{"product_id":"the-glorious-deception-the-double-life-of-william-robinson-aka-chung-ling-soo-the-marvelous-chinese-conjurer","title":"The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson  aka Chung Ling Soo  the \"Marvelous Chinese Conjurer\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn a biography woven from equal parts enchantment and mystery  Jim Steinmeyer unveils the secrets behind the most enigmatic performer in the history of stage magic  Chung Ling Soo  the Marvelous Chinese Conjurera magician whose daring made his contemporary Houdini seem like the boy next door. Soos infamous and suspicious onstage death in 1918 mystified his fellow magicians: he was shot during a performance of Defying the Bullets  in which he attempted to catch marked bullets on a porcelain plate. When Soo died  his deceptions began to unravel. It was discovered that he was not Chinese but a fifty-eight-year-old American named William Ellsworth Robinson  a former magicians assistant and the husband of Olive Robinson. But even William Robinson was not who he appeared to be  for he had kept a second family with a mistress in a fashionable home near London.  Here is a look at the rough-and-tumble world of turn-of-the-century entertainments  the Wests discovery of Oriental culture  and Soos strange descent into secrecy as he rose to stardomwritten by the foremost chronicler of magics history and culture. Due to the scandals surrounding Robinsons death  this is the first time his full story has ever been told.  Photographs are included.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44948624769077,"sku":"ByrdShop_078671512X","price":89.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780786715121_e540a381-84c4-4bba-84d8-39608e15f3a1.jpg?v=1770202972","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-glorious-deception-the-double-life-of-william-robinson-aka-chung-ling-soo-the-marvelous-chinese-conjurer","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}