First published 2004
David Blaine sits in his transparent box above the Thames, beginning his 44-day fast. Below him, London erupts. Crowds gather daily to witness the American illusionist's self-imposed starvation. Some come to marvel, others to mock. The spectacle draws protesters, believers, voyeurs, and opportunists. Street vendors hawk merchandise. Media crews multiply. Arguments break out. The performer grows thinner while the chaos around him swells. What started as a magic trick becomes something uglier and more revealing. The city transforms into a carnival of human appetite and cruelty. Barker captures the madness through multiple voices, showing how a simple act of endurance exposes the hunger that drives everyone watching. The real illusion isn't Blaine's survival. It's the belief that any of the observers are better than what they're seeing.
Genres: fiction, satire, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: social-satire, unreliable-narrator
Setting: London, Thames
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Hardcover · Fourth Estate