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    The Confabulist: A Novel
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    The Confabulist: A Novel
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    The Confabulist: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Confabulist: A Novel

    Written by Steven Galloway

    Narrated by Jason Culp

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the author of The Cellist of Sarajevo, an exciting new novel that uses the life and sudden death of Harry Houdini to weave a tale of magic, intrigue, and illusion.

    What is real and what is an illusion? Can you trust your memory to provide an accurate record of what has happened in your life?

    The Confabulist is a clever , entertaining, and suspenseful narrative that weaves together the rise and fall of world-famous Harry Houdini with the surprising story  of Martin Strauss, an unknown man whose fate seems forever tied to the magician's in a way that will ultimately  startle and amaze. It is at once a vivid portrait of an alluring, late-nineteenth/early-twentieth-century world; a front-row seat to a world-class magic show; and an unexpected love story. In the end, the book is a kind of magic trick in itself: there is much more to Martin than meets the eye.

    Historically rich and ingeniously told, this is a novel about magic and memory, truth and illusion, and the ways that love, hope, grief, and imagination can - for better or for worse - alter what we perceive and believe.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 1, 2014
    ISBN9780698149441
    Unavailable
    The Confabulist: A Novel
    Author

    Steven Galloway

    Steven Galloway was born in Vancouver in 1975. He is the author of two previous novels. The Cellist of Sarajevo is his first novel to be published in the UK.

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    Reviews for The Confabulist

    3.5/5

    78 ratings28 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Fabulous read
    • 4/5
      This is a very different kind of book and you know that from the prelude as you are introduced to Martin Strauss as he is meeting with his doctor who tells him he has a brain disease that takes his memories and them possibly replaces them with ones he's created for himself so as he begins to relate his life you are drawn into a tale that might or might not be his reality.Martin claims to be the man who killed Houdini who supposedly died by a ruptured appendix after a punch in the stomach. He was demonstrating how strong his stomach muscles were but was caught off guard with the punch - or so goes the story. The Confabulist is as much Houdini's story as it is Martin Strauss's and it offers some interest possibilities for some of the actions he took but this is, always remember a work of fiction and the author reminds you of that quite readily in his author's note.I found myself quite caught up in the story as I really knew very little about Houdini and the time in which he lived. I generally read much older history so I could just sit and enjoy the story without the knowledge of the subject. Sometimes that is very freeing. I enjoyed the mystery of whether Martin was remembering truth or inventing a life and the ending was a kicker. This was one of those books that was a stretch for me and I am very glad I decided to read it. It was a fascinating diversion and an interesting look into the world of magic and escape artists.
    • 3/5
      While reading this book I realised that I do not know anything about Harry Houdini, except for that for what he did. But fact and fiction goes into each other here. Just as the narrator does not really know fact from fiction either. He has memories that are not real.

      This book is then about Harry Houdini and how he became the most famous performer in the world. From his humble beginnings to performing for royalty. Other than royalty he meets detectives from Scotland Yard, Arthur Conan Doyle and spiritualists. He may perform "magic" but he does not like those who pray on those who do not know better.

      The other POV is of Martin Strauss, the man who killed Houdini twice. It all comes through flashback as he is visiting a doctor. He wonders about his fake memories, and about Alice who has come to him for answers.

      I still wonder about what is really true, and what is not. I had to go check myths and theories about Houdini. But it was also interesting to learn more about those tricks. They seem so real, I know they are fake, but still, well that is magic.
    • 4/5
      The story is about the intertwined lives of Houdini and the man who killed him. The main theme was reality vs. illusion. The author repeatedly hit you over the head with that theme, which is why I didn't give it 4 stars. The plot and characters, including Arthur Conan Doyle, were interesting. As a piece of historical fiction it was a good read.
    • 4/5
      Confabulist is a magical, entertaining, illusion of a read! I dove right into this book. Right away I was memorized by Houdini. In this book I got to become more familiar with the man behind the illuisionist. I don't say magician as Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin said it best when he quoted these words "A magician is an actor playing the role of a magician." I have never really spend much time on the thought of magicians only that I do find them fascinating. However if you think about this quote and what you love the most about this profession and some of the people in it like Houdini, Copperfield, Blaine, Angel, etc. then you will realize that they are all just men who know how to put on a really good show all thanks to the act of illusion. Not that I am bashing any of these guys as if it were not for people like this then I would not have anything to believe in regarding "magic". Mr. Galloway intermingled Houdini and Strauss's lives perfectly. In fact, I was convinced for a long time that the author had done a "trick" of his own involving the two men. So when the true story was revealed in the end, I was a little surprised. Not all the way surprised because I did figure it out at teh same time that the reveal was happening. The story was good. Also, I liked the secrets that Houdini gave away with his acts. It was like getting an exclusive with Houdini himself if he was still alive into some of his acts. Even knowing how he did it was still impressive. I will be keeping my eye on Mr. Galloway and what he has up his sleeve next.
    • 3/5
      WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD....sort of. It is difficult to review Steven Galloway's newest novel as it uses an unreliable narrator to tell his tale. I am not reveling plot details, but have to touch on some things to explain my review that might dissuade some people from reading what is a decent novel, just one I didn't think was great. This novel is an conundrum. When using an unreliable narrator the writer does walk a tight rope to give us a story, but also keep us invested in the plot. The sections in The Confabulist that detail Harry Houdini's life, and the fictional elements that Galloway adds to it, are wonderfully written and fun. But we can see very quickly that the narrator is unreliable and therefore the tale is false and contrived. Obviously the title alludes to such, but small pieces of the present day plot within the first few chapters give too much of the unreliableness away too soon. So the plot of the "flashbacks" ends up being fun, but I was left let down by knowing too quickly how unreliable the narrator was. Because the Houdini sections are designed to add fictional adventures to his known biography, and then knowing too quickly the tale is false, I was left wishing he had simply written a Houdini mash up instead. Still a fun read, but no where near as good as his previous novel.
    • 4/5
      First I have to acknowledge being a life long admirer of Harry Houdini. When I saw his name mentioned in the description of this book, I couldn't resist. I was prepared to enjoy tThe Confabulist, and I did. It was however, not quite what I expected it to be. Many of us are fairly familiar with Harry Houdini, who was first know by his family name of Weiss, Ehrich Weiss. He came from a family of immigrants and grew up to be one of the worlds greatest illusionists. He began his career as a magician in sideshows on Coney Island with his brother Dash at his side. It was while performing with Dash that he met his future wife, Bess, who spent many years working as his assistant. Bess however remains well in the background of this story. The Confabulist goes into some detail about how some of his stunts and illusions were performed. Those of us who still believe in magic may decide to believe it, or not. This book covers a great deal of historical ground with the story being related narration style. The narrater being a Martin Strauss who more or less begins by confessing to having been the one to cause Houdini's death.That this is an alternate history was what I found surprising, and intriguing. Intermingled with the storyline of Houdini's life is the rather convoluted and occasionally confusing tale of Mr. Strauss himself, who receives an unlikely and disturbing report on his own health in the beginning of the book. We are carried back and forth in time, and between the lives of these two men. Their connection is revealed slowly and with enough detail to inform, but not so much that it becomes tedious. Included, although not in nearly the detail that I would have expected, is his crusade against Spiritualists and Mediums, those who professed to be able to contact those who have crossed to the other side. Many sources portray Houdini as conflicted about this, both wanting to find a true connection with his mother who had died, and wanting to expose those who were nothing more than frauds. In fact this became something of an obsession of his, according to many sources. We are also led to believe, in this version of the illusionist's life, that he did work for the United States government. The ending of Galloway's version of the story was not at all what I expected, and well worth the journey to get there. I'm not sure whether to recommend this book to fans of magicians, alternate history, or mysteries. I think that fans of all of the above genres will enjoy its mix of real characters and imaginary ones.
    • 4/5
      This gripping tale presents us with three protagonists: Harry Houdini; his killer Martin Strauss; and Strauss as an older man, coming to grips with his memories and past choices. Houdini's voice is the most compelling, as it is rich with details of magic tricks, the politics of the Russian Empire and the impact of Spiritualism in the US and UK. Strauss, on the other hand, can frustrate us with his unreliable memory and sometimes baffling decisions. But this serves to underscore a major theme of the novel: what is true and what is an illusion? This was a great "escape" and a novel I'm happy to recommend to readers of historical fiction.
    • 4/5
      Let me just say this right off: Steven Galloway's lovely new novel has Harry Houdini being enigmatic, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle being credulous (and maybe slightly crazy), a weird medical condition that causes the patient to substitute false memories for real ones, and an unreliable narrator. This is a recipe for pure delight, in my book.Martin Strauss is the narrator of The Confabulist, and his story is fascinating and utterly engaging: as he tell us almost immediately, he is responsible for the death of Houdini. And he also has the peculiar medical condition noted above: he is, in essence, losing his own mind and substituting another one in its place. So absolutely everything he is telling us is suspect, and teasing out the truth of the narrative is an intricate puzzle. What makes this genius is Martin's insights into the nature of memory. At one point, Martin does a magic trick for a little girl sitting next to him on a bench outside a hospital (Is it really a hospital? Is Martin a patient? Is it a mental hospital? Oh, Steven Galloway, SO MANY QUESTIONS.) Martin tosses a coin in the air three times, and the third time, makes the coin "disappear." The child is dumbfounded, and her face of wonder starts Martin thinking: "How is it we can be so sure that we've seen, heard or experienced what we think we have? In a magic trick, the things you don't see or think you see have a culmination, because at the end of the trick there's an effect. Misdirection tampers with reconstruction. But if life works the same way, and I believe it does, then a percentage of our lives in a fiction. There's no way to know whether anything we have seen or experienced is real or imagined. The first two times the girl thought she saw me toss the coin in the air she was right."BAM. That thing right there was probably my favorite part of the novel, although the strange history of Martin "killing" Houdini is marvelous all by itself. But ultimately, the best part of the story is the moment when the reader realizes that all stories are ultimately stories about the storyteller, regardless of the verity of their content.
    • 4/5
      Overall, this novel is good. It is a quick read, but it quickly assures the reader that it is written by an author who is both confident and competent. The characters and the historical world are introduced and described in a way that neither bogs the reader down nor leaves the feeling that details are missing. The subject matter here should be great fun, and occasionally it is--magic, intrigue, exotic locales, and a dramatic historic setting. Still, there were parts of this novel that simply were not as gripping as Galloway's previous work. The themes of the novel--true and false identity, fact vs. illusion, the reliability of memory (or fiction, for that matter) are of great interest but felt a little too blatantly present here for me. There were a few too many moments in which I felt characters telling me exactly what I was to glean from the scene rather than trusting me as a reader to interpret them on my own. Houdini's chapters are by far the more interesting part of this novel, not simply because he is the figure around whom more of the glamor of history dances, but also because the book's other protagonist, Martin Strauss, doesn't give us a whole lot to go on. Yes, an unreliable narrator can be interesting and serve to enhance a work, but I don't know that this one necessarily does. In some senses, I don't think this angle goes far enough. We know from the outset that Martin is unreliable, and therefore the subsequent story loses a bit of its sparkle. Our sense of disbelief is not, in a sense, suspended. We know not to trust what we hear. All of that said, I do think the work is enjoyable overall, and certainly worth the time. If nothing else, fans of historical fiction will appreciate the well-crafted narrative of Houdini's early career, possible involvement in international intrigue, and, particularly, the treatment towards the end of the novel of his crusade against the powerful spiritualist movement in America and Europe at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. A few missteps, perhaps, but a largely readable and worthwhile novel. Thanks to LibraryThing and Penguin for the ARC copy of this work.
    • 5/5
      Confabulation (definition): In psychology a confabulation is a memory disturbance, defined as the production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive (Wikipedia).The Confabulist is an intriguing story that combines the lives of Harry Houdini and Martin Strauss, a man who believes that he has killed Houdini-twice. The timeline skips between Martin in the present, where we learn that he has just been diagnosed with a disease of the memory, and the late 1890's through 1920's with both Martin's and Houdini's perspectives throughout the building and height of Houdini's career.With a plot thick in illusion and suspense, I found this to be a compelling and quick read. Though we have somewhat of an unreliable narrator, I was still swept away in the culture of the magical acts in the 1920's, which was richly described. Learning how some of the illusions were performed was also a bonus for me. Also, seeing well known historical figures such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Romanov's involvement with Spiritualism added another layer of mystery to the many that are present within this novel. " Substance and illusion. Knowing which is which is difficult, maybe impossible."This Advanced Reading Copy was received for free in return for an honest review
    • 4/5
      Let me start this review by saying what a fan I am of Mr Galloway's previous novel "The Cellist of Sarajevo. I read the novel for a book group.The entire group liked both the story and the author's writing style. The story was so good that I fear Mr. Galloway had a tough act to follow. Follow he did and while this book was well written, the story was so entirely different that it is hard for this reviewer to "like" it quite as much as the earlier book.This second novel is harder for me to pin down. I believe that Steven Galloway is a gifted writer, I also think that his talent shows in his new title "The Confabulist" While I enjoyed the writing , I struggled with some of the details in the story. That may be due to personal taste more than anything else.Houdini's life is a fascinating subject and building a story around his life and/or death is a great idea. For the most part I was entertained but I found that some of the details were dry. Enjoying this book would depend, at that point, on how much the individual reader likes reading history books. This is one of those books I am not sorry I've read but I didn't really experience the "wow" factor while reading it. Having said that, I do know plenty of readers who will enjoy this novel, in fact probably because of the very fact that it reads the way it does. I will not hesitate to recommend The Confabulist by, Steven Galloway to those who I think will enjoy the book. A talented young writer deserves nothing less than having their efforts appreciated.
    • 4/5
      This is a very different kind of book and you know that from the prelude as you are introduced to Martin Strauss as he is meeting with his doctor who tells him he has a brain disease that takes his memories and them possibly replaces them with ones he's created for himself so as he begins to relate his life you are drawn into a tale that might or might not be his reality.Martin claims to be the man who killed Houdini who supposedly died by a ruptured appendix after a punch in the stomach. He was demonstrating how strong his stomach muscles were but was caught off guard with the punch - or so goes the story. The Confabulist is as much Houdini's story as it is Martin Strauss's and it offers some interest possibilities for some of the actions he took but this is, always remember a work of fiction and the author reminds you of that quite readily in his author's note.I found myself quite caught up in the story as I really knew very little about Houdini and the time in which he lived. I generally read much older history so I could just sit and enjoy the story without the knowledge of the subject. Sometimes that is very freeing. I enjoyed the mystery of whether Martin was remembering truth or inventing a life and the ending was a kicker. This was one of those books that was a stretch for me and I am very glad I decided to read it. It was a fascinating diversion and an interesting look into the world of magic and escape artists.
    • 3/5
      Martin Strauss is an elderly man who has been diagnosed with some kind of brain disorder that robs him of memories and often leaves him with invented ones in their place. Harry Houdini is, well, Harry Houdini. And as we learn the stories of both men's lives, it turns out there are some significant connections between them.I wanted to like this book a lot. I really did. It's got all kinds of elements that make it seem right up my alley. It's got a narrator so unreliable that even he doesn't always know what the truth is. It's got skepticism and spy stuff. It's got magic, illusion, and deception, all of which are not only interesting in their own right, but can also make for some great literary metaphors. It's got an ending that's a combination of twisty and thoughtful. And it's got Harry Houdini, a truly amazing man who did some truly amazing things.And yet, it just managed to leave me completely cold. It's not bad, I guess. Implausible in a lot of respects, but not bad. It was a fast read, certainly. But it just did absolutely nothing for me. I can't help thinking that I might have liked it better if I'd gone into it knowing much less about Harry Houdini. Because most of the novel consists of scenes from Houdini's life, painting a picture of him that is part factual, part fictional, and part speculative, and all I could think as I was reading it is how much more interesting and engaging I found William Kalush and Larry Sloman's biography The Secret Life of Houdini. The fictional version, however jazzed up with drama it may have been, just didn't add much of anything to the real story, for me. Maybe if the writing were especially good, it would have been worthwhile, but Galloway's prose is just... flavorless. I have heard a lot of good things about The Cellist of Sarajevo, though, so I may pick that up sometime and give Galloway another chance. But for this one... If Houdini as a subject interests you and you're not completely allergic to nonfiction, I really recommend just reading The Secret Life of Houdini instead.
    • 4/5
      This book is part historical fiction and part mystery - all fabulously magical and intriguing. It flashes back and forth in between the present and the past, flashing between the life of Harry Houdini and Martin Strauss, the man responsible for killing him... twice. At least, that is according to Martin Strauss, that is, and he may not be the most reliable narrator. (I'm not spoiling much here, as the book opens with his doctor relaying a grim diagnosis). You see, Martin has a condition where his (now) deteriorating mind is responsible for creating false memories, leaving him suddenly uncertain as to which of his past "experiences" are real - and which are part of his disease. Just as in the illusions that Houdini creates on stage, Martin, and consequently, the audience, are left to question what is real and what is just smoke-and-mirrors (or the delusions crafted by disease). 'I've always been fascinated by Houdini and by magic in general (embarrassing though it may be, that damn David Blaine gets me every time). I can't say I'm extremely knowledgeable in terms of the history of the craft, and I definitely didn't/don't know much about Houdini - except the fact that he died when some fool sucker-punched him in the stomach when he was unprepared. Martin Strauss, unreliable narrator - he's that fool. Because he's so unreliable, I'm not sure what parts of this novel are historically accurate... BUT it was a fascinating read regardless. I've already recommended it to a few people who were looking for strong contemporary or historical fiction. I was lucky enough to receive this through LibraryThing's Early Readers program. I apologize for the delay in posting this review. Life sometimes gets in the way ;)
    • 2/5
      This book was definitely not for me. It was boring and hard to get through. I really wanted to like it because the plot interested me but sadly this book fell short. I gave it two stars because it still had a story that I could see appealing to some people just wasn't my cup of tea.
    • 3/5
      While this novel peaked my interest in Houdini I found the chapters about Martin quite boring and sometimes confusing. I wish the book would have dealt more with just Houdini. I liked that the author added Conan Doyle, the Romanovs and other important historical figures into the novel. I also thought the portrayal of the era quite accurate. I did not like the chapters switching from Houdini to Martin. At times I was quite thrown by the transition. The ending did not do it for me at all. By that point I wanted the book to end, but when the ending came I was disappointed. I was very excited when I read the synopsis of this book on Early Reviewers. The book did not live up to that description.
    • 4/5
      Steven Galloway is a writer who can bring the characters, place and times to absolute clarity. You are there, you know the people to their very being and you experience the happening of their life. Galloway's "The Cellist of Sarajevo" is a brilliant piece on war and it's ravages on all who experience it. Galloway's "Finnie Walsh" and "Ascension" are beautifully, articulately written developing characters and story masterfully. "The Confabulist", Galloway's latest novel is good, but in comparison to the fine work of his previous novels, the author is not up to his usual mark. Harry Houdini is the main character, while Martin Strauss plays into the story as being influenced by Houdini then ultimately possibly responsible for Houdini's death. There are so many sub - plots and intrigues that wander here and there, drawn out passages. No question that the book is about drive, ambition and the devious too to succeed. One theme is memory and what is real. Memory is how we fashion an event in our minds to match what we want to believe or what serves a purpose. Where Galloway's other novels bring us to what Walter Cronkite used to call "You are There" and give the reader the real human experience with what life has dealt, "The Confabulist" is a wild tale, way too long and unconvincing.
    • 4/5
      "It is about competing views of the world, a question of what is real and what is not," explains a character in The Confabulist in what could be an explanation for the book itself. We begin with our narrator Martin learning he has a brain disease that will not just destroy his memories, but create new ones. What are we if not the result of our memories? This medical and existential crisis leads Martin to review his life for what might be the last lucid time. Martin has many regrets, the one for which he is famous is killing Houdini. Yes, Martin is the guy who punched Houdini in the stomach. Martin takes us through the events leading up to the event and through the many years after. In between, we read about Houdini's life, told in third person narration. Both parts of the book contain beautiful meditations on mortality, desire, parenthood, human connection. Martin describes his whole life when he says, "It is a constant struggle not to become the thing you hate most" (281). But the book is also thrilling, managing to bring in international espionage, seances, murders, all without ever seeming (to me) over the top or off the rails. Galloway manages to make even the most unbelievable believable; he's something of a Houdidni himself in that way.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed many of the sections of the book that involved Harry Houdini. I found him to be a very interesting character. The transitions between Houdini and Strauss at times were distracting and did not build to the finish as the author had hoped.
    • 2/5
      “There are four elements to this grand tug-of-war between substance and illusion. There is effect, there is method, there is misdirection and finally, when it’s all over, there is reconstruction.” pp 48-49When I read that sentence, I knew I’d use it to write this review. As I moved through the novel, I tried to apply these things to what I was reading and what Galloway (to me) was trying to achieve. The next sentences after the ones above are -“Magic is a dance between these four elements. The actor playing a magician seeks to choreograph a way through the trick with these component parts. If he does so, he will have achieved magic. If not, he is a failure.”For me, the four components are not achieved, but does that mean Galloway is a failure? You be the judge.Spoilers ahoy!Effect - overall the effect was flat for me. The real secrets in both Houdini’s life and Strauss’s aren’t that earth-shattering and not really secret, either. In both cases I figured them out beforehand and was just waiting for them to come to light so I could validate my own guesswork. Do magic audiences sit and look for the secret to the trick? Do they see beyond the effect? Maybe, but readers do, too and I saw through this one. And who doesn’t like to pat themselves on the back now and then?Method - we’ve got two stories tied together and told through flashbacks and brief interactions between the characters. Harry Houdini and Martin Strauss. Early on, Strauss teases us with the fact that he’s the man who killed Harry Houdini. Twice. As hooks go, it’s a pretty good one and it stayed at the back of my mind the whole time. Misdirection - here’s where Galloway loses me. The misdirection was blatant and unimportant. Take Strauss’s weird false memory syndrome. The opening scene is where his doctor tells him that because his mind is creating so many false memories, he will eventually go insane. The consolation is that he probably won’t even notice. There are a few other scenes where Strauss describes some of these memories and other people’s reactions to them which are all negative. Scary, right? It ties to the essential question of reality and illusion. If Martin’s memories are so strong and detailed, but false, how does that affect his personality; his person? Does it make him real? Is his self-identity a false one? Did he run and hide from the love of his life for nothing? All good questions, but they don’t lead anywhere. There is no upshot to this. It might as well have not been part of the story.In Houdini’s life, the misdirection is more tangible. Because of his skills as an escape artist and observation, he is recruited by an agent of the Secret Service. Through the contacts and opportunities this agent serves up, Houdini’s career is made. As a result he’s beholden to this man so gathers and feeds all sorts of information about numerous prisons, police forces and eventually the Russian government. Houdini is threatened and coerced by multiple government heavies and while it is reasonably harrowing, it isn’t important except to set up the ultimate scheme. Houdini isn’t the only magician used by these people this way and when spiritualism catches fire and government officials from high to low start attending seances and readings, it doesn’t take a psychic to see what’s really going on.Another bit of misdirection is the whole feud with Sir Conan Doyle. It’s pretty well known that Doyle’s second wife considered herself a medium and that Doyle believed in spiritualism and channeling and all that crap. Houdini was appalled that the same brain could have created someone so perfectly analytical as Holmes and did his best to prove that mysticism was a sham. With Doyle he didn’t succeed, but made enough waves that a Congressional Hearing was created where Houdini would testify for legislation that would make charging for readings and seances illegal. If you’ve been paying attention, it’s not too hard to see that the folks controlling the magicians are the same ones that control this army of psychics and that Houdini will never succeed. Reconstruction - while it was also easy to conclude that Houdini faked his own death, there wasn’t a whole lot of evidence for it except at the end when Strauss tracks him down. The ending is a mashup of typical espionage elements and doesn’t come as too much of a shock. Then we’re back in the hospital with Strauss and his daughter Alice (not surprising either) and more seeds are planted that what we’ve just read could be another false memory, but by now, we don’t care.
    • 5/5
      The Confabulist is the story of Martin Strauss and Harry Houdini. In the first pages of the book, Martin reveals that he killed Harry Houdini, not once but twice. The rest of the book follows the separate lives of Martin and Houdini until the mystery of how their lives intersect is revealed. Martin is a purely fictional character and while basic outline Houdini’s life is accurate, much of it is made up, which author Steven Galloway, freely admits in his Author’s Note. He also states that he makes no claim of veracity for his descriptions of the methods behind magic.Galloway’s made up story of Houdini’s life is intriguing and compelling. Even though it’s not true, it’s definitely realistic.Strauss suffers from a medical condition in which he conjures false memories and thinks they are true. Thus, he is an unreliable narrator. Just how unreliable isn’t revealed until the end in a surprise twist ending.I enjoyed this book for just for being a great book. Even if there was no real-life Houdini and Galloway had invented the character all together, this is a fantastic mystery full of suspense. After I finished the book, I felt like I was in as much of a fog as Martin is in his old age, not sure of what’s real and what’s not. Usually, I prefer a straight forward, everything wrapped up in a nice little package with a bow type of ending but Galloway managed to satisfy me with the ending he wrote. That’s high praise from me. Both mystery and historical fiction fans will enjoy this book.The Confabulist comes out today!
    • 4/5
      “Every man's memory is his private literature.”-Aldous HuxleyMagic, memory and illusion. This tale has all three in spades. Martin Strauss, our unreliable narrator, spins the story of Erich Weiss, aka Harry Houdini and how their lives were fatefully entwined, through Houdini's sudden death in 1926 and beyond. The story weaves us through, Houdini's humble origins to his immense stardom. It also traces his involvement with the Secret Service, his recruitment as a spy, which ties him to to the fringes of the Romanov murders. It also deals with Houdini's war with the spiritualists, which includes combat with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Of course, this is all intriguing but what is fact and what is fiction? Is Strauss, suffering from a brain disorder, mixing fantasy with the truth?This is an ambitious novel and Houdini is endlessly fascinating but something key is missing in the narrative. A soul, more depth? I am not sure but it did disconnect me with from the story, leaving me no choice but to give it a marginal recommendation.
    • 4/5
      I went through a couple of spots in this book where it felt a little disjointed, but overall I highly recommend reading The Confabulist. I kept checking to remind myself the “fiction disclaimer” was there, because the book itself felt historically factual. I even found myself uncomfortable at times the way the story intensifies all the way to the end, knowing actual names were being used. In the end however I couldn't put it down. If you like magic, historical fiction, or suspense, this is a good read.
    • 4/5
      * I received this as an ARC in a Goodreads “First Reads” Giveaway *

      Martin Strauss suffers from a condition called “tinnitus”. This condition blurs his memory and often it is difficult for him to distinguish real memories from those his mind fabricates. He is often confused, but one thing that is very clear in his mind is that he is the man who killed Harry Houdini – TWICE.

      When a young woman named Alice comes into Martin Strauss’ life claiming to be Houdini’s daughter (we learn that Houdini was a bit of a philanderer) demanding answers about her father’s life and death, Martin narrates the story of his own life as well as that of Harry Houdini. In a bar one evening the paths of their lives cross in the most sudden of manners and Martin’s life changes irrevocably. From that day on his life is linked to Houdini. The book slips back and forth between Houdini’s early 1900’s and Martin’s present day.

      Steven Galloway (The Cellist of Sarajevo), through Martin Strauss, tells the story of Houdini from his beginnings as a Vaudeville performer through to his reign as “the most well known man in the world”. That story in itself would have been interesting enough but Mr. Galloway adds to it with so much more. He explores Houdini’s, sometimes turbulent, marriage to Bess; his close relationship with his mother; we learn the reason behind Houdini’s non-stop quest to debunk spiritualists … even taking on Margery Crandon (the Witch of Beacon Hill), and his foray into international espionage.

      The Confabulist is populated with many of Houdini’s contemporaries including The Romanov family, Rasputin, Arthur Conan Doyle and prominent members of the U.S. political arena of the time. Mr. Galloway weaves all of it into an exciting, globetrotting, sometimes humorous, often suspenseful, and occasionally heartbreaking – dare I say it – magical story. Not to mention that he offers explanations and the how-to of a few of the famous magician’s tricks and escapes as well.

      I would not hesitate to recommend this book to friends. Mr. Galloway managed to let the main characters shine and the many, many other people populating this story to move it along nicely in the background. He also navigates smoothly between Martin Strauss’ “present day” telling of the story while spending time with Alice and the 1920’s story itself. I must admit that my knowledge of Houdini is limited to the movie starring Tony Curtis so I found the information about Houdini himself fascinating. I may need to pick up a biography if I can find a good one.

      And … like any good magic trick this book led up to a surprise twist at the end.
    • 3/5
      From the dust jacket History says Harry Houdini died from a ruptured appendix, possibly the result of an ill-timed punch to the abdomen. But is the death of such a magician, one who built his career on illusion and sleight of hand, to be trusted? [Galloway] weaves together the life, loves and death of Houdini with the story of the person who secretly knows he killed him: Martin Strauss, an everyday man whose fate seems forever tied to the magician’s in complex and unforeseen ways. Martin is our guide to this early-20th-century world of vaudeville-theater and spectacle, full of escapes from straitjackets and water tanks, and also to Houdini’s tangled web of love affairs and international espionage. In the end, the narrative creates a magic trick of its own, revealing the ways in which love, grief and imagination can – for better or worse – alter what we perceive and believe.

      My reactions
      Where do I start? Galloway’s narrative had me running to Wikipedia and other sources to check some of the “facts” presented in the book. Some elements were clearly straight from Houdini’s life, but others were obvious fabrications. I have no problem with that; it’s a work of fiction, after all.

      The book is told in alternating chapters: Martin Strauss in the present day; Martin Strauss in 1926-1927; Harry Houdini 1897-1926. It starts with Strauss in the present day relating that he has just been diagnosed with a rare brain condition which will affect his memory and lead to his gradually losing his mind. The next chapter focuses on Houdini’s early career. The story then returns to Martin in the present day, followed by a chapter focusing on Martin in 1926. And so on.

      The book’s structure poses some difficulties, but Houdini was a fascinating character in real life and is equally fascinating in this fictionalized account. Galloway fueled my imagination and kept me turning pages. I found myself constantly trying to figure out the trick of the book’s narrative, but like a skilled magician Galloway kept the reader’s attention away from what was REALLY happening and led us to what he wanted us to believe was happening. I’m still not sure I fully understood everything that was going on, but I enjoyed the ride.

      In the end, I’m left feeling that I just saw an elephant disappear …. I know it was a trick, but I don’t know how he did it.
    • 3/5
      Having loved Galloway’s The Cellist of Sarajevo, I so looked forward to his next novel. Unfortunately, I did not find it as emotionally satisfying.The confabulist is Martin Strauss who in the novel’s opening is diagnosed with a degenerative physiological condition which affects his brain’s ability to store and process memories and so invents new memories. This clearly identified unreliable narrator claims that, “I didn’t just kill Harry Houdini. I killed him twice” (5). Interspersed with Strauss’s tale is a third-person omniscient account of Houdini’s life, though one that seems largely speculative, having Houdini, for example, at the centre of an international spy network. The novel examines the nature of memory: real versus false memories. At the beginning, Strauss speculates, “How is it we can be so sure that we’ve seen, heard, or experienced what we think we have? In a magic trick, the things you don’t see or think you see have a culmination, because at the end of the trick there’s an effect. Misdirection tampers with reconstruction. But if life works the same way, and I believe it does, then a percentage of our lives is a fiction. There’s no way to know whether anything we have seen or experienced is real or imagined” (52 – 53). At the end, he concludes, “A memory isn’t a finished product, it’s a work in progress. We think that our minds are like a library – the right book is there somewhere if you can find it. A whole story will then unfold with you as the narrator. But our memory changes, evolves, erases. Moments disappear and are replaced and combined” (297 – 298).Obviously, the novel is also an examination of reality and illusion. From the beginning it is implied that the reader is being tricked in the same way that an audience is tricked at a magic show: “Substance and illusion. Knowing which is which is difficult, maybe impossible” (45). Strauss wonders, “How long have I been seeing things that weren’t there” (53)? His description of killing Houdini is certainly suspect; his name does not match the historical record of the man who may have precipitated Houdini’s death and, if his story is to be believed, he must be well over 100 years old. It is unclear whether the biographical sections about Houdini are to be seen as the product to Strauss’s imagination, though this is what Galloway suggests in the Author’s Note at the end. Of course, Houdini himself was a persona created by Ehrich Weiss: “At times he didn’t know what parts of him were real and what parts of him had been made up in order to become Harry Houdini” (178).The ending is surely intended to be a surprise, like the effect of a magic trick: “the effect is announced at the start, and you’re watching for it, waiting for it, but then when it happens, you’re still amazed” (49). Unfortunately, I was not amazed. The many similarities between Strauss and Houdini – their pre-occupation with escape, their “simultaneously loving someone and not treating them well” (208) – are the strongest clues to the dénouement. Reading this novel is like trying to figure out a magic trick: “We know that what we see isn’t as it seems, but we want it to be and want to understand it. We want to be fooled, and then want to know how we were fooled. We cannot prevent our minds from trying to figure out how the trick was done” (48). Unfortunately, figuring out magic tricks does not really interest me. I want to be emotionally engaged and not just completing an intellectual exercise. And I was not emotionally engaged. Part of the novel reads like a stilted biography, the writer of which has not bothered to flesh out the people and significant events in the subject’s life, and the other part is an interior monologue that rehashes the same topics. There are strong themes, but the narrative is weak. The reader is left with the feeling that he/she is being treated like a dupe.At one point, Strauss discusses the work of a magician: “There must be a moment when a logical outcome is made baffling and wondrous. If he fails to create this moment, then he is a failure as a magician” (46). I would certainly not say that Galloway is a failure as a writer, but he fails to create magic in this novel; there is no wondrous moment.
    • 4/5
      This was a very interesting book about the challenges often involved in separating fact from fiction.This is the story of Martin Strauss who killed the famous Harry Houdini, not once, but twice. At the beginning of the novel, we discover that Martin is suffering from a condition that will create false memories and leave him unable to distinguish between memory and imagination. As the story unfolds, we quickly come to recognize some of Martin's recollections as obviously false, but what about other parts of his story? Martin typifies an unreliable narrator!Interspersed with Martin's telling us what happened are sections about Harry Houdini, told in the third person. Here the author has blended historical fact with fiction, again building a story which challenges the reader to distinguish between the two.This makes for a highly engrossing read, where not only the plot itself in interesting; so is the very structure of the novel. Maybe now I'll finally read The Cellist of Sarajevo!