Publisher's Synopsis
This historical fiction novel follows the story of Guy, a young man coming of age in the 1930s and 1940s. As a birthday present for his thirteenth birthday, Guy's mother takes him to see the great Harry Blackstone Sr.'s 1001 Wonders Magic Show. Guy helps on stage, meets Blackstone, gets a magic set, and decides he wants to become a magician himself. Seeking his destiny, Guy encounters some of the great figures in magic of the era including Blackstone, Lou Tannen and Dai Vernon. He joins a carnival where he has adventures with an oddball assortment of colorful characters. Guy's journey features the Garde Theater and other locations in New London, Connecticut; small towns of the South; the deserts of Africa in WWII; and the theaters, magic stores and night clubs of New York. Along the way, there are guest appearances by Albert Einstein and Ella Fitzgerald. "Magician's Choice" is an exploration of youth and age, fame and betrayal, vengeance and compassion, love and forgiveness. As it transports readers inside the world of performers, the story explores themes of free will and fate. "Magician's Choice" is a tale full of surprises, secrets, and wonder. A story where things and people are not always what they seem to be. With a foreword by Harry Blackstone Sr.'s daughter-in-law Gay Blackstone.
Todd Gipstein has been a writer, photographer and producer for 40 years, 20 of them for the National Geographic Society. He grew up in New London, Connecticut, where parts of the story of Magician's Choice take place. He is an honors graduate of Harvard University, where he studied writing and filmmaking. Todd has traveled the world photographing for documentaries and lecturing. He has always used magic as a way to break the ice with strangers he wants to photograph. He continues to travel, photograph, create media, write, and lecture. Magic has been a lifelong hobby, and he and his wife Marcia have performed shows for National Geographic and others. They collect vintage magic apparatus and posters. Todd likes to perform close-up magic when the opportunity arises. This is his second novel, following Legacy of the Light, a thriller about the hurricane of 1938 and people trapped on the Race Rock lighthouse off the coast of Connecticut.
Todd's writing for media presentations and films has always focused on storytelling. He believes good media should not draw attention to itself, but rather be a doorway to the story. His goal is to transport the readers of his words and the audiences for his shows to other worlds, other places, other times. He hopes that the characters in Magician's Choice will come alive for you, and that the dramas they experience will excite you, entertain you, and make you think about life, fate, and the choices we make or are made for us.
For information about his novels, study guides, and to see his photography, work for National Geographic and other projects, please go to www.Gipstein.com
