I was truly pleased to see this book, not only on the shelf of the magic shop I visit, but in 'regular bookstores' as well. I say this, because the name 'Dai Vernon' is broadly known to ANYONE invloved with learning and performing magic. To the general public, i.e., the people I perform for in bars/restaurants mention of his name brings the response of 'Die who?' Even some of the young men I show and teach card tricks to, true newbies, only have current t.v. magicians as their reference points. Dai Vernon was such a dynamic person, that his life's story is, to me, inspiring regardless of his medium-which was largely cards.
My additional fascination with this book, is that I have inhabited some of the locations where the events took place:
Manhatten NY, Coney Island, and more recently Kansas City.
The building which formerly housed K.C. Card Company, at 1118 McGee, still stands-although does not appear to be occupied. This spot, is where Vernon (with Charlie Miller at his side) learned more and more about the location of the mythical center dealer, Allen Kennedy. Finding Kennedy is the heart of this book, and it's adventurous enough that I hope that someone brings it to the big screen.
The book is a rich time travel, with insightful glimpses of the men who wrote the books that comprise my magic library: Malini, Leipzig, Horowitz, Ross, Downs, Flosso,Miller, and a tyrranical Houdini. They come alive easily, and as with Vernon, their humaness is revealed in these pages. With all of the accomplishments of master Vernon, also come minimal but telling insights into his personal life as a husband and parent. I don't know if author Karl Johnson chose to keep Vernon's family in the background, or, if there simply was as sparse little words from them as the book indicates. The duality of Vernon the magician and Vernon the family man, is no surprise-while his reputation with magicians was indeed kingly, his domestic reputation had him as a spendthrift vagabond, who was fairly unreliable financially so far as providing for wife Jeanne and sons Ted and Derek. By the end of the book, no further mention is made of Derek; Vernon, in his 90's and ailing, moves into son Ted's house in San Diego. Mention is made of Jeanne and their separation as Vernon takes on 'residence' at the Magic castle. Beyond that, Jeanne evaporates from the book, as she may have in real life. Again, I can't completlely know if this is the author being true to the real life situation,or if Vernon's family was minimized in the text because they were not as ineteresting as the rest of this book's cast. Whichever, it seemed a bit sad.
To write this review, is to be tempted to share the outcome of the quest-Vernon's search for the holy grail center deal. I prefer to leave this to the reader to discover. I will say, that it is indeed the journey that make this work so hard to put down; the characters, the shady spots, the obsession of Vernon during the depression with wife and child to feed, hunting down a sleight more for the sake of artistry than financial gain; the cardsharp himself, Allen Kennedy is revealed here as a kind of tragic character who Vernon did not keep in touch with after he learned the sleight. Clearly, had it not been for Vernon, (and Karl Johnson), noone would ever have heard about the reclusive Kennedy.
Aside from the adventures, obsessions, and insights related to finger behavior and card sleights, the unspoken question kept coming to my mind: was it worth it? As I said earlier, the book winds up discussing the 'fate' of the middle deal, who Vernon selected to teach it to, what tricks it was used for, and how it was adapted by cardmen. The reader gets to step into Vernon's obsession with this 'impossible' sleight, but also, see the other side of such manic obsessiveness.
Amongst all of the anecdotes dealing with grifters, conmen, sharks, was one moment I found to be actually touching. It's young Vernon, working the games of chance at Coney Island. Games that seemed fair enough, but were tricked and rigged, so that noone ever got to win the wristwatch, leather wallet,etc.-Vernon felt bad for the players, and let them win from time to time. Later, during this same period, Vernon himself gets conned out of an expensive raincoat. Letting people win at the games, was probably the only instance in the book where Vernon evoked empathy from me. Interesting as his life was and this book is, this was a man according to friends, spent his life worrying about card tricks. Surely there was more to this man than that, and this raises the issue of how well any book can fully communicate it's subject to it's readers. I'm also curious if a non magician would care to read this book. I'm tempted to conclude that the greater impact of Vernon, was limited-to MAGICIANS. Other pioneers of his age, were breaking ground that you know, alllowed us to fly across the country, light up our environment, protect our children from diseases-minds that burned, to help/serve the general public. Then, there was that 'other professor' who edified the globe with the truth of relativity. Even if Vernon's hunt for the center deal resulted in HIS ideal result, it's not like greater society would have been helped. Magicians, and gamblers would have.
Through no fault of the author, I just find it hard to give full seriousness to what Vernon was after-compared with the man's dynamism, and his refusal to be sidetracked by national calamities like the stockmarket crash, which drove other men to leap from buildings. He must have been something of a physical marvel to have likewise outpaced magicians younger than him, during three day sessions where there was no sleeping or eating. This was someone who apparently never quit, a true champion. So, I came away more inspired by THAT, than the SUBJECT of his obsession (cards, cards, cards, cards, cards, cards, cards,...)