I meant Deptford trilogy not Salterton trilogy(Though Salterton is v good.)

Clayton Rawson, a noted amateur magician in his own right, created four mystery novels and a handful of short stories about "The Great Merlini" from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s. He also did a pulp series about magician-escapologist Dave Diavolo.

Though probably not still in print, the Merlini series is easily found via bookfinder sites and Ebay. They're great fun to read, especially for magicians.

Just for the record, in "A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away" by Christopher Brookmyre, the villain purchases some of his murder equipment at Tam Sheperd's magic shop in Glasgow.

The Houdini Girl by Martyn Bedford was an excellent novel. Sex,murder,drugs,identity theft,liars,con men and some great stage magic ideas.

Andy Martin @ Qualitymagic.com has these on his site at give-away prices!

It may be a little off-topic, but Jim Swain has published a number of novels that relate to the casino and gambling community, and many cons etc. are discussed. The books that I have are "Grift Sense", "Funny Money", and "Sucker Bet", although there are more in the series. They are fun reads ...

Novels? I guess the works set into text by Homer qualify.

There is a considerable amount of magic in ancient Sumarian, Egyptian and Chinese stories.

The corn god?

The cave paintings which may be artifacts of sympathetic magic?

How far back do you want to go?

Gee, there are so MANY novels with a magic theme where do you begin?
Pauline Glen Winslow wrote 8 about detective Merlin Capricorn.
William Murray wrote 9 about magician detective Shifty Lou Anderson.
Patrick Kelley wrote 5 about magician detective Harry Colderwood.
James Tucker has a series featuring Magician/Doctor/Detective Jack Merlin.
there have been over a dozen different sherlock holmes pastiches which have Holmes involved with Houdini, Chung Ling Soo, David Devant, Lafayette.
Walter Gibson is of course known for the Norgil short stories but he also had a magician detective called Ardini who appeared in the Pulp novel "A Blonde for Murder"
Of course there are also William Goldmans "Magic" made into the movie awith Anthony Hopkins and Priestlys "Lost Empires" made into a miniseries and shown on PBS. If anyone has questions on any of these series please feel free to contact me. Joe Keppel

The Circus of Dr. Lao, Charles G. Finney, 1935; the sentimental George Pal movie was based on this scathing satire.

"Tip on a Dead Crab" is a book that centers more around horse racing. But, the main character is based on Micheal Skinner. And if you know anything about Mike Skinner, where he worked, the types of magic, you would recognize instantly that he was the inspiration for the character.

Vandy

The best one ever is also the most well known.... the award winning Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies... required reading in most schools.

I'm surprised that no one yet has mentioned "Shadowlands" by Peter Straub.

Has anyone read "Prestige"? It is a novel about two conjurers in the 19th century. I think they are making a movie about it.

"The Prestige," last I heard, was to be directed by Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale (the "Batman Begins" team). I keep looking for a copy in used bookshops (it's out of print, I believe) but may have to resot to buying it online.

Yes! The Prestige is a fabulous book, you can find it on Amazon, and of course by now everyone knows the film in due in a few months. This is a deep, scary, fun, disturbing book. I can't wait for the movie.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312858......?ie=UTF8

>>Novels? I guess the works set into text by Homer qualify. (...)

>>How far back do you want to go?

There is an equally rich representation of magicians in theatrical literature, here's a brief history -
http://www.tudormagic.com/articles/the_theater_of_wonder.htm

John, good to see you here!

As you all are probably aware, The Illusionist started today...unfortunately, it isn't playing everywhere..at least not in Nashville where I live!

Rick

This is a wonderful book but I was wondering, would this be the only novel with a magician as a main character that has won the Pulizter Prize?

"Mairelon the Magician" (1991) and "Magician's Ward" (1997) by Patricia C. Wrede. Historical fantasy filled with magic. Entertaining reads.

Magic, by William Goldman. Wow, any magician who hasn't read this one, you're in for a treat...
Goldman wrote Marathon Man and The Princess Bride, so you know you're in for a great read. Magic is a psychological thriller, and the classic Do as I Do card trick has a central part in the story. Later made into a movie with Anthony Hopkins and Ann Margaret.

And I second (or third or fourth) World of Wonders by Robertson Davies, about the great Magnus Eisengrim.