Magic (novel)

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Magic: A Novel
First edition cover
First edition cover
Author William Goldman
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher Delacorte Press
Released August 1976
Media Type Print (Paperback, Hardcover)
Pages 243 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN ISBN 0440051592 (first edition, hardback)

Magic: A Novel is a fiction novel written by William Goldman. It was released in the United States in August of 1976 by Delacorte Press.

[edit] Plot summary

It concerns a man named Corky Withers, a shy, oddly tempered and highly principled magician and ventriloquist. It chronicles his childhood and adolescence, his deep love for a woman named Peggy Ann Snow, his descent into schizophrenia, his increasingly disturbing connection to his dummy Fats as an outlet of the more expressive parts of his personality (including murderous), and how all of these elements dovetail and reach a shattering climax during a weekend at Peggy's home in the Catskills. The novel is kaleidoscopically written, 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.