looking for good books about magicians

[Cobb05]

I'm trying to find some books with a magician as the protagonist, fiction only. Also only stories about magicians who do tricks. Not stories about magicians with actual magical powers or fantastical elements though. Thanks in advance.

[carrie's younger brother]

Magic by William Goldman is the only one I can think of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28novel%29

[GNTLGNT]

...how about the "Magician" series by Raymond E. Feist ??....

[blunthead]

Magic by William Goldman is the only one I can think of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_%28novel%29

Oh, what a great book, great suggestion!

[RichardX]

"Carter Beats the Devil" by Glen David Gold and "Jonathen Strange & Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. The latter is a bit long.

[carrie's younger brother]

...how about the "Magician" series by Raymond E. Feist ??....

While the title may fit, the OP stated, "Not stories about magicians with actual magical powers or fantastical elements though." Don't his books have both?

[Patricia A]

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Clarke is a great book. I almost quit reading it because the first part of the book didn't grab me, but I kept on and I'd say after the first 80 pages or so I was totally drawn into the story.

[GNTLGNT]

While the title may fit, the OP stated, "Not stories about magicians with actual magical powers or fantastical elements though." Don't his books have both?

...I went strictly with a Magician as the protagonist...it's hard to wean out the "fantastical" from most stories, because to me-magic as an "art" is fantasy/imagination based anyway...

[Patricia A]

While the title may fit, the OP stated, "Not stories about magicians with actual magical powers or fantastical elements though." Don't his books have both?

There's a lot to be said for actually reading the whole post before replying.
The suggestion I made up there would be totally wrong. It's about "real magic." I can't think of a story that would fit the OP's query. Sorry.

[blunthead]

There's a lot to be said for actually reading the whole post before replying.
The suggestion I made up there would be totally wrong. It's about "real magic." I can't think of a story that would fit the OP's query. Sorry.

I can't either but I can think of a movie, The Illusionist, based on the short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", by Steven Millhauser.