Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #425194 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-10
• Released on: 2005-07-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This engrossing detective story traces the quest of Dai Vernon, né David Verner (1894–1992), to find the man who perfected the art of dealing from the center of the deck. An accomplished card cheat, sleight-of-hand magician and silhouette portraitist, Vernon was so expert at duplicitous card techniques that he once fooled Houdini with tricks he'd learned as a child from S.W. Erdnase's classic The Expert at the Card Table. Proficient at dealing from the top and bottom of the deck, he was astounded to learn that someone in the Midwest had the ability to win by dealing from the center. Johnson, a former editor at New York's Daily News, details Vernon's long search for Allen Kennedy (1865–1961), a cardsharp who plied his trade with loaded dice and deceitful deck handling. By recounting the shadowy careers of these two men, the author successfully evokes the picturesque world of illegal gambling during the 1920s, '30s and '40s. Johnson vividly conveys how obsessed Vernon was with magic and card tricks, and how much time, energy and practice gamblers put into learning how to cheat at cards.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
How does a kid from Ottawa, Ontario, get to Pleasant Hill, Missouri? With a deck of playing cards and an obsession with magic, of course. Johnson's fantastical tale concerns card cheating in general and, in particular, the search by Canadian Dai Vernon (1894-1992) for a legendary card player who dealt perfectly from the center of the deck. Johnson conveys the mores of the gambling world, in which Vernon considered himself primarily an entertainer. Vernon gravitated to New York and knocked about its carnivals, but following the stock market crash in 1929, he ended up in Wichita, Kansas, where he made a living cutting silhouettes but lived for mastering sleight of hand. There in 1932 he heard the center deal had been mastered by somebody in Missouri. One county down the railroad line from Kansas City, Pleasant Hill reflected its name--if you liked vice. Johnson's well-crafted unveiling of the town's character and the identity of the cardsharp inveigles as it entertains, rewarding readers hunting for an unusual topic. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Karl Johnson, a former editor at the New York Daily News, has written for many major newspapers and periodicals. The Magician and the Cardsharp grew out of an article published in American Heritage magazine. He lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

The Erdnase of books on Magic History
Prof.Dai Vernon was Sleight-of-Hand's Superman. This book is about Superman's search for a man who could do something that even he could not - deal off the center of a a pack of cards. The Professor, I'm told, told the tale of his quest with great aplomb.I'd say he'd be pretty impressed with the author's version of the tale. It's a very well researched book with a splendid narrative woven around the facts that the author has dug up. You get a peek into Vernon's letters, feel his passion for the art,sense his fear (when he poses as a cardsharp to meet mobsters ) share his excitement (when he discovers Charlie Miller, and when he meets Pleasant Hill's center-dealer) and get insights into the other great magicians of the era. The ways of Pleasant Hill's card and dice mechanics that 'play the boats' or 'work the cubes' will fascinate you.

For non-magicians, this is a wonderful read - a taut , magical tale about a man's lifelong quest for something that most would dismiss as a trivial party trick .

For magicians, there's enough Erdnase/Vernon worship to keep you happy. The description of how Kennedy masters the deal over many years and the tale of Vernon's 'Ambitious Card' routine that flummoxed Houdini will fill your hearts with pride and respect.

More than just a magic read...
This book goes far beyond most biographical treatments that you see in the field of magic. Yes, it talks about Vernon and his search for Bill Kennedy, and yes, it delves into the magic that they shared (although it was not magic to Kennedy; it was a way of making a living). "Magician and the Cardsharp" reads more like time travel. Johnson superbly takes you back into the past, and gives you a true "you are there" feeling. It reads like a novel, and that is an excellent thing...because you find yourself caring about the characters and seeing how they relate to their surroundings. Superb book; highest recommendation, even if you don't care about magic at all.

Great piece of investigative journalism that gives you a real flavor of early 20th century America
This is the story of how one of the century's greatest magicians tracked down a gambler who could do what most slight-of-hand artists only dreamed about: deal cards from the center of the deck. This move, the "holy grail" of card manipulation is really just little more than the MacGuffin in this intriguing page-turner of a story.

Even if you are not the slightest bit interested in magic, card tricks or gambling, this is a fascinating read.

You will be transported to the first third of the 20th century into a story full of memorable and colorful characters. Johnson's attention to detail and the thoroughness of his investigation is nothing short of miraculous.

One of the most purely entertaining books I've read in quite some time.