Houdini: The Elusive American

by Adam Begley

His real name was Erik Weisz, but he will be forever remembered as Harry Houdini. Born in Budapest in 1874, he was the son of a rabbi who emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of four but experienced extreme poverty there. Houdini would go on to be probably the most famous escape artist/illusionist of all time. This biography by Adam Begley is highly recommended, part of Yale University Press’s prizewinning Jewish Lives series.