From Publishers Weekly
He was buried alive for a week in Times Square, encased in ice for three days, also in Times Square, and stood atop an 83-foot pillar in Manhattan's Bryant Park for 36 hours-and received national TV coverage for all these feats. Often touted as the new Houdini, Blaine is a consummate magician as well as endurance artist and an important force in the field for his advocacy of "street magic." In this spirited book, his first, Blaine offers readers a magical extravaganza on paper, a mix of autobiography, history of magic, how-to (do magic), interactive magic tricks and self-help advice. Blaine begins with intimations of stage magic's power, with an account of legendary 19th-century magician Robert-Houdin traveling to Algeria on orders of the French government to quell an uprising by showing that his magic was greater than that of the rebels. He ends with a knuckle-whitening account of his pillar stunt, a "dream manifesto" ("Read. Observe.... Our minds have no limits") and suggested resources including books of general interest (at the top: The Brothers Karamazov). This is a very personal volume, with Blaine's passionate, playful, opinionated, determined personality evident on nearly every page. Magic buffs will find much here that's familiar, like the recaps of magicians past and present, but even serious hobbyists will pick up tips from the tricks and explanations scattered throughout, and the final chapters, devoted to Blaine's endurance challenges, are pure gold. Copious illustrations enliven the already brisk text. Though doubling as major promo for Blaine, this is one of the most thorough and enjoyable introductions to magic in years. Two-color throughout; four-color photo inserts.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The Michael Jordan of magic. The hip-hop Houdini. These are some of Blaine's promotional tags. Even if you didn't join the 15.88 million viewers who watched this escape artist's "Frozen in Time" special, you might like to know that Robert DeNiro has optioned his life story. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Blaine’s Challenge!
———— —— —— —— —— — —— —— — —— —— — ——— —— ————

A never-before-attempted challenge to readers everywhere!
WIN $100,000.00
Hidden throughout the volume now in front of you are secret little signals, clues, and codes that,
once understood and deciphered, will lead to the discovery of a
Treasure!!
Which has been hidden somewhere within the confines of the continental United States of America.
Where is it? Who Will find it?
We Can’t Say!
——————————————
This challenge has been created and sponsored by the world’s greatest mystifier . . .
DAVID BLAINE
who was
Buried Alive
For Seven Days and Seven Nights.
The one and same who became
the world’s ONLY LIVING ICE CUBE in world-famous Times Square
and who . . .
stood as still as a statue
10 stories above Manhattan
only to
leap to his life below.
—————————————

The book in your hands now
Reveals
Some of David Blaine’s most closely guarded SECRETS. Such as
WHO IS HE?

WHERE DID HE COME FROM?

HOW DOES HE DO IT?

The reader will also
LEARN a multitude of inside SECRETS with which he or she too can mystify anyone.

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. BLAINE
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN RECORDED HISTORY
WILL READ YOUR THOUGHTS THROUGH THE WRITTEN WORD

“A latter-day Houdini.” —The New York Times

“The hottest name in magic.”— USA Today

HIS SECRETS WILL BECOME YOURS
——————————————————————————————


From the Hardcover edition.


From the Inside Flap
Blaine’s Challenge!
———— —— —— —— —— — —— —— — —— —— — ——— —— ————

A never-before-attempted challenge to readers everywhere!
WIN $100,000.00
Hidden throughout the volume now in front of you are secret little signals, clues, and codes that,
once understood and deciphered, will lead to the discovery of a
Treasure!!
Which has been hidden somewhere within the confines of the continental United States of America.
Where is it? Who Will find it?
We Can’t Say!
——————————————
This challenge has been created and sponsored by the world’s greatest mystifier . . .
DAVID BLAINE
who was
Buried Alive
For Seven Days and Seven Nights.
The one and same who became
the world’s ONLY LIVING ICE CUBE in world-famous Times Square
and who . . .
stood as still as a statue
10 stories above Manhattan
only to
leap to his life below.
—————————————

The book in your hands now
Reveals
Some of David Blaine’s most closely guarded SECRETS. Such as
WHO IS HE?

WHERE DID HE COME FROM?

HOW DOES HE DO IT?

The reader will also
LEARN a multitude of inside SECRETS with which he or she too can mystify anyone.

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. BLAINE
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN RECORDED HISTORY
WILL READ YOUR THOUGHTS THROUGH THE WRITTEN WORD

“A latter-day Houdini.” —The New York Times

“The hottest name in magic.”— USA Today

HIS SECRETS WILL BECOME YOURS
——————————————————————————————


From the Hardcover edition.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
For those who believe, no explanation
is necessary.
For those who do not, none will suffice.
–Dunninger

CHAPTER I
For Those Who Be

In the 1850s in the North African country of Algeria, a group of Muslim miracle men called the Marabouts were stirring up a revolt among the native tribes, encouraging them to sever their ties to France. The Marabouts accomplished this by doing simple pieces of magic that would whip the local tribesmen into a frenzy, convincing them that they possessed supernatural powers. To preserve order in their colony, the French government didn’t send troops to Algeria. They sent a retired magician named Robert-Houdin.

Robert-Houdin traveled around Algeria performing miracles. He produced cannonballs from a hat and money from his fingertips. He made a young native disappear. But he faced his most difficult challenge when he visited a small tribe in the desert. A Marabout sheikh who had heard of his previous feats pulled two guns from his robes and challenged him to a duel. Since Robert-Houdin claimed to be invincible, the Marabout would have the right to the first shot. Thinking on his feet, the French magician postponed the duel until eight o’clock the next morning, claiming that he needed six hours of prayer to refresh his powers.

He didn’t pray. He spent two hours preparing for this challenge and then fell asleep. The next morning, he met the Marabout and his entourage in the village square. The street was swarming with Algerians who hoped to see the Frenchman killed. The Marabout produced the guns and loaded them with powder. Then he offered Robert-Houdin a choice of bullets. The magician chose two bullets and, under the watchful eye of his adversary, loaded the guns.

The Frenchman walked fifteen paces from the sheikh and turned to face him without displaying the slightest emotion. The Marabout took careful aim, and pulled the trigger. The pistol fired, and Robert-Houdin smiled. He had caught the bullet between his teeth.

Robert-Houdin then lifted his gun and, instead of pointing it at the frightened Marabout, fired the pistol at one of the buildings on the square. Whitewash flew, and where the bullet had struck, a large patch of blood suddenly appeared and dripped down the masonry.

The Marabout rushed to the wall, dipped his finger in the red substance, and tasted it. It was blood all right. His arms fell to his sides, and his head bowed. The spectators in the square raised their eyes to the heavens and began muttering prayers. Convinced that the French sorcerer had powers far beyond their own, the Algerians lost faith in the Marabouts, and the uprising began to cease.

Over a hundred years later, a Russian magician was performing onstage as part of a circus. His wife, who was wearing a beautiful fur coat, stood next to him. The magician took out a gun and aimed it at his wife. The gun discharged, and her coat disintegrated into pieces. As each piece hit the ground, it turned into a living mink. Hundreds of frightened minks started running all over the stage.

In 1937 a magician named Rajah Raboid, whose real name was Ray Boyd, was performing in Maine. He chose a random woman from his audience to come to the stage. When she realized that she was to be sawed in half, she refused. Then Raboid found two willing male volunteers and brought them onstage. He told the audience that he was going to perform the classic Sawing a Woman in Half illusion, but this time he would use one of the male volunteers in place of a woman. Then he hypnotized one of the men. A box was rolled onstage. Two assistants helped lift the hypnotized volunteer into the receptacle. The doors of the box were closed, and Raboid began to saw the box containing the man in half.

Suddenly the other volunteer objected. “If you’re gonna cut him in half, why do you need a box? It must be a trick box,” he scoffed. Indignant, Raboid called for his assistants, and they began dismantling the box. All four sides were removed, so that the man was completely visible as he lay on a thin wooden plank.

Raboid got to work. Slowly and methodically, in full view of the audience, he sawed right through the man’s body. What happened next was magic at its best. The lower part of the now-severed man’s torso rolled off the plank and scurried offstage. The hapless volunteer looked down and realized that the bottom half of his body was missing. “My legs! My legs!” he screamed. “Where are my legs?” With that, the half-man hopped off the plank, landed on his hands, and slowly waddled toward the audience.

Pandemonium broke out.


From the Hardcover edition.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Illusionist David Blaine has been called "the hip-hop Houdini," "the Michael Jordan of magic," and "the master mystifier." In Mysterious Stranger, he brings his magic into the reader's home. This package contains not only a copiously illustrated history of the art but also interactive magic effects, performed by Blaine directly for the reader. Blaine also reveals secrets that will enable readers to perform their own awe-inspiring tricks.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Blaine￯﾿ﾽs Challenge!

A never-before-attempted challenge to readers everywhere!
WIN $100,000.00
Hidden throughout the volume now in front of you are secret little signals, clues, and codes that,
once understood and deciphered, will lead to the discovery of a treasure!!
Which has been hidden somewhere within the confines of the continental United States of America.
Where is it? Who Will find it?
We Can￯﾿ﾽt Say!

This challenge has been created and sponsored by the world￯﾿ﾽs greatest mystifier . . .
DAVID BLAINE who was Buried Alive for Seven Days and Seven Nights.
The one and same who became the world￯﾿ﾽs ONLY LIVING ICE CUBE in world-famous Times Square
and who . . .stood as still as a statue10 stories above Manhattan only to leap to his life below.

The book in your hands now reveals some of David Blaine￯﾿ﾽs most closely guarded SECRETS. Such as

WHO IS HE?

WHERE DID HE COME FROM?

HOW DOES HE DO IT?

The reader will also LEARN a multitude of inside SECRETS with which he or she too can mystify anyone.

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. BLAINE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN RECORDED HISTORY WILL READ YOUR THOUGHTS THROUGH THE WRITTEN WORD

￯﾿ﾽA latter-day Houdini.￯﾿ﾽ ￯﾿ﾽThe New York Times

￯﾿ﾽThe hottest name in magic.￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽ USA Today

HIS SECRETS WILL BECOME YOURS

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

He was buried alive for a week in Times Square, encased in ice for three days, also in Times Square, and stood atop an 83-foot pillar in Manhattan's Bryant Park for 36 hours-and received national TV coverage for all these feats. Often touted as the new Houdini, Blaine is a consummate magician as well as endurance artist and an important force in the field for his advocacy of "street magic." In this spirited book, his first, Blaine offers readers a magical extravaganza on paper, a mix of autobiography, history of magic, how-to (do magic), interactive magic tricks and self-help advice. Blaine begins with intimations of stage magic's power, with an account of legendary 19th-century magician Robert-Houdin traveling to Algeria on orders of the French government to quell an uprising by showing that his magic was greater than that of the rebels. He ends with a knuckle-whitening account of his pillar stunt, a "dream manifesto" ("Read. Observe.... Our minds have no limits") and suggested resources including books of general interest (at the top: The Brothers Karamazov). This is a very personal volume, with Blaine's passionate, playful, opinionated, determined personality evident on nearly every page. Magic buffs will find much here that's familiar, like the recaps of magicians past and present, but even serious hobbyists will pick up tips from the tricks and explanations scattered throughout, and the final chapters, devoted to Blaine's endurance challenges, are pure gold. Copious illustrations enliven the already brisk text. Though doubling as major promo for Blaine, this is one of the most thorough and enjoyable introductions to magic in years. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal