Go to Hachette Book Group home

Search

Site Preferences

Show prices in:

Promotion

Use code CYBER2024 for 30% off sitewide + free shipping over $30

By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.

The Glorious Deception

The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the Marvelous Chinese Conjurer

The Glorious Deception Open the full-size image

Contributors

By Jim Steinmeyer

Formats and Prices

Price

$24.99

Price

$31.99 CAD

Format

Trade Paperback

Format:

Trade Paperback $24.99 $31.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around April 11, 2006. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Also available from:

In a biography woven from equal parts enchantment and mystery, Jim Steinmeyer unveils the secrets behind the most enigmatic performer in the history of stage magic, Chung Ling Soo, the “Marvelous Chinese Conjurer” — a magician whose daring made his contemporary Houdini seem like the boy next door. Soo’s infamous and suspicious onstage death in 1918 mystified his fellow magicians: he was shot during a performance of “Defying the Bullets,” in which he attempted to catch marked bullets on a porcelain plate. When Soo died, his deceptions began to unravel. It was discovered that he was not Chinese but a fifty-eight-year-old American named William Ellsworth Robinson, a former magicians’ assistant and the husband of Olive Robinson. But even William Robinson was not who he appeared to be, for he had kept a second family with a mistress in a fashionable home near London. Here is a look at the rough-and-tumble world of turn-of-the-century entertainments, the West’s discovery of Oriental culture, and Soo’s strange descent into secrecy as he rose to stardom — written by the foremost chronicler of magic’s history and culture. Due to the scandals surrounding Robinson’s death, this is the first time his full story has ever been told. Photographs are included.

Genre:

On Sale
Apr 11, 2006
Page Count
464 pages
Publisher
Da Capo Press
ISBN-13
9780786717705

You May Also Like

Damn Glad to Meet You
Damn Glad to Meet You $30.00 $39.00 CAD
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier $29.00 $38.00 CAD
Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time
Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time $30.00 $39.00 CAD
Beyond the Throne
Beyond the Throne $30.00 $39.00 CAD
Honey, Baby, Mine
Honey, Baby, Mine $18.99 $23.99 CAD

Jim Steinmeyer

About the Author

Jim Steinmeyer has invented many of the famous illusions used by leading magicians from Ricky Jay to Siegfried & Roy. He created David Copperfield’s vanish of the Statue of Liberty and has also designed magic for six Broadway shows and many other productions, including Mary Poppins, currently playing in London’s West End. He is the author of Hiding the Elephant, the Los Angeles Times bestseller, which Teller hailed as “a radiant celebration of the genius, glamour, and gargantuan egos of stage magic.”

Steinmeyer has researched and rediscovered many great illusions of the past and has written numerous technical books on magic history and the techniques of magic. He lectures on these subjects and is a contributing editor to Magic magazine, the leading independent magazine for magicians.

In addition, Steinmeyer has served as consultant and producer for magic television specials in the United States and Great Britain, and was a writer and producer for the A&E network’s four-hour history of the art, The Story of Magic. For several years, he served as a consultant and concept designer for Walt Disney Imagineering, developing theme park attractions for The Walt Disney Company.

Jim Steinmeyer lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Frankie Glass, an independent television producer.

Learn more about this author