Alex Stone will talk about his new book, “Fooling Houdini,” at the library this week.
Alex Stone, author of “Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Match Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind,” will speak at the library on Thursday, July 19, at 7.
Stone, who has been both a journalist and a physics graduate student, has been a dedicated amateur magician since he was a child. After a disastrous showing at the 2006 Magic Olympics in Stockholm, he vowed to rebound, and embarked upon a journey of self-improvement that spans the world and the inside of his brain. The result is a book that questions life’s biggest mysteries and investigates the fundamental aspects of human nature.
“Along with magic history, he covers con games and grifters, finger fitness, studies in attention and perception, the psychology of touching, and tactile card skills of the legally blind. Stone also details how he made enemies when he violated the magician’s code of secrecy by revealing tricks in a Harper’s article.
With many fascinating anecdotes up his sleeve, Stone conjures an entertaining book,” Publishers Weekly wrote in a review.
Stone, who graduated from Harvard University and holds a master’s degree in physics from Columbia University, has written for Harper’s, Discover, Science, and The Wall Street Journal. He grew up in Wisconsin, Texas, and Spain, and currently lives in New York City.
More info: 203-655-1234, DarienLibrary.org, additional evening and weekend parking is on Thorndal Circle behind Nielsen’s
