Miracle Mongers and Their Methods

In Tokio, a solemn fire-walking rite is hailed as the “eighth wonder of the world.” Harry Houdini sees a more intriguing puzzle: how can an ordinary trick make sensible witnesses doubt their own eyes?

From ancient altars to the fire-eaters of the sideshow, Houdini traces the long history of people who seemed to defy flame. He revisits sacred fires, medieval ordeals and ceremonies in Japan and among the Navajo, then brings a conjuror’s eye to the claims of performers and priests. His tone is brisk, skeptical and quietly amused: the marvel, he suggests, may lie less in the feat than in the way it is presented—and believed. What, exactly, lets a body meet fire and emerge unscorched?

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