In his most captivating book to date, Adam Phillips explores mankind's on-going fascination with ideas of escape. Taking as his starting point the life and works of Harry Houdini - 'the greatest magician the world has ever seen' - he considers why some people might become compulsive escape artists, whereas others appear to find freedom in self-imposed confinement.

'A rare achievement - as remarkable a piece of work as Houdini ever performed himself.' Daily Telegraph

Houdini's Box, by Adam Phillips, is a spectacular examination of mankind's on-going fascination with ideas of escape. 'A rare achievement - as remarkable a piece of work as Houdini ever performed himself.' (Daily Telegraph)

About the Author
Adam Phillips was born in Cardiff in 1954. He is the author of numerous works of psychotherapy and literary criticism, including Winnicott, On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored, Going Sane, Side Effects, On Kindness, co-written with Barbara Taylor, On Balance, Missing Out, One Way and Another and Becoming Freud. Adam Phillips is a practising psychoanalyst and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He writes regularly for the London Review of Books, the Observer and the New York Times, and he is General Editor of the Penguin Modern Classics Freud translations. His most recent book is Unforbidden Pleasures.

Reviews
'Though Phillips' territory is complication, he reports back in the simplest of words. He is perhaps single-handedly continuing the tradition of the world's best essayists! Observer; 'A rare achievement - as remarkable a piece of work as Houdini ever performed himself; Daily Telegraph



Book Information
ISBN 9780571206650
Author Adam Phillips
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Faber & Faber
Publisher Faber & Faber
Weight(grams) 142g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 125mm * 12mm