Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin Elephant", that every magician of the 20th century was "haunted" by Robert-Houdin, "…who cast an enormous shadow over their generation." American magician and escape artist Harry Houdini (born Ehrich Weiss) was so impressed by Robert-Houdin that, after reading his autobiography in 1890, Ehrich adopted the stage name of "Houdini" in honour of Robert-Houdin. He incorrectly believed that an "i" on the end of a name meant "like" in French; but Houdini, his own career and reputation established by that time, later lost his youthful respect for Robert-Houdin, believing that he took undue credit for other magicians' innovations, and wrote "The
The Illusionist (novel) The Illusionist (novel) The Illusionist, published in 1995, is a novel by Irish author Jennifer Johnston, and considered one of her best works. It gained positive reviews in "The Irish Times", "Times Literary Supplement" and the "New Statesman". The story consists of two interlinked narratives. In the first, set in Dublin, 58-year-old Stella Glover meets with her daughter Robin after the funeral of her estranged husband Martyn, and seeks reconciliation with her. The other narrative consists of flashbacks to her past life in London; her first meeting with Martyn who describes himself as an 'illusionist', their marriage, the birth of