The domestic reader knows about this amazing man only from E. Doctorow’s novel “Ragtime”. Meanwhile, a whole library of books has been written about Harry Houdini (real name of the illusionist Erich Weiss), and the phenomenon of his talent has not yet been solved. The book uses materials completely unknown to our reader, shedding light on the mystery of Houdini, who, according to eyewitnesses, could even pass through the concrete walls of a prison cell.