 Current cover |
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| Author | William Goldman |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
| Publication date | August 1976 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback, Hardcover) |
| Pages | 243 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-440-05159-2 (first edition, hardback) |
Magic: A Novel is a psychological horror novel written by William Goldman. It was released in the United States in August of 1976 by Delacorte Press. In 1978 Richard Attenborough directed a feature film adaptation of the story.
Plot summary
The novel concerns a man named Corky Withers, a shy, odd-tempered and highly principled magician, whose lackluster performances start to turn around when he adds a ventriloquist's dummy, Fats, to the show. It chronicles Corky's childhood and adolescence, his deep love for a high-school crush named Peggy Ann Snow, his descent into schizophrenia, his increasingly disturbing connection to Fats as an outlet for the more expressive and socially unacceptable parts of his personality (including homicidal mania), and how all these elements converge and reach a shattering climax during a weekend at Peggy's home in the Catskills. The novel is written kaleidoscopically, changing time period, location, and point of view swiftly and leaving certain aspects of important events unknown for extended periods of time, especially concerning the identity of Fats the dummy for the early portion of the novel.
