Magic

Many years ago I was teaching college in Taiwan. One day, when I got off the bus from the college town in downtown Taipei, it was pouring rain, so I ducked into a little bookstore to wait for the bus to my apartment. To pass the time, I picked up a copy of Magic that was sitting on a pile of paperbacks, intending to leaf through it for a minute or two. I read the epigraphs, the italicized prologue page ("The screams started coming from the cabin..."), and the first line of the novel proper: "Trust me for a while." I was hooked. Because imported paperbacks were ridiculously expensive, I couldn't afford to buy it, and I literally could not put the book down. So I spent the next couple of hours mooching around the store, trying to hide show more from the gaze of the annoyed proprietor as best I could while I sped feverishly through one of the most fiendishly constructed suspense novels I'd ever read. When I got home, late for dinner, I had to apologize abjectly to my girlfriend, but it was worth it. I now have two copies of the book so I can lend one out without having to worry about getting it back. In short: if you like suspense/thriller novels, you must read this one. Trust me for a while... show less

I loved and hated this book so much that I performed it in my sophomore-year prose performance competition. Before dozens of high school audiences, I turned myself into the hapless magician and his moody best friend. I think I even won some small trophies? Good times. Goldman has a unique brand of creativity that we should all pay attention to, above and beyond Princess Bride and Marathon Man. Bonus: This book taught me a magic trick that I've never forgotten, and I still use sometimes with friends. It is an astonishing, wonderful card trick that anyone can learn in about 30 seconds.

Magic is a 70s thriller with one of those unreliable narrators where after the first twist is revealed you want to immediately flip back and re-read to see if you could've, should've, caught on sooner. (Probably if you've seen certain book covers or watched the movie, you won't be shocked. I was.) Goldman, author of The Princess Bride, sure knows how to write a page-turner; I didn't wanna stop once I started. A surprise ending, too.

3.5 stars (and now I can finally watch the movie)

Mr. Goldman is a very competent entertainer, but this is not the same level as "The Princess Bride", and I'm inoculated against this book by having read Candice Bergen's Memoir "Knock Wood",. That's overall a much better experience about the traumas of life with a wooden relative.

I am missing something here, this book goes over my head and i had to give it up half way!!

A man with something to hide. Corky, a ventriloquist allows his dark side to surface. It is a slow, but inevitable ride which leads to murder and heartache.

A short but enjoyable read.