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Title: Carter Beats the Devil by Glen Gold ISBN: 0-7868-8632-3 Publisher: Hyperion (Adult Trd Pap) Pub. Date: September, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 (139 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Entertaining but not profound
Comment: I enjoyed this book in general. The story is engaging, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep the reader fascinated without becoming confusing. Gold has definitely done his homework: his depiction of the magician's apparatus, the world of vaudeville, and the physical locations where the story takes place, never rang false to me. (As someone who grew up in the Bay Area, and lived for many years in and near Oakland, I found his picture of the city's early days especially fascinating.) However, I felt that the characterization was uneven: Carter himself, and his family, are well-rounded, and some of the historical figures (such as Houdini and President Harding) are presented in enough detail to be credible, but others are so one-dimensional as to be almost "props" in the story -- e.g., in spite of his repeat appearances, I never got a clear picture of what Borax Smith was like. The book is fun, and Gold's writing style is a pleasure to read; but more in-depth characterization would have made the book a good NOVEL, not just an "entertainment."
Rating: 4
Summary: Historical Fact and Fiction Mesh-Pot
Comment: Charles Carter (aka Carter The Great) is a magician with quite a lot of baggage. He's being taled by a secret service agent (Griffin) who believes he helped assassinate President McKinley; he can't make enough money to support his own magic shows; finds love and loses it in a most unpleasant manner; and has a horde of people after him, trying to steal his magical ideas (including, amazingly, television).
Carter Beats The Devil is an even handed novel that blends fiction and fact with wonderful ease. The events surrounding McKinley's 'death' have never been completely understood. Nor has the development of television (which was in the public eye long before the 1940's). Add to these facts that Charles Carter was a real, live magician, owned the first BMW motorcycle in America, had met Houdini on more than one occasion, and that he was present in President McKinley's room just prior to his passing, and you've got A LOT of material to work with.
A fine fictional read that moves in between the shadows of history. Definitely recommended reading.
A- rating.
Rating: 3
Summary: Abracadabra
Comment: In Glen David Gold's Carter Beats the Devil, we tread through historical facts to follow the fictional life of Charles Carter. Gold's historical knowledge runs deep, and he expertly weaves this knowledge into his wonderfully written story. However, for me, there were problems.
Someone once told me that most writers are either plot-handed or character-handed, much as most of us are right-handed or left-handed. I have a feeling that Gold is a plot-handed writer who desperately wants to be a character-handed writer. The plot is in fact very compelling, complete with interesting twists, turns and roundabouts. The characters, though, seem to be unnaturally following the dictates of the plot, as though Gold's master plan for the novel compelled them to do things that, as developing characters, they would not in fact do. Perhaps because of this, Gold's characters are more like archetypes, and at times, stereotypes. For example, the antagonist (or one of them) is a mustache-twisting magician, with absolutely no minor redeeming traits or contradictions, making him completely unbelievable to my ear. Even Carter himself rings hollow at times, serving more as a vehicle to advance the plot than a living, breathing person.
Nevertheless, Gold's story is masterful on several fronts. The writing is impeccable. The plot is engrossing. The details are fascinating. The magic sequences are both revealing and exhilirating. While Gold's novel may not stand the test of time, it is a fine and diverting read.
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Title: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon ISBN: 0312282990 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales by Michael Chabon ISBN: 140003339X Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Eyre Affair: A Novel by Jasper Fforde ISBN: 0142001805 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon ISBN: 0060972122 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Grand Complication: A Novel by Allen Kurzweil ISBN: 0786885181 Publisher: Theia Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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