Sol Stein

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The Magician

Magic is based on illusion, and law is supposedly based on truth. Or are they? The Magician is peopled with men, women, and youngsters we know, in situations as frightening as they seem to be unavoidable.

There are two magicians in the story: Sixteen-year-old Ed Japhet, who gives a skillful performance of magic at a high-school prom, and George Thomassy, an unusual lawyer who performs his magic in - and sometimes out of - the courtroom.

The leader of the school gang is infuriated by Japhet’s success. What he does about it leads to a criminal trial, an attempted murder, and death. Finally, the story brilliantly demonstrates the illusion of justice in a court of law by proving that the guilty are innocent.


Irresistible! It would not be fair to reveal the shocking ironic outcome, but I promise you that the story will grip you from start to finish.
-The New York Times


So expertly written and plotted that I blasted through it in one evening.
--The Minneapolis Tribune


A sharklike bite that wont easily be forgotten. Fast moving, incisive, angry, fine, and dramatic!
--Library Journal


If you bury yourself in a Sol Stein book while walking, youll walk into a wall.
--The New York Times


Selected Works

Fiction
The Magician
Beautiful and gripping. I cannot recall a novel of this type with greater pleasure.
--The New York Times Book Review
Nonfiction
Stein on Writing
“Sol Stein went over my manuscript with an infallible eye for the soft spots in my prose, giving me one of the best editorial readings I’ve ever had.”
--Lionel Trilling
How to Grow a Novel
“My publisher Sol Stein was my producer, and my editor Sol Stein was my director. Sol saw what I didn’t think possible.”
--Elia Kazan



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