Levitation: Physics And Psychology In The Service Of Deception [Paperback]

Jim Ottaviani (Author), Janine Johnston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2007

Hypnotic gestures. Fancy clothes. Lovely assistants. These things may make the magician, but science makes the magic. Levitation tells the amazing true story of the most dazzling illusion ever performed on stage, and features a cast of characters that seems too good to be true: The Scientist: John Neville Maskelyne, the oh-so-proper British magician and the trick's inventor. The American: Harry Kellar couldn't buy the illusion, so he found another way to get it. The Inventor: Guy Jarrett, the rough-and-tumble engineer who perfected the illusion. The Heir: Howard Thurston, the handsome and charismatic performer who inherited the act from Kellar and then, according to Kellar, ruined it. Or did he? Join us on stage and behind it and learn not only how to defy gravity, but why people believed you could.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This nonfiction graphic novel gives the history of three early 20th-century magicians and the invention of the standard levitation trick. It's claimed that Entranced Fakir, or The Levitation of the Princess of Karnak came from India, but in reality it was stolen from European magician John Neville Maskelyne by American Harry Kellar, who took it back to the States. Years later, it was passed on to Howard Thurston, who had the voice and bearing of a preacher with the manner of a carnival barker. (Kellar notes that the two professions are not so different.) The art is lively with nice Georgian and Jazz Age touches, especially in face shots that resemble old, hypnotic-eyed daguerreotypes of mesmerists in frock coats. It's all good fun, but the story never finds its heart, only touching on the obsessive control the great traveling magicians must have had, and their life on the road. The hard economics they faced comes through splendidly, however. To perform, they had to look like gentlemen. To survive, they had to act like cutthroat rogues. The story contains two revelations: one is the diagram explaining the trick. The other is the revelation that even when audience members are quietly shown how it works, they don't tell.(July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In an empty theater, 1920s premier magician Howard Thurston flips playing cards into the auditorium while rehearsing a line of patter. Behind him, three men open packing crates. They're led by Guy Jarrett, who sets up Thurston's most famous trick, the levitation of comely "Princess Karnac," and whose opinion of Thurston emerges as, after the magician splits, he tells the two stagehands the illusion's history. Thurston bought it from Harry Kellar, who "stole" it from its inventor (actually, Kellar figured it out and improved it). Jarrett thinks Thurston's a dope because he lets audience members inspect the act on stage. That close up, they see the wires. But then, get this: Thurston tells them they're now part of the act, so don't blow it—and they don't! Ottaviani's expositional procedure is the same as in Wire Mothers (2007) but no less effective, and Johnston's artwork is considerably suaver than Dylan Meconis' in Wire Mothers. The two short books on what Ottaviani calls "the science of the unscientific" come as a set (9780966010695) as well as individually. Olson, Ray

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Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: G.T. Labs (July 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978803701
• ISBN-13: 978-0978803704
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #496,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Ottaviani has worked in news agencies and golf courses in the Chicago area, nuclear reactors in the U.S. and Japan, and libraries in Michigan. He still works as a librarian by day, but stays up late writing comics about scientists. When he's not doing these things, he's spraining his ankles and flattening his feet by running on trails. Or he's reading. He reads a lot. Elsewhere on the web you can find him at www.gt-labs.com .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific graphic novel about magic: behind the scenes, December 3, 2007

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Levitation: Physics And Psychology In The Service Of Deception (Paperback)

Levitation by Jim Ottaviani and Janine Johnston is an expose of how magicians perform their famous levitation tricks on stage. But the book is far more than that. This beautiful graphic novel is narrated by a stagehand who knows the history of the trick and how it traveled from Europe with the magician John Neville Maskelyne to the American Harry Kellar, who stole the trick. The slim volume has backstage drama along with technical detail all lovingly illustrated by Johnston. Each panel is fantastic, especially those where real posters have been included. There's not a lot to this book, but what is there is all pleasing. I even got my husband to read this, and he's not a fan of graphic novels. Very enjoyable read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Both facinating and accurate, October 7, 2009

By 

Todd A. Schall-vess (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Levitation: Physics And Psychology In The Service Of Deception (Paperback)

A surprisingly detailed and accurate account of one of the most beautiful pieces in magic history. Some magicians will bristle at what is revealed here...but understanding does not preclude wonder...not if the information is artfully presented.

4.0 out of 5 stars Might get a rise out of you, August 26, 2011

By 

Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Levitation: Physics And Psychology In The Service Of Deception (Paperback)

"Levitation" is an interesting if confusing story about early 20th century magicians and the legerdemain that occurred between them. It's about magicians John Maskelyne, Harry Kellar and Howard Thurston and a particular trick of supposed levitation that was passed between them. It's was fun to see magicians trying to steal each other's secrets, and the lengths they went to to conceal their "powers" from others. The corny stage patter was fun to read as well.

Anyway, like many of Ottaviani's books, there is a lot of information in the notes that explains what does not come across in the artwork. This doesn't say much about the author's storytelling ability, but at least the info gets across in the end.

Is the story of these three magicians worthy of this much attention? Perhaps not, but I found "levitation" at least mildly entertaining.