Escapism for Amateurs
- Subject Entertainment, History
Produced with the good graces of the Paper Fox Printmaking Workshop at Lawrence University, and the kind support of Benjamin D. Rinehart and his students, Escapism for Amateurs is an investigation of the life and times of Harry Houdini, favorite son of Appleton, Wisconsin and pioneer in the realm of escapologists, who built his career on demonstrating the ability to escape from a huge variety of restraints and difficult situations. Escapologists escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish tanks, and other perils, often in combination. The possibility of failure and death thrills their audiences.Escapism for Amateurs includes a graphic timeline detailing the life and times of Harry Houdini in an international context. Produced in an edition of 82, half the edition went back to Appleton, Wisconsin, Harry’s childhood home, to support the activities of Paper Fox, and the other half went in the mail to lucky selected recipients. Huzzah!