Edgar Awards

Discussions of new films, books, television shows, and media indirectly related to magic and magicians. For example, there may be a book on mnemonics or theatrical technique we should know or at least know about.
Bill Mullins
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Edgar Awards

Postby Bill Mullins » January 19th, 2022, 6:05 pm

Mystery Writers of America (founded by magician Clayton Rawson) today announced the nominees for the 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Awards. One of them is:

BEST FACT CRIME

The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox (Random House Publishing Group – Random House)

From a description:
Imprisoned in a remote Turkish POW camp during World War I, having survived a two-month forced march and a terrifying shootout in the desert, two British officers, Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, join forces to bamboozle their iron-fisted captors. To stave off despair and boredom, Jones takes a handmade Ouija board and fakes elaborate séances for his fellow prisoners. Word gets around, and one day an Ottoman official approaches Jones with a query: Could Jones contact the spirit world to find a vast treasure rumored to be buried nearby? Jones, a trained lawyer, and Hill, a brilliant magician, use the Ouija board—and their keen understanding of the psychology of deception—to build a trap for their captors that will ultimately lead them to freedom.


Cedric Hill was indeed a magician, having become interested in conjuring after seeing Nate Leipzig as a boy in Australia. He came to Britain to join up after the war broke out, and remained there after armistice. He was a member of the Magic Circle from 1926 on. He wrote about the experience himself: The Spook and the Commandant (1975), and co-wrote with Jones The Road to En-Dor (1920).

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katterfelt0
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Favorite Magician: Depends on the day. Today, Rick Maue.

Re: Edgar Awards

Postby katterfelt0 » January 20th, 2022, 9:55 am

Thanks for pointing this out, Bill. I just requested it from my library.
Effect and method are inextricably linked.

Bob Farmer
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Re: Edgar Awards

Postby Bob Farmer » January 27th, 2022, 8:28 am

Thank you Bill. I am reading it now and it's fabulous.

Bob Farmer
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Re: Edgar Awards

Postby Bob Farmer » February 6th, 2022, 4:47 pm

The writer, Margalit Fox, cites numerous magic books and has a detailed explanation of Equivoque. This has to be a first for a book published by a non-magician for the public.

Dustin: she would make a great interview with an excerpt from the book.

Bill Mullins
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Re: Edgar Awards

Postby Bill Mullins » July 1st, 2022, 2:39 pm

Just got an email from Vanishing Inc. that Margalit Fox will be speaking at the next Magi-Fest.


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