A chance encounter with Harry Houdini leaves a small boy in possession of a mysterious box--one that might hold the secrets to the greatest magic tricks ever performed.

Why are we all so spellbound by ideas of escape - and yet so dismissive of mere escapism? Houdini's Box explores four different escape artists. There is the case history of a little girl who is oddly committed to playing her own wayward version of hide and seek. There is Harry Houdini, the 'Greatest Magician the World has Ever Seen', who electrified the world through a series of death-defying escapes, compulsively re-inventing and re-enacting his own confinement. There is a man who, Jonah-like, is always arriving at the place he was escaping from, who thinks it is his destiny to be in flight, whether from women or from his analyst. And finally the poet Emily Dickinson, who for the last twenty years of her life finds freedom in self-imposed solitary confinement. In this, his most captivating book to date, Adam Phillips reminds us why people often feel most alive in the very moment of escape. But whether we are getting away from something, or getting away with something - as Icarus, or Oedipus, or Narcissus; as victims or tyrants - we cannot describe ourselves without also describing what we need to escape from, and what we want to escape to.

It is the 1920s and Catholic leaders do not want another wave of spiritualism in America, especially after barely containing the last one. Now as a new organization emerges armed with their own bible, they fear they are about to witness a highly organized attack on the religious hegemony in the New World. One of the leaders of this organization is Cora Richmond, a deep trance medium who has just authored a troubling book. Erik Weisz, otherwise known as the Great Houdini, is a world-class showman and flamboyant self-promoter who is in the waning days of his career when he receives the commission of a lifetime from his handlers: to lead a worldwide crusade to destroy the spiritualist movement in America so it will never recover to its former level. As established religions of the world, based on a flimsy patchwork of myth and stolen history, find their champion in Houdini, now only time will tell if he can singlehandedly sabotage humanity’s age-old quest for spirituality and create a heroic legacy that will endure for generations to come. In this fascinating tale, the Great Houdini is commissioned to lead a global crusade to destroy a modern spiritualist movement in America.

For the past decade and more, everyone in business was told that success in a rapidly changing world required constant thinking outside the box. The result has often been financially and ethically disastrous. Now, in a radical reassessment of what really works, this book shows that the business world lost its way when it forgot how to think inside the box. Challenging the prevailing wisdom and trend-of-the-minute management advice, award-winning journalist and international businessman Kirk Cheyfitz lays out a set of historically proven principles he calls The Box -- the 12 unchanging rules for building, expanding, and maintaining a strong business. Everyone with an interest in business -- whether students, entrepreneurs, corporate managers, consultants, or CEOs -- will benefit from the brilliant and fundamental insights of Thinking Inside The Box: . Learn to tell the difference between what can and cannot be controlled by management, and focus on the areas that will make the most difference. . Understand the economic principles that never change so you can devote your attention to the things that are changing all the time. . Rediscover the critical discipline of planning for profit. . Understand why some acquisitions work and most don't. . And much more... The book draws on in-depth research, Cheyfitz's long personal experience as an entrepreneur and corporate manager, and revealing interviews with business leaders such as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Prudential Securities CEO John Strangfeld. Combining these elements, Cheyfitz presents a compelling, reliable, and well-documented account of successful business practices that have met the challenges of the ages.

Originally published 1930's. A well illustrated compendium of the famous Harry Houdini's magic tricks and illusions. All explained in detail.Many of the earliest magic books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Joe Posnanski enters the colorful world of Harry Houdini and his legions of devoted fans to explore the illusionist’s impact on global culture—and why his legacy endures to this day. Nearly a century after Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926, he feels as modern and alive as ever. The name Houdini still leaps to mind whenever we witness a daring escape. The baby who frees herself from her crib? Houdini. The dog who vanishes and reappears in the neighbor’s garden? Houdini. Every generation produces new disciples of the magician, from household names in magic like David Copperfield and David Blaine to countless other followers whose lives have been transformed by the power of Houdini. In rural Pennsylvania, a thirteen-year-old girl finds the courage to leave a violent home after learning that Houdini ran away to join the circus; she eventually becomes the first female magician to saw a man in half on television. In Australia, an eight-year-old boy with a learning impediment feels worthless until he sees an old poster of Houdini advertising “Nothing on earth can hold Houdini prisoner,” and begins his path to becoming that nation’s most popular magician. In California, an actor and Vietnam War veteran finds purpose in his life by uncovering the secrets of his hero. But the unique phenomenon of Houdini was always more than his death-defying stunts or his ability to escape handcuffs and straitjackets. It is also about the power of imagination and self-invention. His incredible transformation from Ehrich Weiss, humble Hungarian immigrant and rabbi’s son, into the self-named Harry Houdini has won him a slice of immortality. No one has withstood the test of time quite like Houdini. Fueled by Posnanski’s personal obsession with the magician—and magic itself—The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini is a poignant odyssey of discovery, blending biography, memoir, and first-person reporting to trace Houdini’s metamorphosis into an iconic figure who has inspired millions.

2018 ASJA Award-Winner in the Biography/History Category Is it possible to make direct contact with the dead? Do the departed seek to make contact with us? The conviction that both things are true was the cornerstone of spiritualism, a kind of do-it-yourself religion that swept the Western world from the 1850s to the 1930s. Prominent artists and poets, prime ministers and scientists, all joined hands around the séance table. But the movement's most famous spokesman by far was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose public quarrels with Houdini over the truth of spiritualism made headlines across the country. Known to the world as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle had undergone what many considered an enigmatic transformation, turning his back on the hyper-rational Holmes and plunging into the supernatural. What was it that convinced a brilliant man, the creator of the great exemplar of cold, objective thought, that there was a reality beyond reality? Though most modern sources make Conan Doyle out to be a kindly but credulous old fool, and though the spiritualist era was rife with fraud, Stefan Bechtel and Laurence Roy Stains take a closer look. They reexamine the old records of trance mediums and séances, and they discover that what Conan Doyle and his colleagues uncovered is as difficult to dismiss now as it was then.

"In graphic novel format, explores the life of Harry Houdini and describes some of his most daring escapes"--Provided by publisher.

A girl discovers a surreal hotel where no one ever leaves. When the clock strikes midnight, she'll be trapped there forever unless she's able to break free from magic that in turn breaks all her rules. Perfect for fans of Caraval and The Starless Sea! Life has gone according to plan for Anna—she stays in the background, letting her sister, Emily, shine in the spotlight. But on Emily’s wedding night, Anna learns that her sister is moving away, abandoning her—and all their shared dreams. Devastated, Anna leaves the reception in the middle of a raging storm, taking shelter in a hotel she’s never seen before: the Houdini. The Houdini is a hotel unlike any other, with sumptuous velvet couches, marble tiled floors, secret restaurants, winding passageways, and an undercurrent of magic in the air. And when Anna meets Max, who has lived his entire life inside its walls, she’s captivated. For the first time in her life, Anna is center stage, in a place that anticipates her every desire, with a boy who only has eyes for her. But there’s a terrifying secret hidden in the Houdini. When the clock strikes midnight, Anna will be trapped there forever unless she can find a way to break free from its dreamlike magic. But will she be able to do it if it means leaving Max behind? Enchanting, mysterious, and utterly fantastic, Midnight at the Houdini will cast its spell on you.

Brian Selznick is an award winning children’s book author and illustrator whose innovative work has redefined what a children’s book looks like. His work combines the structure of a novel, picture book, graphic novel, and flip book into a new form of story telling. For middle school readers, this tell-all and fascinating biography will expose this artist’s childhood, early influences, and insights into his struggle to get published. It includes interviews with the author, family and colleagues, excerpts from popular works, and provides a list of Selznick’s professional influences. Readers will also discover how this widely celebrated author and illustrator continues to keep his current writing fresh and focused.