The Right Way To Do Wrong: An Expose by Harry Houdini

Description

This is a pre-owned book from the library of William V. Rauscher and has his info attached to the inside of the rear cover. In very good pre-owned condition. Nice copy with tight binding. This is an undated reprint of Houdini’s 1906 classic from
Las Vegas, Nevada: Gambler’s Book Club. 96 pages. Paperback.

A really fun book to read!

As Houdini himself notes in the introduction, this book has two purposes: to protect the public from swindles by greater knowledge, and to entertain. It achieves both masterfully with clear, concise explanations of the various frauds and cons. While the setting is of course that of Houdini’s time (this book was originally published in 1906) you may notice the ancestors of various modern phishing schemes and banking scams within!

Houdini was such a famous escape artist and illusionist that his name has entered language. Those expecting a biography of the great man will be disappointed, although he does take diversions into discussions of rope tricks and a few other escapes. Most of the ways to do wrong inside are fascinating and skillful in how they part the target from their money and valuables without violence, but many of the perpetrators were still violent criminals. If there is a take home message it is that if somethings sounds too good to be true it probably is.