Customer Reviews

Isis & Beyond: The Biography of Cecil E. Nixon

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A look at the life of magician, inventor, gadfly, Cecil Nixon! Well researched and amusingly written. I really love the ornate cloth binding: uniquely "high class" for an independant, small-press type of book

This slim volume is worth it's weight in gold. A glimpse into the life of a man who inhabited his own self-created world, a man out of step with the modern world of his own age. The author has done a masterful job of researching his subject, & this volume can only be described as lavishly produced. Like it's topic, the book itself seems to harken back to a bygone era. Dr. Nixon would no doubt be proud of this testament to his life, & despite it's brevity, it paints a very vivid portrait indeed. But for the research of Mr. Wittelsbach, Nixon may have become lost in the mists of time.

I lived in San Francisco for a while, and I love this book, which is kind of about the secret history of that city: The odd artists and debutantes that circulated there in the good old days. I just wish this book had been longer. But, the other review is right about the layout of the book: It looks great. I've got my copy on a stand on my bookshelf. I hope someone writes a longer book about Cecil Nixon someday.

One of San Francisco's last colorful eccentrics, Dr. Cecil Nixon (1874-1962) is perhaps the most interesting inventor, underground or renouned, to have existed. Starting out as a Stage Magician and retiring in his midlife as a Dentist, Dr. Nixon later went on to create some of the most amazing mechanical devices ever documented. Examples include Sesame, the hand-carved door which opened on voice command, The Zither-playing automaton Isis (whose playlist featured over one-thousand songs - all voice activated), and her incredibly more advanced, though sadly unfinished violion-playing counter-part Galatea. All of this long before the advent of the computer. Learn of Dr. Nixon's philosophies, interests, loves, triumphs, and tragic end, all in this slender volume. A quick and inspiring read. Gets four stars for length.

I bought this book because Cecil Nixon was Anton LaVey's mentor. There is some good behind the scenes stuff about Anton LaVey in this book. The author, Doran Wittlesbach, also puts out a magazine, called "Bloody Beautiful" that I love.