The Secret Society of Golden Age Magical Mystery Writers

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Necromancer
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The Secret Society of Golden Age Magical Mystery Writers

Postby Necromancer » March 3rd, 2023, 4:10 pm

First, I want to say how beautifully this article was laid out in the March 2023 issue. Gorgeous work, Elizabeth Kaufman!

Second, if you enjoyed the article, you might want to know that it is just the start of two scholarly papers slated for the forthcoming academic book by McFarland, Crime and Illusion in Mystery and Detective Fiction: Essays on Magic and Magicians. I unfortunately hit my Genii word count before being able to include such fascinating portions as: how these magicians approach the mystery-writing process, what Easter eggs they include for the amusement of other magicians, and what their work communicates about magic and magicians to the public at large.

Rather than wait for the book's publication, you are welcome to access both essays (complete with citations) through the Conjuring Arts Research Center. Additionally, I've included them as a bonus (edited and citation-free) with my recent effect release, Cut & Color (reviewed positively in this issue). Between the two, I hope a good swath of the magic community will get to learn more about our link to these developers of the genre.
Neil Tobin, Necromancer

Diego
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Re: The Secret Society of Golden Age Magical Mystery Writers

Postby Diego » March 11th, 2023, 7:58 pm

Read both papers and they great...fascinating reading.
Interesting to see the breadth of work among the different writer/magicians and
how they used their manner of magic and writing, to see their works published.

Richard Stokes
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Re: The Secret Society of Golden Age Magical Mystery Writers

Postby Richard Stokes » March 21st, 2023, 12:03 pm

The Man Who Explained Miracles, Douglas Greene's biography of John Dickson Carr, has several references to Carr's link with Clayton Rawson. There are also references to the Maskelyne Mysteries.
The locked room mystery The Hollow Man, perhaps Carr's most famous book, makes use of a Maskelyne illusion method.

It also occurred to me that Agatha Christie might have been one of the first crime writers to make use of 'dual reality' in several of her novels.
For example, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).
French philosopher Pierre Bayard looks at how Christie made use of 'double-edged discourse – "statements that offer two possible but completely contrary , or at least distinctly different, readings."

In my opinion, double-edged discourse is the same as dual reality.

I'm not sure how far back we can trace 'dual reality' in the history of mentalism. I've heard that Dunninger made use of it, but I'm not sure which year he began to exploit it.
Christie (born 1890) and Dunninger (born 1892) came from a similar epoch.

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Re: The Secret Society of Golden Age Magical Mystery Writers

Postby Necromancer » March 21st, 2023, 1:08 pm

Richard Stokes wrote:The Man Who Explained Miracles, Douglas Greene's biography of John Dickson Carr, has several references to Carr's link with Clayton Rawson. There are also references to the Maskelyne Mysteries.
The locked room mystery The Hollow Man, perhaps Carr's most famous book, makes use of a Maskelyne illusion method.


Greene's biography is a wonderful source! I quote from it directly in the Genii excerpt, and go into considerably greater detail about Carr's relationship with Rawson and his magical knowledge in the larger essay.

Fun observation about Christie!
Neil Tobin, Necromancer

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Re: The Secret Society of Golden Age Magical Mystery Writers

Postby Necromancer » March 21st, 2023, 1:10 pm

Diego wrote:Read both papers and they great...fascinating reading.
Interesting to see the breadth of work among the different writer/magicians and
how they used their manner of magic and writing, to see their works published.


So glad to hear you enjoyed the essays, Diego! Thank you for your kind words.
Neil Tobin, Necromancer

Diego
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Re: The Secret Society of Golden Age Magical Mystery Writers

Postby Diego » March 21st, 2023, 11:18 pm

Reading about John Dickson Carr, reminds me of a magic reference he had in his novel, "Dead Man's Knock", when the investigator is examining the crime scene, he says, "See this gauze cloth material? Up close you can see it has luminous paint on it to make it look ghostly in the dark. The only place you can get this, is from a supply house for fake mediums...it's in Columbus, Ohio..."


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