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A review by kmccubbin
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
4.0
Somehow Gold reinvigorates the idea of the stage magician and gives it a sense of wonder that I haven't felt since I was a child. All of those things that you have, for much of your adult life, been told that were wondrous and mysterious and grand that you knew just weren't? Somehow, in this mock biography of a real prohibition era magician, Gold restores them to their luster, much in the same way that many of the theaters frequented in this book have been restored in the last several decades in the real world.
To say too much about this story would be a crime because much of the delight is about stumbling across places and characters which seem vaguely familiar and courting the giddy familiarity that rises as you discover who or what they are.
Gold also manages to weave a whip cracker of an old fashioned adventure story, that feels nostalgic without being cliched, through the book.
Just a delight. A giddy, larger than life, delight.
Of special interest to readers with an interest in San Francisco and Oakland history.
To say too much about this story would be a crime because much of the delight is about stumbling across places and characters which seem vaguely familiar and courting the giddy familiarity that rises as you discover who or what they are.
Gold also manages to weave a whip cracker of an old fashioned adventure story, that feels nostalgic without being cliched, through the book.
Just a delight. A giddy, larger than life, delight.
Of special interest to readers with an interest in San Francisco and Oakland history.