Karl Johnson

The Magician and the Cardsharp (eBook, ePUB)

The Search for America's Greatest Sleight-of-Hand Artist

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A famous magician's journey to find the greatest cardsharp ever evokes the forgotten world of magic where Americans found escape during the Great Depression

It has the nostalgic quality of an old-fashioned fable, but Karl Johnson's The Magician and the Cardsharp is a true story that lovingly re-creates the sparkle of a vanished world. Here, set against the backdrop of America struggling through the Depression, is the world of magic, a realm of stars, sleight of hand, and sin where dreams could be realized - or stolen away.

Following the Crash of '29, Dai Vernon, known by magicians as "the man who fooled Houdini," is tramping down Midwestern backroads, barely making ends meet. While swapping secrets with a Mexican gambler, he hears of a guy he doesn't quite believe is real - a legendary mystery man who deals perfectly from the center of the deck and who locals call the greatest cardsharp of all time. Determined to find the reclusive genius, Vernon sets out on a journey through America's shady, slick, and sinful side - from mob-run Kansas City through railroad towns that looked sleepy only in the daytime. Does he find the sharp?

Well, Karl Johnson did - after years of research into Vernon's colorful quest, research that led him to places he never knew existed. Johnson takes us to the cardsharp's doorstep and shows us how he bestowed on Vernon the greatest secret in magic. The Magician and the Cardsharp is a unique and endlessly entertaining piece of history that reveals the artistry and obsession of a special breed of American showmen.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Henry Holt and Co.
• Seitenzahl: 368
• Erscheinungstermin: 25. Juli 2006
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781466833043
• Artikelnr.: 39413898

Autorenporträt

Karl Johnson's family moved to an old New Hampshire farm when he was nine years old. It hadn't been a working farm for decades, but its nineteenth-century barn and outbuildings were still intact. The barn quickly became his favorite place to climb and play. He loved the dark, cathedral-like interior with its rough plank floor, hand-hewn beams, and built-in ladders up to the haylofts. Narrow stairs led down to the stable with its six wooden stanchions and mangers. Six wooden chutes, worn smooth from years of hay being dropped down from the main floor, were just the right size for a young boy to slide down. After graduating from design school, Karl worked as a graphic designer and copywriter. He later started and ran an advertising agency in suburban Boston for many years. When he took up photography in the 1970s, old barns became his favorite subjects. He has shot more than 10,000 photographs of barns in the northeastern US and Quebec. Karl is now retired and living in northern New Hampshire. His photography is available on his storefront, https://9-karl-johnson.pixels.com