Book Review: The Magic Man by Charles Beaumont

Book Review: 'The Magic Man' by Charles Beaumont

  

 3 / 5 Stars

 

'The Magic Man and Other Science Fiction Stories' (258 pp.) was published by Fawcett Crest in 1965.

 

Despite the brevity of his career, which only lasted from 1954 to 1963, when a debilitating disease curtailed his output, Beaumont (1929 - 1967) was a major short story author, best known for his contributions to the television show The Twilight Zone. The stories compiled in 'The Magic Man' all saw print in various magazines and digests, such as Playboy, If, and Esquire, in the interval from 1954 to 1960.

 

One thing about the stories in this collection is that spinsters are prominent. I don't know why, but they are......... 

 

My capsule summaries of the contents:

 

Miss Gentilbelle (1957): a Southern Gothic tale, featuring a spinster with a cruelty streak. Supposedly Miss Gentibelle was modeled on Beaumont's mother Letty.....!?

The Last Caper (1954): a sci-fi parody of the hardboiled detective story.

 

The New People (1958): the 'new people' are Ann and Hank, recent arrivals to the placid world of the suburb. It turns out that their neighbors are welcoming, but maybe a little too welcoming. One of the better stories in this collection.

 

The Vanishing American (1955): The epitome of the mid-1950s Organization Man, Mr. Michell is stricken with a peculiar - and perhaps fatal - case of urban anomie.

 

The Monster Show (1956): vaguely comedic sci-fi tale about some executives planning to air the 'world's greatest TV show.' They speak in a 'futuristic' argot. This is a very forgettable story.

 

The Magic Man (1960): Micah Jackson, aka magician and patent medicine salesman 'Dr. Silk,' is playing what may well be his last show, in the prairie town of Two Fork, Kansas. And what a show it will be..........this story is a homage of sorts to Ray Bradbury.

 

A Classic Affair (1955): a husband appears to be Straying. But it's not that sort of infidelity that you think it is.........

 

The Hunger (1955): unconvincing tale of a serial killer on the loose in a small town; a spinster named Julia is obsessed with the situation.

 

Black Country (1954): a black jazz band's leader, Spoof, is a combination of Magical Negro, and Doomed Black Bluesman. Using overheated prose intended to mimic the rhythms of jazz, Beaumont relates how Sonny, a young white boy, learns from Spoof how to bring that big sound. I hate jazz, and worshipful stories about jazz, so this entry did nothing for me............

 

The Love-Master (1957): Salvadori, the eponymous Love-Master, counsels a young man complaining of a 'frigid' wife. Will the Chinese Flip technique bring energy to the connubial bed ? Another of the better stories in 'Magic Man.' 

 

The Dark Music (1956): schoolteacher and spinster Miss Lydia Maple discovers an isolated woodland glade, where she enjoys the attentions of a strange, but not unwelcome, phenomenon. 

 

Fair Lady (1957): spinster Miss Elouise Baker finds love in an unlikely place: her daily bus trip.

 

Perchance to Dream (1958): a psychiatrist encounters Philip Hall, a young man whose dreams lately are taking on a disturbing sense of reality. The premise is too contrived to be effective.

 

The Crooked Man (1955): in a future where homosexuality is legal, but heterosexuality is not, the eponymous Man is looking for Girl Love, which makes him a pervert. Beaumont's description of the gay lounge (where the Man has gone for an assignation) is greasy and disturbing. This story was quite provocative for its time.

 

Open House (1957): Eddie Pierce just wants a quiet evening at home in his apartment, but then the doorbell rings.......dark humor is prominent in this piece.

 

Last Rites (1955): Father Courtney is called to administer the Catholic rite of extreme unction to a dying man. There are philosophical issues.

 

The Murderers (1955): gay couple Herbie and Ronald have taken up murder as a delicious pastime. Who will be their victim this night ?

 

A Death in the Country (1957): despite the increasing age of his Chevy and himself, Buck Larsen is determined to continue his career as a stock-car racer. A very good tale of life and death on the dirt-track racing circuit of the late 1950s.

Summing up, 'Magic Man' has its share of duds and its share of good stories, making it another Three Star anthology. It's interesting to think of what Beaumont would have done had he not come to a too-early end.