Rating: 
Summary: A fabulous debut
Review: With his humorous, engaging debut novel, Gold does for the golden age of magic what Michael Chabon did for the pre-war comicbook era in "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay." Gold is not as masterful or complex a writer as Chabon, but give him time."Carter" is a sprawling, romantic, heady depiction of the life and times of Carter the Great, illusionist. The story begins with the 1923 death of President Warren G. Harding, hours after his participation in a Carter illusion in which the president is dismembered by scimitars. The luckless, humorless, but dogged Agent Jack Griffin of the Secret Service distinctly noticed that the president had shed years during his stage appearance; he was spry and athletic and no longer seemed to be carrying the weight of the world. Hmm. Several misdirections, a housebroken lion and a few pages later, Carter has gotten the best of the Secret Service and the reader discovers that the scandal-plagued Harding had asked Carter: "If you knew of a great and terrible secret, would you for the good of the country expose it or bury it?" The narrative then drops back to the origin of Carter's interest in magic tricks during the historic San Francisco blizzard of 1897 when he and his brother are left alone in the house for days. The wonder and uneasiness of the unaccustomed freedom and unprecedented abandonment create a heightened emotional milieu for the boys' distraction in a book of magic found in their father's study. Their anxious activity leads to a demonstation for the half-mad gardener nominally in charge of them. The disastrous performance - a clash of psyches encompassing a range of misunderstandings from adult/child to privileged/impoverished and sane/insane - culminates in a bizarre act of brutality. Carter accomplishes his first dramatic escape and the whole episode ends in an anticlimactic homecoming almost more shocking than the gardener's visciousness. The emotional range of this chapter sets the stage for Carter's amazing ambition; his setbacks, self-doubt and luck, both good and bad. Gold's portrait is simultaneously intimate and larger than life. Nuance of feeling illuminates a life of grand gestures, tragedy, heroism, illusion and misdirection. As the haplessly misdirected Agent Griffin, consumed with suspicion of murder, digs damningly into Carter's history, the story segues between past and present, illuminating the romantic figure of the real-life Carter in loss, loneliness, and love while encompassing gypsy prophesies, pirates, a black-hearted villain, the dawning of the technological revolution, a mysterious and beautiful blind woman, and, of course, Harding's shadowy secret. Historical figures, like the Great Houdini, television's inventor Philo T. Farnsworth and the borax tycoon, Francis Smith, make crucial appearances in this tumultuous era as the golden age of magic flourishes, then is slowly eclipsed by the the newer illusions of moving pictures. Throughout, Carter's performances, always reaching for greater, more startling and astounding illusions, come to life on the page to amaze the reader. The illusionist's skill unfolds among the secrecy and jealousy of rivals and a tremendous amount of complicated equipment, depicted (so I'm told) with amazing accuracy. Emulating his protagonist, Gold develops his story with misdirection and sleight of hand, saving his best and most outlandish illusions for the grand finale. A fabulous debut.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: This is the most novel novel I have read in maybe a decade. It is a masterpiece of creativity; there is absolutely no way to predict the next move of the plot or its characters. Magic!
Rating:
Summary: The Best!!!
Review: I'm almost positive that once you pick up this book, you won't want to put it down until you've completed this great novel. The details of the SF Bay Area during the late 1800s and early 1900s are of history book quality. I wouldn't be surprised if this novel eventually gets made into a movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much
Review: This is a very entertaining novel. But the author didn't know when to quit. He had a perfect ending, then he added a final chapter (the one called "Curtain") that he didn't need. So a very exciting novel ends with a thud. Don't let this quibble keep you from reading it. The first 463 pages are wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: a government conspiracy to make you laugh
Review: After staying up most of the night to finish CARTER I found myself dreaming about the fabulous conclusion. No matter how jaded you are about mysteries this one will catch you off-guard. A little intrigue, a little history, a little romance and its all wrapped around a well written and almost believeable story line. Gould writes in a refreshing style...puts you inside the era with Houdini, President and Mrs. Harding, Borax and Farnsworth. Farnsworth? Just you wait and see! Malay Pirates and the Secret Service are there as is the founder of BMW...................a tour d' force that will make you want to stay up and read, well, all night.
Rating:
Summary: Better than "Garbageman Blues".....
Review: I wrote a previous review where I gave it only two stars. Now that I have actually finished it (August 2002), I have to say that it rates three more. It was immensely entertaining, witty, informative and charming, like Glen Gold himself. For those of you who haven't read it, BUY IT, read it, treat yourself for ...sake!
Rating:
Summary: Forget "The Corrections"...
Review: This is the best book of the year.
Rating:
Summary: Carter: Good magic, good book
Review: A very good read...extremely well researched, very authentic.
From fine details on the opening page (the playbill for "Carter
Beats the Devil" playing at the Curran Theatre in 1923
... it had Carter's S.A.M. number) to the descriptions of
magic (without revealing the mysteries :), this book kept
me reading continuously. Very good ending, and an excellent,
multi-layered title (when you think about it afterwards).
This book is accessible to all readers, not just those
interested in magic.
Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A marvel of historical fiction
Review: Glen David Gold produces a marvelous and entertaining first novel with his "Carter Beats the Devil." With vivid prose, larger than life characters, and a plot that is both complex and enticing, the story will pull you in from the beginning and hold you until you turn the last page. Any attempt to describe the story with any depth might ruin some of the twists and turns that make reading it such a pleasure. So, without betraying anything, I can tell you that the novel is loosely about a real magician, Carter the Great, whose performance President Harding attended the day he died. Anything more about the story would deprive you of some of the joy that you will derive from reading it. However, what I can tell you is that with the covers of this well researched novel you will encounter any number of real historical characters as well as a variety of details about life in San Francisco at the turn of the century. Even more importantly, I can tell you that this is, indeed, an old fashioned entertaining read and a window into a bygone era. Trust me, it is well worth the price of admission.
Rating:
Summary: Magic Indeed!
Review: Glen David Gold's debut novel is that rare book that made me want to slow my usual breakneck reading pace and savor every word. Opening with an account of Carter the Great's stunning magic act at the height of his career in 1923, Gold grabbed my imagination and didn't let go until almost 500 pages later--with an ending that is, amazingly, almost as good as the beginning. Chock full of thrills, wonder, and sly humor, the magician's tale weaves together such diverse elements as President Warren G. Harding and his over-zealous Secret Service protectors, vaudeville, fortune tellers, San Francisco madams, a lion named Baby, a blood-sucking dog and his evil owner, the teenaged genius behind of one of the world's most influential inventions, and two plucky brides. Part of the fun is the backstage look at what goes into a world-class magician's act, yet Gold refrains from giving away too many secrets and spoiling the illusion. Charles Carter sees himself as "an unremarkable man from whom he would not expect miracles," but Gold's literary legerdemain turns him into a truly extraordinary character. Never boring, always surprising, well worth the effort . . . Carter Beats the Devil is a spellbinding read.
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