early-twentieth-century America. On the morning of October 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times Building buckled as a thunderous detonation sent men, machinery, and mortar rocketing into the night air. When at last the wreckage had been sifted and the hospital triage units consulted, twenty-one people were declared dead and dozens more injured. But as it turned out, this was just a prelude to the devastation that was to come.
-
-
very interesting popular history
- By D. Littman on 11-28-08
By: Howard Blum
-
The Witch of Lime Street
- Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World
- By: David Jaher
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 1920s are famous as the golden age of jazz and glamour, but it was also an era of fevered yearning for communion with the spirit world, after the loss of tens of millions in the First World War and the Spanish-flu epidemic. A desperate search for reunion with dead loved ones precipitated a tidal wave of self-proclaimed psychics - and, as reputable media sought stories on occult phenomena, mediums became celebrities.
-
-
Houdini, Conan Doyle and Marjorie
- By Blue Dragonfly on 10-11-15
By: David Jaher
-
Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
-
-
Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
-
Dreamers and Deceivers
- True and Untold Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Jeremy Lowell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The new nonfiction from number-one best-selling author and popular radio and television host Glenn Beck.
-
-
Astounding History stories gather life
- By Gil on 11-13-14
By: Glenn Beck
-
A Kim Jong-Il Production
- The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power
- By: Paul Fischer
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's Ministry for Propaganda and its film studios. Conceiving every movie made, he acted as producer and screenwriter. Despite this control, he was underwhelmed by the available talent and took drastic steps, ordering the kidnapping of Choi Eun-Hee (Madam Choi) - South Korea's most famous actress - and her ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, the country's most famous filmmaker.
-
-
Absolutely terrifying
- By Anonymous on 02-19-15
By: Paul Fischer
-
Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination
- The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford's Theatre
- By: Thomas A. Bogar
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 14, 1865. A famous actor pulls a trigger in the presidential balcony, leaps to the stage, and escapes, as the president lies fatally wounded. In the panic that follows, forty-six terrified people scatter in and around Ford's Theater as soldiers take up stations by the doors and the audience surges into the streets chanting, "Burn the place down!" This is the untold story of Lincoln's assassination: The forty-six stage hands, actors, and theater workers on hand for the bewildering events in the theater that night.
-
-
Stars of an Unrehearsed Impromptu Drama
- By William G. Stuart on 08-17-15
By: Thomas A. Bogar
-
American Lightning
- Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was an explosion that reverberated across the country—and into the very heart of early-twentieth-century America. On the morning of October 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times Building buckled as a thunderous detonation sent men, machinery, and mortar rocketing into the night air. When at last the wreckage had been sifted and the hospital triage units consulted, twenty-one people were declared dead and dozens more injured. But as it turned out, this was just a prelude to the devastation that was to come.
-
-
very interesting popular history
- By D. Littman on 11-28-08
By: Howard Blum
-
The Devil's Gentleman
- Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The wayward son of a revered Civil War general, Roland Molineux enjoyed good looks, status, and fortune - hardly the qualities of a prime suspect in a series of shocking, merciless cyanide killings. Molineux's subsequent indictment for murder led to two explosive trials and a sex-infused scandal that shocked the nation. Bringing to life Manhattan's Gilded Age, Schechter captures all the colors of the tumultuous legal proceedings.
-
-
A Book Without an Accompanying Wiki Page Is Always A Treat
- By Carolina on 02-27-17
By: Harold Schechter
-
Sin in the Second City
- Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul
- By: Karen Abbott
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Karen Abbott's colorful, nuanced portrait of the iconic Everleigh sisters; their world-famous brothel, the Everleigh Club; and the perennial clash between our nation's hedonistic impulses and Puritanical roots culminates in a dramatic last stand between brothel keepers and crusading reformers. Sin in the Second City offers a vivid snapshot of America's journey from Victorian-era propriety to 20th-century modernity.
-
-
Great book - brilliant narrator!
- By Z. Halley on 04-17-10
By: Karen Abbott
-
A Flame of Pure Fire
- Jack Dempsey and the Roaring '20s
- By: Roger Kahn
- Narrated by: Kevin Yon
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through most of the Roaring '20s, Jack Dempsey was the heavyweight champion of the world. With his fierce good looks and matchless dedication to the kill, he was a fighter perfectly suited to his time. In A Flame of Pure Fire, renowned sports writer Roger Kahn not only chronicles the thrilling, brutal bouts of the Manassa Mauler, but also illustrates how the tumultuous 1920s shaped Dempsey - and how the champ, in turn, left an indelible mark on sports and American history.
-
-
Ambitious but poorly executed
- By Keith on 10-02-19
By: Roger Kahn
-
The Day Lincoln Was Shot
- By: Jim Bishop
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a historical classic as enthralling as a novel, author Jim Bishop colorfully depicts the city of Washington as it is celebrating the end of the Civil War. With research carefully gathered over 25 years, he weaves details together so skillfully, that even though you know the outcome, the suspense heightens with each unfolding event. It’s Good Friday, April 14, 1865. While all around him, people demand vengeance on the subdued southern states, the President plans to rebuild demolished cities and send captured Secessionist soldiers home to plant their crops.
By: Jim Bishop
-
A Bright and Guilty Place
- Murder, Corruption, and L.A.'s Scandalous Coming of Age
- By: Richard Rayner
- Narrated by: Brett Barry
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Bright and Guilty Place, an exhilarating tale of murder in L.A., Richard Rayner finds the source of the city's darkness in real-life events that unfolded in the 1920s, when the booming early years of L.A. started to shade into the Depression, and the city of sunshine revealed the hidden darkness and corruption at its heart.
-
-
Didn't hold my interest
- By Hopesurvives on 11-03-17
By: Richard Rayner
-
My Autobiography
- By: Charles Chaplin, David Robinson - introduction
- Narrated by: Steve John Shepherd
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Take an unforgettable journey with the man George Bernard Shaw called "the only genius to come out of the movie industry" as he moves from his impoverished South London childhood to the heights of Hollywood wealth and fame; from the McCarthy-era investigations to his founding of United Artists to his "reverse migration" back to Europe.
-
-
Finally Chaplin’s auto is available!
- By Ryan Baumbach on 04-28-22
By: Charles Chaplin, and others
-
Hellhound on His Trail
- The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin
- By: Hampton Sides
- Narrated by: Hampton Sides
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On April 23, 1967, Prisoner #416J, an inmate at the notorious Missouri State Penitentiary, escaped in a breadbox. Fashioning himself Eric Galt, this nondescript thief and con man - whose real name was James Earl Ray -drifted through the South, into Mexico, and then Los Angeles, where he was galvanized by George Wallace's racist presidential campaign. With relentless storytelling drive, Sides follows Galt and King as they crisscross the country, one stalking the other, until the crushing moment at the Lorraine Motel.
-
-
History Comes Alive
- By L. Lyter on 06-29-10
By: Hampton Sides
-
American Rose
- A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee
- By: Karen Abbott
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the critically acclaimed Sin in the Second City, best-selling author Karen Abbott “pioneered sizzle history” (USA Today). Now she returns with the gripping and expansive story of America’s coming-of-age - told through the extraordinary life of Gypsy Rose Lee and the world she survived and conquered. America in the Roaring Twenties. Vaudeville was king. Talking pictures were only a distant flicker. Speakeasies beckoned beyond dimly lit doorways; money flowed fast and free.
-
-
Well done biography of a complicated Icon
- By Moire on 01-27-11
By: Karen Abbott
-
American Brutus
- John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies
- By: Michael Kauffman
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 21 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In American Brutus, popular historian Michael W. Kauffman delivers a history that reads more like a best-selling novel. This definitive masterwork dispels commonly held myths and reveals the truth about John Wilkes Booth. Luring Southern sympathizers into a “noble” presidential kidnapping, Booth stunned his puzzled pawns by murdering Lincoln. From Booth’s early life and acting career to his escape and death, this meticulously researched book re-examines it all using a wealth of primary sources.
-
-
informative
- By Sue Ogle on 11-27-20
By: Michael Kauffman
-
Charlatan
- America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him and the Age of Flimflam
- By: Pope Brock
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the enormously entertaining story of how a fraudulent surgeon made a fortune by inserting goats' testes into impotent American men. "Doctor" John Brinkley became a world renowned authority on sexual rejuvenation in the 1920s, with famous politicians and even royalty asking for his services.
-
-
nix the narrator
- By susan nenadic on 02-08-09
By: Pope Brock
-
Grant's Final Victory
- Ulysses S. Grant's Heroic Last Year
- By: Charles Bracelen Flood
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shortly after losing all of his wealth in a terrible 1884 swindle, Ulysses S. Grant learned he had terminal throat and mouth cancer. Destitute and dying, Grant began to write his memoirs to save his family from permanent financial ruin. As Grant continued his work, suffering increasing pain, the American public became aware of this race between Grant's writing and his fatal illness. Twenty years after his respectful and magnanimous demeanor toward Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, people in the North and the South came to know Grant, now using his famous determination in this final effort.
-
-
Great story, average narration
- By Tad Davis on 04-25-12
-
The Italian Secretary
- By: Caleb Carr
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best-selling author of the Alienist series returns with a chilling elaboration on the Sherlock Holmes canon, as the famed detective investigates a pair of gruesome murders, which cast an otherworldly shadow as far as Queen Victoria herself.
-
-
A True Delight for the Holmes Enthusiast
- By Sagar on 06-03-05
By: Caleb Carr
What listeners say about The Secret Life of Houdini
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- .
- 10-21-14
Very good, but wanted more.
Any additional comments?
I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about Houdini that I didn't know. But this was an abridged book and I felt there were some things left out or overly summarized. I'll check out the unabridged version from the library.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kintsukuroi
- 04-18-16
Great listen
This story had enough detail about his life to keep you interested but not so much that it became boring. It was really interesting and kept me listening to the whole book on one long road trip.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sean J Kalin
- 07-12-20
JUST WHEN YOU THOGHT YOU KNEW THE STORY>>>
A great book. I could not put it down. Just when I thought I knew the whole story, this book comes around, and now I have a renewed interest . I am also full of questions. Just what every book should do. Bravo...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chad
- 05-16-15
Absolutely Captivating
A friend of mine recommended this book to me and it turned out to be awesome. especially the part about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the author of Sherlock Holmes towards the end there certainly some sides of your day of the Houdini story probably never heard
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pakata
- 11-18-22
Good Story. Just general overview
This is a well laid out 10,000 feet look at Houdini’s life. It is enjoyable and has good information and production. Like all abridgments, it is somewhat choppy in the storyline and does not give you much detail. It was an average, enjoyable book nonetheless
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tim
- 04-17-17
Magical
Greatly insightful look into the life of a master magician and psychic revealer. It is clear the authors did their homework right.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- daniel a thompson
- 11-28-12
Awesome !
Would you listen to The Secret Life of Houdini again? Why?
Really interesting. So much I didn't know about him
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Secret Life of Houdini?
His battle with Sir Conan Dooyle
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
His story about flying a plane in Australia
Any additional comments?
highly recommend
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nancy Rojas
- 01-09-23
Houdini
Cbcbdb chdbdbdhdbxbjendbjsbjxb h brush dud due did cud did did did did dud dud dud
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- apad
- 07-27-18
great story about an amazing man
I knew the gist of Houdini's life from documentaries, but was still surprised by how much he did, and struggled, that I didn't know about. There are also some scenes (like the opening one) which are deliver more dramatically and less like an accounting of fact which are very gripping.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Harry Houdini
- 05-15-15
long time Houdini fan
I have been a longstanding Houdini fan. in fact, Houdini is my nick name since childhood. I was so influenced by him that I took up magic. Although I have read countless books on Houdini, I enjoyed this one. I especially like the information about the friendship and later rivalry with Conan Doyle. I also like the detailed explanation on Houdini's demise. People constantly argue that he died performing an illusion, or burst appendix or peritonitis.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!