Customer Reviews

The Right Way To Do Wrong: An Expose Of Successful Criminals (1906)

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I read about this book while reading Derren Brown's very entertaining book titled Tricks of the Mind. I thought it sounded interesting and would provide a glimpse into the mind of Houdini.

I was sorely disappointed. The book is a replicated copy of the original 1906 book which contains all of the printing press mistakes and crude drawings. This I didn't mind.

What was disturbing is the complete lack of any depth to the subject matter. Each chapter was very sketchy and also childish in it's brevity of both substance and knowledge. Indeed, from watching TV and general reading, I propose that most modern people could have penned a book superior to this novelty tome.

Houdini's tales of beggars, pickpockets, spiritualist and burglars are neither instructive nor very amusing. In fact, I found the totality of the work to be rather bland and unevenly written. The editorial review stated that he was a "entertaining writer". He was obviously great with magic and escapes but he should have left the writing to the experts.

This is not a book I would recommend for fans of true crime or even Houdini fans. Still yet, I am still pondering whether to buy Houdini: A Magician Among the Spirits (I never seem to learn).

I hope you find this review helpful.

Michael L. Gooch

Houdini's book was written in an age of higher standards for criminals. The people who would got to the effort of committing crimes of the sophistication described in the first half of this book, have pretty much shifted their efforts to the crimed in the second half.

The first half of the book is dedicated to quaint but relatively sophisticated theft. Second story men, pickpockets, safe crackers, and other thefts that are more than just opportunity or brute force are covered. The second half is scams, con games, proto-phishing schemes, and other crimes requiring a greater degree of thought. The second half is the part with some contemporary relevance. The sleight of hand behind the housing market collapse of 2008 would have made complete sense to the con artists Houdini described.

Overall, a fun book and an interesting glimpse at the crime threats in America before WWII.

E. M. Van Court