The Right Way to Do Wrong

Harry Houdini

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780486839042
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Literature

With this remarkable book, the legendary magician conducts a master class in crime by revealing the trade secrets of crooks. Harry Houdini is known not only as an illusionist and escaper of handcuffs and jail cells, but also as a debunker of phony spiritualists and other charlatans. His interest in exposing fakery led Houdini to interview both police and criminals around the world. The result is this captivating volume, intended to help readers avoid being victimized by pickpockets, con artists, and other thieves.
Written with verve and humor, these lively chapters recount the techniques of burglars, sneak thieves, shoplifters, and pickpockets as well as those of faith healers, fortune tellers, art forgers, card sharks, and counterfeiters. The instructive and amusing book concludes with an autobiographical essay, in which Houdini discusses the early days of his career and the experiences that contributed to his renown as the Handcuff King and Prison Breaker.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Contents
• Shot One: Income of a Criminal
• Shot Two: Professional Burglary
• Shot Three: Difficulties of Burglary
• Shot Four: Burglars’ Superstitions
• Shot Five: Thieves and Their Tricks
• Shot Six: The Aristocrat of Thievery
• Shot Seven: Pickpockets at Work
• Shot Eight: Beggars and Dead Beats
• Shot Nine: Begging Letter Swindles
• Shot Ten: Tricks of Bunco Men
• Shot Eleven: The Game of Wits
• Shot Twelve: Fake! Fake! Fake!
• Shot Thirteen: Bogus Treasures
• Shot Fourteen: Famous Swindles
• Shot Fifteen: The Fair Criminal
• Shot Sixteen: The “Brace” Game
• Shot Seventeen: Cheating Uncle Sam
• Shot Eighteen: Humbugs
• Shot Nineteen: Houdini
• Shot Twenty: Conclusion