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Carter Beats the Devil Paperback – 16 May 2002
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Glen David Gold
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Charles Carter, dubbed Carter the Great by Houdini himself, was born into privilege but became a magician out of need: Only when dazzling an audience can he defeat his fear of loneliness. But in 1920s America the stakes are growing higher, as technology and the cinema challenge the allure of magic and Carter's stunts become increasingly audacious. Until the night President Harding takes part in Carter's act only to die two hours later, and Carter finds himself pursued not only by the Secret Service but by a host of others desperate for the terrible secret they believe Harding confided in him.
Seamlessly blending reality and fiction, Gold lays before us a glittering and romantic panorama of our modern world at a point of irrevocable change.
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Print length608 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherSceptre
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Publication date16 May 2002
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Dimensions13.1 x 4 x 19.7 cm
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ISBN-100340794992
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ISBN-13978-0340794999
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Review
With romance, magic and science as its central themes, Glen David Gold's impressive debut Carter Beats The Devil is an inspired delight, a dazzling combination of fact and fiction. Charles Carter is given his stage name "Carter the Great" by the legendary Harry Houdini and the jazz age of the early 1900s is clearly well researched, yet the romance and strong cast of characters must owe more to the imagination than to history.
The novel begins in 1923 with the most daring performance of Carter's life. Unfortunately, two hours into the performance, US President Harding is dead and the magician must flee the country, pursued by the Secret Service. This is only an instalment in Carter's amazing life though as we are guided from his childhood, where both the family servant and a circus freak bullied him, to his rise to stardom and his eventual performance in front of the president. Subsequently, the protagonist is crippled by loneliness, widowed and hunted down by those who believe him a murderer and yet he rises again and again to delight and fulfil the highest expectations of his audience. The strong narrative and storyline make for a compelling read. And Carter is such a magical character that you cannot fail to be touched by him--loving whom he does and hating his enemies.
This is an ambitious and compulsive novel and deserves all the praise that Carter himself received and more. If you like this, you may also be interested in reading Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay --Hannah Smith.
Engaging, comical and, yes, magical, this is a sure-fire contender for the debut novel of the year. (Christian House, Independent on Sunday)
Mesmerising ... the plot turns a dazzling array of somersaults ... Savour its every page (Graham Caveney, Independent)
A top-hat-and-tails performance...suspenseful, compendious, moving and persuasive (Michael Chabon)
It's refreshing to see an author so obviously into his characters and debut novelist Glen David Gold radiates enthusiasm in his tale of magician Charles Carter, implicated in the death of 29th US president Warren Harding. What's most unbelievable about this stagey set-up is that it's based on actual events. The droll, good-natured narrative never stumbles over 600 pages and Gold's characters, the endearingly troubled Carter at the top of the bill, sit so naturally in the proceedings they positively seem to enjoy being part of his show. Encore please! (The Face)
A magnificent achievement. The plot is endlessly inventive and surprising and pulls the reader through some very complicated events in the most compelling way. (Charles Palliser)
An extraordinary story ... a daredevil feat of writing that will remind you how much fun reading can be (Helen Brown, Daily Telegraph)
Brilliantly inventive and constantly surprising ... you're unlikely to read a better book this year. (Eve)
A stormer of a novel, this- the perfect read for people who despise airport blockbusters yet find themselves on aeroplanes longing for a good, meaty page turner (The Guardian)
With elements of the whodunnit and, crucially fo a book about magic tricks, the howdunnit, this is a four-course meal of a novel (The Guardian)
This pacy book rips along to a marvellous and truly unexpected denouement (The Times)
An enormously assured first novel (New York Times)
This is the curtain-raiser for an intricately structured feast of a novel...a wonderful swirling novel (The Daily Telegraph)
Spellbinding ... An inventively plotted novel that despite its size manages to surprise at every twist. (Arena Summer Reading)
Carter Beats the Devil is all the things a good novel should be ... A daredevil achievement. Bravo. (Barbara Mella, What's on in London)
An audaciously plotted and wonderfully camp adventure. (Telegraph Summer Reading Paperback Fiction Choice)
Carter Beats the Devil is a cracking murder mystery unfurling the genteel milleu (The Times)
This was many critics' choice for book of the year in 2001, and a first novel that's hard to fault. The plotting is so immaculate, and the themes of illusion and deception so well executed, it's utterly mesmerising. (Shauna Bartlett, Glamour magazine)
A rollicking good read. (Mateen Kaul, Literary Review)
Book Description
About the Author
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Product details
- Publisher : Sceptre; 1st Paper Back - 27th Impression edition (16 May 2002)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 608 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0340794992
- ISBN-13 : 978-0340794999
- Dimensions : 13.1 x 4 x 19.7 cm
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Best Sellers Rank:
129,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 577 in Science Fiction Alternate History
- 3,068 in Historical Thrillers (Books)
- 11,554 in Historical Fiction (Books)
- Customer reviews:
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About the author

Glen David Gold is the author of the best-selling novels SUNNYSIDE and CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL, which has been translated into 14 languages. His short fiction, essays and journalism have appeared in Playboy, McSweeney's, Tin House, Wired, the New York Times Sunday Magazine and Zyzzyva. He has written comic books for DC and Dark Horse, and his essays about creator Jack Kirby accompanied the landmark MASTERS OF AMERICAN COMICS and COMIC BOOK APOCALYPSE museum shows.
With Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (no, really), he wrote several episodes of THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR, a fake radio show available on iTunes and wherever else fine fake radio shows are hosted, and with Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink, he wrote four episodes of WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE, also available where podcasts are...podcast.
Burying the lede somewhat, his memoir I WILL BE COMPLETE, a three-volume examination of his simultaneous attempts to find connection and autonomy, is now available from Knopf on this platform and cough cough others. The Washington Post calls it "a banquet of vivacity, shrewdness and wit, a soiree of heart-wreck wised up by humor" and the Los Angeles Times calls it "an audacious, boundary-shattering work that will be talked about for a very long time."
He lives in Southern California and if you happen to be a showrunner on an hour-long, he's really good at structure, world-building and layering in character flaws, and his personal hygiene is excellent. He hits his head on something roughly once a week, and is fairly sure that's how he's going to make his exit.
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It's a very long book and, as Fathers' Day was only just over a week ago, it's a credit to Glen David Gold that he got me turning the pages fast enough to have finished already. Opening with a spectacular magic show "Carter Beats The Devil" in which Carter The Great and "The Devil" perform a series of outrageous illusions, each one more mind blowing than the next before ending in a magnificent finale involving audience member President Harding coming to a theatrical end in Grand Guignol style, the novel does nothing by halves.
Many of the characters in the book are real; Carter The Great was a famous illusionist, Houdini makes a brief appearance and President Harding was visiting San Francisco at the time that the story begins. As I am not particularly familiar with any of the real characters I simply read it as fiction. After reading the book I checked out Harding and Carter and I think it's fair to say that fiction is the best way to describe it - there's plenty of hocus pocus.
After the opening extravaganza we have several story strands involving secret agents, rival magicians, Carter's childhood and his career and love life and Gold plays tricks with the reader as we try to second guess what is real and what is an illusion.Some of the illusions appear far fetched but the author explains in his notes that all of them were performed (or attempted) during the magical music hall heydays that preceded the movies and television. The same feeling of implausibility applies to the plot but I urge you to suspend your cynicism as you would if attending a performance by Derren Brown or David Blaine and simply settle down to be entertained.
Its all quite brilliantly done - well written with plenty of humour and it comes together in a wonderful, breathless and exciting finale. And that's where I felt that the novel should have ended as my only minor gripe was in the lengthy epilogue in which the author ties up a large number of loose ends. I felt that this was unnecessary and could well have been left to the reader's imagination.
Highly recommend it.
Beautifully written nuanced characters and an enthralling narrative make this book a delight to read.







