Comments for Bill Purdue's Book Blog

Comment on 71 A bit about buildings (and cookery) by Janet7r

Janet7r — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:03:31 +0000

What a most interesting blog – several of these will definitely be on my Christmas wish list. Thanks.

Comment on 69 Audrey Niffenegger, Douglas Adams and Wonder Woman by Savannah

Savannah — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:14:25 +0000

Awesome blog! I thought about starting my own blog too but I'm just too lazy so, I guess I'll just have to keep checking yours out. LOL,

Comment on 66 Endangered species and Houdini’s helper. by Janet7r

Janet7r — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:35:33 +0000

Good to have you back – hasn’t been the same without your regular blogs!

Comment on A bit about me by ann beedham

ann beedham — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:25:15 +0000

Hello
In the past you have kindly mentioned my peeks at The Past/Peek books on your blog. I thought you may be interested to know I have now done a biography of a man who was a friend of Harry Houdini, made tiny models and ran a ‘House of Wonders’ museum in Castleton. here is a synopsis:

Houdini; the Man Who Could Escape From Anything Or Anywhere; the Man Who Could Walk Through Walls and Cheat Death.And yet the stunt that helped to make Houdini a legend- escaping from a strait jacket whilst suspended hundreds of feet in the air wasn’t invented by the Master Mystifier. That honour belonged to a long forgotten Sheffield schoolboy…
Randini-The Man Who Helped Houdini is the remarkable story of a fan who helped reinvent his hero. Modelling himself on the escape artist, collecting every picture and news item, the young Randolph Douglas lived in world almost as magical as the music halls glowing like coral reefs in the grey industrial wasteland. His pocket money bought not toys but locks, handcuffs and even straightjackets as he dreamed of future glory.
But it wasn’t just a daydream. Somewhere along the way fantasy and reality emerged as Houdini, the man who dined with princes, the man who was more famous than anyone, came to tea and began a friendship that lasted to the end of his life. But it wasn’t just a star pandering to a wide eyed fan. What Houdini found over tea and buns was to “change the history of Magic”*

Using unpublished material from the Magic Circle, primary sources, interviews with family and internationally respected experts, Randini is a tale of an unlikely friendship, dreams dreamed, dreams lost and then refdirected, set against a backdrop of the music hall and two World Wars.
‘What Douglas did next would change the course of magic’s history’ The Secret Life of Houdin William Kalush and Larry Sloman

Comment on 65 Suggestions for a good read by teinby

teinby — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:08:03 +0000

thank you! I really liked this post!

Comment on 65 Suggestions for a good read by molamola

molamola — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:43:26 +0000

Didn’t understood the last part :s could you explain better please?

Comment on 65 Suggestions for a good read by Ronni Goddard

Ronni Goddard — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:09:22 +0000

Hi Bill,
I have just placed a pre-order for John Macken’s next novel. Thanks for the heads-up. Kind regards, Ronni

Comment on 65 Suggestions for a good read by johnny

johnny — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:51:24 +0000

Hello. Thank you for this great info! Keep up the good job!

Comment on 64 What to read next by Ronni Goddard

Ronni Goddard — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:29:04 +0000

Hi Bill,
I’ve just been reading 3 novels by John Macken; about forensics and all of them riveting. They are Dirty Little Lies, Trial by Blood and Breaking Point.
They are a touch brutal in parts, but very difficult to put down. In fact, they are getting me a ‘bad home’ because conversation is at an all time low!

Comment on 61 Doggy Sitting by superdrupermegapuper54321

superdrupermegapuper54321 — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:40:34 +0000

superdrupermegapuper54321…

Very usefull info. Thanks!…