What do you think?
Rate this book
The Skull in the Box #1
The Magic Eardrums
"The man who climbed in through the window of Bookmaker King's home in Minneapolis claimed that, by the aid of his artificial ear-drums, he could hear sounds totally inaudible to ordinary people, and by listening could manipulate any combination lock and open any safe. What happened when the occupant of the house bade him open Mrs. King's safe and render her diamonds available forms the climax of as swiftly-moving and dramatic a story as even Keeler has ever written."
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1939
1 person is currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Harry Stephen Keeler
171 books55 followersBorn in Chicago in 1890, Keeler spent his childhood exclusively in this city, which was so beloved by the author that a large number of his works took place in and around it. In many of his novels, Keeler refers to Chicago as "the London of the west." The expression is explained in the opening of Thieves' Nights (1929):
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
"Here ... were seemingly the same hawkers ... selling the same goods ... here too was the confusion, the babble of tongues of many lands, the restless, shoving throng containing faces and features of a thousand racial castes, and last but not least, here on Halsted and Maxwell streets, Chicago, were the same dirt, flying bits of torn paper, and confusion that graced the junction of Middlesex and Whitechapel High streets far across the globe."
Other locales for Keeler novels include New Orleans and New York. In his later works, Keeler's settings are often more generic settings such as Big River, or a city in which all buildings and streets are either nameless or fictional. Keeler is known to have visited London at least once, but his occasional depictions of British characters are consistently implausible.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 20, 2020
Mortimer King, el narrador, llega una noche a su casa y sorprende a un ladrón que entra por la ventana. A punta de pistola, King empezará a interrogar a este intruso, de nombre Peter Givney, sobre sus motivos para dicha intrusión. Pero lo que parece una situación de puro trámite, llamar a la policía y ya está, no será más que el comienzo de una trama sorprendente y llena de entresijos. Casi toda la historia transcurre entre cuatro paredes, mediante los diálogos de los personajes, que nos trasladan a mil y una situaciones.
‘El Hombre de los Tímpanos Mágicos’ (The Man with the Magic Eardrums, 1939), de Harry Stephen Keeler, conjuga lo mejor de este genial escritor: tramas y subtramas enrevesadas, coincidencias imposibles y giros inesperados.
‘El Hombre de los Tímpanos Mágicos’ (The Man with the Magic Eardrums, 1939), de Harry Stephen Keeler, conjuga lo mejor de este genial escritor: tramas y subtramas enrevesadas, coincidencias imposibles y giros inesperados.
Read
March 20, 2024AKA The Man With the Magic Eardrums
Recent interest in my old review of The Washington Square Enigma left me wondering if the old Library still had old copies of Keeler's books. They do, though sadly Washington Square Enigma no longer seems to be one of them. Hoping that keeping them in circulation will keep them alive, I requested the one with the most interesting title and received a hardcover edition from 1939 that probably hasn't seen much activity since then. It was in great condition, although a few pages were torn (I taped one back together from the loose paper I found inside the book- I probably should have returned it directly to the library instead of allowing it to be bandied around again). On one of the early pages some fellow had ticked off the Keeler novels he had read up to that point.
Well, I'm already starting to sound like a Keeler novel, full of unnecessary diversions. I had forgotten how plainly weird these books are! It's like entering a schizophrenic/paranoid world where literally everything is connected to everything else in the most convoluted, esoteric, downright insane way.
Keeler's love of skulls is well known. Literally half of this book, 150 pages, is a complete waste of time tangent concerning a skull that could have easily been exorcised without any damage to the "plot" (but then, after all, it wouldn't be a Keeler book). But can we discuss his obsession with deeply unhelpful geographical directions that only aid in situating you more into his madness?
The world of this book lacks any attention span. The plot is mostly small talk that quickly squirrels down completely insane divergent roads and logistical corridors, tangents wrapping over tangents. It's like that song "There's a Hole in the Bucket" ad infinitum. In fact, I could see a clever AI spinning a masterpiece Keeler web that goes on forever. But you must sip lightly of these books or you yourself may go mad!
I should also warn that this book is really, really racist! One of its major conceits is racist, and I think altogether it's more racist than the "average racism" of the time. I don't know how ironic the racism is used- the characters who are racist aren't exactly good people, after all- but since the novel is ridiculous in every other way, why shouldn't it be ridiculously racist as well?
Recent interest in my old review of The Washington Square Enigma left me wondering if the old Library still had old copies of Keeler's books. They do, though sadly Washington Square Enigma no longer seems to be one of them. Hoping that keeping them in circulation will keep them alive, I requested the one with the most interesting title and received a hardcover edition from 1939 that probably hasn't seen much activity since then. It was in great condition, although a few pages were torn (I taped one back together from the loose paper I found inside the book- I probably should have returned it directly to the library instead of allowing it to be bandied around again). On one of the early pages some fellow had ticked off the Keeler novels he had read up to that point.
Well, I'm already starting to sound like a Keeler novel, full of unnecessary diversions. I had forgotten how plainly weird these books are! It's like entering a schizophrenic/paranoid world where literally everything is connected to everything else in the most convoluted, esoteric, downright insane way.
Keeler's love of skulls is well known. Literally half of this book, 150 pages, is a complete waste of time tangent concerning a skull that could have easily been exorcised without any damage to the "plot" (but then, after all, it wouldn't be a Keeler book). But can we discuss his obsession with deeply unhelpful geographical directions that only aid in situating you more into his madness?
The world of this book lacks any attention span. The plot is mostly small talk that quickly squirrels down completely insane divergent roads and logistical corridors, tangents wrapping over tangents. It's like that song "There's a Hole in the Bucket" ad infinitum. In fact, I could see a clever AI spinning a masterpiece Keeler web that goes on forever. But you must sip lightly of these books or you yourself may go mad!
I should also warn that this book is really, really racist! One of its major conceits is racist, and I think altogether it's more racist than the "average racism" of the time. I don't know how ironic the racism is used- the characters who are racist aren't exactly good people, after all- but since the novel is ridiculous in every other way, why shouldn't it be ridiculously racist as well?
December 31, 2025
Keeler's The Man with the Magic Eardrums is about a guy who stumbles in on someone else trying to rob his home and the two then have a conversation for some 200 pages. Theres also an interlude about a skull that can saved a condemned man from execution that the owner owns, and the attempts of his defence attorney to get that skull. On the less whimsical side of things, one of the plot strands is about one of the protagonists shameful secrets, that he was met a black woman who through drugs convinced him to marry. She's now been arrested for murder and says that right before her execution she's going to reveal the name of the white man she married. Our protagonist in the meantime never obtained a divorce and is also a bigamist. As expected, lots of racial slurs tossed around.
There's also an impossible disappearance in this novel, where a man walks into a whorehouse but doesn't come out. The solution is pretty obvious but not like terrible or anything.
Also it ends on a really crazy twist that I presume sets up the next book in the series, and I'm interested in skimming over it again and seeing if keeler actually sets it up
There's also an impossible disappearance in this novel, where a man walks into a whorehouse but doesn't come out. The solution is pretty obvious but not like terrible or anything.
Also it ends on a really crazy twist that I presume sets up the next book in the series, and I'm interested in skimming over it again and seeing if keeler actually sets it up
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews