S ONE MIGHT GLEAN from its title, Skeptical Inquirer is a magazine devoted to “separating fact from myth in the flood of occultism and pseudoscience on the scene today.” I’ve read a few issues myself, and it truly is a fascinating publication. Exposés of Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, cold fusion, lost continents, cryptozoological oddities, and so on are perfect fodder for research and dissection (or, if you would, ripping apart). If they had been around at the time of Conan Doyle’s conversion to the quasi-religion known as Spiritualism, unfortunately rife with charlatans lightening the wallets of gullible grieving people everywhere, there’s no doubt that poor ACD would have yet another periodical tearing at his beliefs.

It’s no surprise, therefore, to see that a review of Massimo Polidoro’s book Final Seance: The Strange Friendship Between Houdini and Conan Doyle appeared in its pages (in March 2002), and is now online for our reading pleasure. As one may discern from William Harwood’s opening paragraph, there seems to be a certain bias at work.

I have long been aware that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ended his friendship with Harry Houdini on account of Doyle’s blind, gullible belief in the very scam Houdini had disproven over and over. But not until I read Final Séance did I become convinced that incurable adherence to a security belief in the face of irrefutable evidence can only be described as a form of insanity. And I am far from the first person to reach that conclusion.

I don’t have the book yet, but the review seems to be overly critical of ACD’s devotion to his late-life cause, and to his insistence that Houdini was indeed tapping into the realm of the spirits. For example, there’s no evidence given in the review of the many other factors that led to his conversion to Spiritualism, its historical context, and why he thought it was such a worthwhile channel for his energies. It seems that the reviewer is dwelling less on the actual quality of the book, and more on the skeptical material it presents.

I’m curious if anyone here has read the book. Is it a good read? Is it balanced? Please feel free to leave a comment below.