The Magician and the Cardsharp: The Search for America's Greatest Sleight-Of-Hand Artist [Hardcover]

We just finished reading The Magician and the Cardsharp by Karl Johnson and are blown away.

If you do not already have this book, get it. Mr. Johnson tells the story of Dai Vernon's hunt for the middle-deal with such excitement, detail, and interest; you would swear he was a magician.

He's not one of us but he is the next best thing; a career journalist who knows how to write a good detective story.

The story of Dai Vernon's pursuit of what many considered a myth - the center deal - is well-known to most magicians (or at least the ones as old as us).

Some magicians assumed Mr. Vernon fabricated the entire story. There is no such thing as undetectable middle-deal, they grumble. And even if there was, no card mechanic would or could ever use it in a real game.

Tony Giorgio's writings against the myth of the center deal has been addressed several times on the Inside Magic web site. We see no need to go into it again other than to suggest this book supports a loud "told you so."

It is difficult to write a book about magic. We've all read the horrible efforts of non-magicians who either describe effects impossible to perform, or expose effects we depend on for our sustenance.

Jim Steinmeyer's approach to writing about the history of our great art deserves praise. We don't believe he unnecessarily exposes magic secrets in his writings.

We thought his balance was perfect in his two latest books: the recently released The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the "Marvelous Chinese Conjurer" and the incredible Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear.

Some may agree with us, some will not.

As much as we loved Mr. Steinmeyer's work -- and we really do -- Mr. Johnson's book on Dai Vernon's hunt for the mythical move surpasses all we've read.

Mr. Johnson's works real magic in his descriptions of the hunt for Allen Kennedy - the card mechanic - and the move magicians either dismissed as impossible to perfect, or irrelevant for a true gambler.

We read Jamy Ian Swiss' review of the book in one of our favorite magic magazines before we picked it up.

Mr. Swiss certainly knows his way around a deck of cards and knows what is possible. Mr. Swiss makes a convincing case that a gambler would learn to perfect the center deal despite the fact that it had limited (or according to Mr. Giorgio no) value in a real card game.

By the way, is it just us, or is Jamy Ian Swiss one of the best writers in our business? The guy is good. In fact, we think he's a gooder writer than us any day.

Some have asked, why would any mechanic take the time necessary to perfect a move that promised no advantage in a card game?

After all, assuming there is a stack you would like to use or preserve, you most certainly would not put the stack approximately in the center of the deck.

Remember, in a card game there would be a cut required after shuffling. The cut would certainly change the order of the bottom or top stack but and certainly not in a predictable sequence.

("Trust everyone but always cut the cards")

The book makes it clear the center deal can be done. Mr. Johnson points out, however, Mr. Vernon dedicated approximately two-years of daily practice to effectively present it.

Let's assume for the sake of argument Mr. Swiss and Mr. Vernon's skills with a deck of cards exceeds the average internet magic blog editor. If it would take them two years of daily practice to perfect the move for use in a magic trick, why would a gambler spend the time to learn the move or ever use it in a game when his moves are being burned by fellow gamers?

This is essentially Mr. Giorgio's point.

The Magician and the Cardsharp convincingly answers this question. We don't want to ruin the incredible drama of Mr. Vernon and Mr. Kennedy's meeting -- but we are sorely tempted because it is such great literature. You'll need to pick-up the book for yourself and read about the encounter. We think it is almost more exhilarating than the story of how Mr. Vernon finally located the card shark.

One of our favorite scenes leading up to the meeting with Mr. Kennedy, has Mr. Vernon and Charlie Miller meeting the underworld boss of the greater Kansas City area.

We never thought of Mr. Miller as being anything other than one of the very elite, cool members of the Dai Vernon mafia. His skills were legendary. But he had to start somewhere and the description of his first undercover test is hysterical and human.

We don't want to disclose too much. But at the same time, we're aching to tell. It's a great moment.

Please buy the book. Read it, buy copies for your magic and non-magic friends. This is a great story and as such transcends the traditional limitations of genre.

(...)

Dai Vernon,the "professor" of American magicians was famous for his single minded quests after diffcult and obscure card manipulations. This often took him into the seedy gambling dens of the early 20th century. The best card slights were done by cardsharpers whose income and somtimes life depended on a flawless performance. This true life tale concerns Vernon's search for the holy grail of card moves-the middle deal.Johnson has done a wonderful job of reseach and wrapped it in breezy narrative which makes it hard to put down. If you would like a glimpse into an otherwise closed fraternity of unusually gifted men this is your chance.

Story of the life of one of greatest magicans of the twentieth century.He is not as well known as the stage magicans of this era but most who study magic believe the true art is displayed in close up. Vernon was considered by many to be the best. He was a perfectionist and the book covers this well. It is also a story that covers mid western depression era gambling and associated scams, in Vernon's search for the perfect card slieght. The book is extremely well written and researched.