To other works Carter Beats the Devil refers to many famous magic acts of the early twentieth century, and contains reprints of many theatrical posters from magic acts of the period. In the afterword of the book, author Glen David Gold credits the writings of
Nevil Maskelyne,
David Devant,
Robert Houdin,
Howard Thurston,
F. B. Nightingale,
Augustus Rapp,
T. Nelson Downs,
James Randi,
Harry Kellar,
Ottawa Keyes,
Ricky Jay and
Walter B. Gibson. The author also credits
Carter the Great by
Mike Caveney as a non-fiction biography of the real Charles Joseph Carter. Other books the author mentions using for research include: •
The Illustrated History of Magic by
Milbourne Christopher •
Curious Punishments of Bygone Days by
Alice Morse Earle •
The Madams of San Francisco by
Curt Gentry •
The Technology of Orgasm by
Rachel P. Maines •
Harpo Speaks by
Harpo Marx •
Magic: A Pictorial History of Conjurers in the Theater by David Price •
The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times by
Francis Russell •
Houdini!!!: The Career of Ehrich Weiss by
Kenneth Silvermann •
Starling of the White House by
Edmund Starling •
The American Black Chamber by
Herbert Yardley A number of traditional songs are sung in
Carter Beats the Devil including "
What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor?", "
Blow the Man Down", "Sugar In The Hold" and "Good-bye Fare Thee Well", though only the lyrics of the first song are actually reprinted.
To 1920s culture • The main character, Carter the Great, is based on Charles Joseph Carter, an actual magician whose biography was written by
Mike Caveney. An article about the real Charles Joseph Carter was written by John R. Browne III and published in the winter 2001 edition of the "
Frisco Cricket", a periodical produced by the San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation. As of 15 November 2007 an online copy of the article was available at the foundation's website here. •
Harry Houdini,
Warren G. Harding,
Philo Farnsworth,
Francis Marion "Borax" Smith,
Max Friz,
Tessie Wall, Jessie Hayman, and Joe Sullivan amongst others featured in the story were all real people. • Carter meets
The Marx Brothers while they are still performing as a sketch troupe called "Fun In Hi-Skule", which is an actual act the brothers performed as young men. They are referred in the book by their actual names Adolph, Leonard and Julius instead of Harpo, Chico and Groucho. • The slow decline of the music hall and theatre industry in the face of cinema, radio and eventually television is portrayed in the book. • The central plot revolves around the apparent murder of
United States President Warren G. Harding. In fact President Harding did die on the date given in the book, in a San Francisco hotel. However, the cause was
pneumonia after a bout of food poisoning. (Before the development of
penicillin based medicines
pneumonia and similar common infections were often fatal, even for those with access to the best medical care.) Also referred to are a large number of political scandals that plagued President Harding's administration. •
Philo Farnsworth did invent a form of electronic television (see
History of television) and many elements of his design continued to be used with
cathode-ray tube television sets throughout their production. • Borax Smith, real name
Francis Marion Smith, was an American business magnate and real estate developer who constructed much of
Oakland, California. ==Reception==