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The Man Who Was Magic
A stranger comes to the city of Mageia and challenges its inhabitants with a new kind of magic - a magic that restores innocence and faith.
191 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
15 people are currently reading
520 people want to read
About the author
Paul Gallico
184 books317 followersPaul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
July 6, 2009
If I could, I would give this 6 stars, as it's been a favorite since I was about 12, and continues to be so today, through my changing tastes. The idea of a man who IS magic, rather than one who works with magic, or uses magic, is brilliant, and thought provoking. Paul Gallico writes cleanly, the plot is fun, the character development is great, and there are several surprises that make the story worth coming back to again and again.
September 3, 2008
It's out of print, but, this is truly, the most inspirational, most beautiful, most heart-wrenching book I ever read. I bought a copy for an amazingly high price from an out-of-print book seller, just because I couldn't live without it.
Read it. I mean it.
Read it. I mean it.
October 22, 2011
What would happen if one day a genuine magician with real magic came to a city of illusionists who live entirely in a world of artifice and sleight of hand?
This is one of the very few books that I have read more than once. It left a very deep impression on me the first time round, aged 13 or so, and not just because I got some sort of fictional-character-crush on the girl in the story. It was my first exposure to Paul Gallico's profound gift for the allegorical and, with hindsight, I have to acknowledge that it must have shaped my impressionable mind in a very significant way.
The fact that first I read this book at a fairly young age demonstrates the universal appeal and accessibility of the writing, but having the opportunity to re-read it nearly 20 years later I found still more delight and depth in the telling of the tale although it was very much shorter than I remember it being. For a book that looms so large in my memory and imagination, I was surprised to re-read it in a single evening.
This is one of the very few books that I have read more than once. It left a very deep impression on me the first time round, aged 13 or so, and not just because I got some sort of fictional-character-crush on the girl in the story. It was my first exposure to Paul Gallico's profound gift for the allegorical and, with hindsight, I have to acknowledge that it must have shaped my impressionable mind in a very significant way.
The fact that first I read this book at a fairly young age demonstrates the universal appeal and accessibility of the writing, but having the opportunity to re-read it nearly 20 years later I found still more delight and depth in the telling of the tale although it was very much shorter than I remember it being. For a book that looms so large in my memory and imagination, I was surprised to re-read it in a single evening.
January 31, 2025
First read this when I was 11 or 12 years old. It remains a close favourite - encapsulates so many of the themes and values that were and remain significant to me in my life. My original copy was given away when I was 17, but I found another in a used book store in Toronto some 20+ years later. I will keep this one close!
May 14, 2022
The characters were amazing, the story itself was okay.
December 16, 2024
"Just magic," said Adam, "the ordinary kind."
This nearly 60 year old YA novel has a surprising number of reviews, the majority five star! Unlike the magic of Penn and Teller, or of Harry Potter, I am drawn to that ageless quest for "ordinary" magic.
This is a 1966 fable about an unassuming man, Adam, capable of true magic. He travels to a fantastical place, Mageia, where he hopes to be accepted into their Guild of Magicians and with their help, learn more about magic, rating himself as only a modest beginner. When the town's master magicians witness his real magic, ironically, they consider it cheating and in their sleight-of-hand hearts and minds, they also covet his secret. He is now a threat to them and is in mortal danger.
Luckily author Gallico cleverly gives Adam a companion and sidekick, Mopsy, a talking dog. We all know dogs are fiercely loyal and have that near magical intuition about humans. With Adam's utterly trusting nature, he could never have survived without the cynic Mopsy.
In Mageia, he also meets a young resident, an 11 year old girl, Jane, who doesn't care to grow up to be a magician's assistant as is traditional. No, she wants to be a magician herself! That touch of early feminism tickled my female heart. She will be the only one in Mageia who learns some of the "ordinary magic" from him.
The novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull came to my mind, a book I read at around 12, another tale of transcendence. Many GR reviewers read The Man Who Was Magic at around 12, too, and kept it as a life-long memory. I think we treasured being introduced--at the perfect age--to the magic of possibility.
I added an extra star in comradery.
This nearly 60 year old YA novel has a surprising number of reviews, the majority five star! Unlike the magic of Penn and Teller, or of Harry Potter, I am drawn to that ageless quest for "ordinary" magic.
This is a 1966 fable about an unassuming man, Adam, capable of true magic. He travels to a fantastical place, Mageia, where he hopes to be accepted into their Guild of Magicians and with their help, learn more about magic, rating himself as only a modest beginner. When the town's master magicians witness his real magic, ironically, they consider it cheating and in their sleight-of-hand hearts and minds, they also covet his secret. He is now a threat to them and is in mortal danger.
Luckily author Gallico cleverly gives Adam a companion and sidekick, Mopsy, a talking dog. We all know dogs are fiercely loyal and have that near magical intuition about humans. With Adam's utterly trusting nature, he could never have survived without the cynic Mopsy.
In Mageia, he also meets a young resident, an 11 year old girl, Jane, who doesn't care to grow up to be a magician's assistant as is traditional. No, she wants to be a magician herself! That touch of early feminism tickled my female heart. She will be the only one in Mageia who learns some of the "ordinary magic" from him.
The novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull came to my mind, a book I read at around 12, another tale of transcendence. Many GR reviewers read The Man Who Was Magic at around 12, too, and kept it as a life-long memory. I think we treasured being introduced--at the perfect age--to the magic of possibility.
I added an extra star in comradery.
January 24, 2013
I loved the suggestion in this book that nature is magic and there is magic all around us - very earthy and sweet. The main characters Adam and Jane have integrity and honesty in a world of deception and trickery and I love that in the long run they won out.
This book is my all time favourite. It is very special and stands on its own. While written for kids I think it's a fairy tale for grown ups ie: good triumphs over evil - and the goodies live happily ever after. It doesn't always turn out like this in real life but in the book it does - yay!
This book is my all time favourite. It is very special and stands on its own. While written for kids I think it's a fairy tale for grown ups ie: good triumphs over evil - and the goodies live happily ever after. It doesn't always turn out like this in real life but in the book it does - yay!
September 5, 2021
A light and fun read. It shows a side of human nature wherein they fail to recognize the truth but rather get on with their own fictional narrative. A highly-recommended read imo.
It is after-all a Fable of Innocence.
May 16, 2011
I read this the September after I graduated HS. Even though it was an older book and not many people had checked it out of our town's library, I checked it out b/c of the title. It was such a good read; albeit odd. I read it in one day.
(Our library eventually got rid of this book and I bought it in 2009!)
I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something "out there".
(Our library eventually got rid of this book and I bought it in 2009!)
I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something "out there".
January 13, 2017
Rather harsh and flat. It was difficult to get into a story where all the characters, except two, are portrayed as villains, and the remaining duo never really seem to get past victim stage. So many reader reviewers seemed to love this, and though there were a couple of life lessons that I did enjoy, the story just didn't do it for me.
July 23, 2024
I read this book when I was 12 and it definitely helped me grow.up as a person who believes that real magic is always around us. I am 67 now and still have the book on my shelf here in Jakarta (Indonesia)?
November 19, 2025
Magisk! Spennende å se hvor raskt frykten og sinnet mot noe ukjent som man ikke forstår setter seg inn. Spesielt når man er under oppfattelsen at det kan true seg selv
May 5, 2010
When you pick up a Gallico book, you know what you're in for. He tends to be allegorical, and maybe a bit sentimental. But if you can overlook those aspects - embrace them, maybe, like you would in a children's book (Gallico is one of those writers that doesn't quite fit in either adult or children's fiction categories), then he is absolutely wonderful. His "The Love Of Seven Dolls" has the same qualities this book has. It's very hard to explain what I love about Paul Gallico's writing - it gets under my skin, and it's understated (I detest authors who write only to show how clever they are). This one is about the man who WAS magic - magic incarnate. An interesting premise. It's deep, but not heavy. Like I said, can't describe it.
September 27, 2014
As always, Gallico is imaginative and interesting. A man who *is* magic seeks to enter Mageia, a walled town of magicians, and join the magicians guild. The thing is, all the magicians there are the kind we know...illusionists, prestidigitators, shams. Someone doing real magic frightens them. In fact, real magic is illegal. Add a smart-mouthed dog, a little girl who desperately wants to be a magician although only men are allowed, a magician whose tricks always go wrong, and a host of evil magicians working toward their own ends, and you have an engaging story. A couple of complaints: There are some dated racial stereotypes and the story ended long before we were ready. We figure it need to be pretty much twice as long, to follow Ninian's adventures.
December 10, 2019
What a fantastic book! Talk about a book written years ago encouraging children to open up the possibilities of the magic of their minds and the world around them, saying "I can" and "I will" rather than "I won't" as so many grown-ups tell children.
Truly a magical, mind-opening tale that will leave a smile on your face, a spring in your step and an enduring love for Adam the Simple and his talking dog Mopsy.
Truly a magical, mind-opening tale that will leave a smile on your face, a spring in your step and an enduring love for Adam the Simple and his talking dog Mopsy.
September 13, 2013
An absolutely exquisite story of magic and human nature. The writing is sublime, simple and joyous and perfect for reading aloud. As with many fairytale type stories, there is a good lesson buried in the plot, but it is gently told and wrapped around full of life characters with normal human emotions and experiences. I cannot wait until my child is old enough to read this to her.
December 8, 2017
A lucky find in the library's basement fiction collection, this is a charming tale about a mysterious but lovable stranger with magical powers, showing up in a town populated by stage magicians. The writing is vivid and the characters delightful! (I also think it's a book that would lend itself well to a faithful movie version.) Definitely worth a read.
March 5, 2021
A favourite since childhood. This stunning story of a man who is genuinely magic; hated, persecuted and eventually driven out of a city comprised of distrustful scared 'fake' magicians, is touching, beautiful, sad and thought provoking. The contrast between the lightness and humour of some parts, and the sad parts of others, is deeply affecting. I adore this book, it leaves its mark. X
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2024
This was a great book with a powerful message. I loved it.
March 21, 2012
This should be on my children's bookshelf, but I love it too much to let it go. Found this at a thrif store when I was 14; read and re-read and loved ever since. Classic, in ever sense.
May 2, 2018
This is the second time I’ve read this book. It’s a lovely book, partly about believing in yrself & partly about magic, true magic. The magic that is life itself. So what’s not to like?
September 25, 2021
I have loved this book since I was a child. Definitely an allegory, possibly (I have always thought) with religious connotations. A beautiful read.
August 27, 2022
A timeless tale as delightful now as when it was first published.
November 14, 2022
I read this book long, long ago and I remember adoring it. I need to re-read it!
December 3, 2018
An unusual book, but the sort of unusual that appeals to me. It's ostensibly aimed at adults, but reads like middle school fantasy to a modern reader. Gallico's gentle tone reminds me of the children's books of Beverly Nichols or Elizabeth Goudge. The protagonists are good, without a lot of depth, the bad are bad, without a lot of depth, and there's one poor sod caught in the middle who means well unless pressed otherwise, and as a result he's probably the most interesting, but he's a minor character until the denouement.
I suspect this is an allegory (I'm one of those who happily read Narnia without realising), which might explain it's aimed-at-adults focus (somebody out there thought more grown-ups would read fantasy if it were marketed as allegory) but it's not as in-your-face--certainly not, say, compared to Mr. Weston's Good Wine which picks up an allegory bat and beats you over the head with it every page.
My major complaint is a minor complaint: it drives me crazy when writers introduce rules then ignore them. Why break your own rule? It's clearly stated that magicians in this world require an assistant, forcing Adam to hire Jane. Yet Ninnian performs his act entirely assistant-free. Either write in an assistant, or don't force the rule upon your own story!
I have a huge soft-spot for semi-allegorical stories of mysterious magicians arriving in town and mixing things up (e.g. The Circus of Dr. Lao) and this is right in that wheelhouse.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
I suspect this is an allegory (I'm one of those who happily read Narnia without realising), which might explain it's aimed-at-adults focus (somebody out there thought more grown-ups would read fantasy if it were marketed as allegory) but it's not as in-your-face--certainly not, say, compared to Mr. Weston's Good Wine which picks up an allegory bat and beats you over the head with it every page.
My major complaint is a minor complaint: it drives me crazy when writers introduce rules then ignore them. Why break your own rule? It's clearly stated that magicians in this world require an assistant, forcing Adam to hire Jane. Yet Ninnian performs his act entirely assistant-free. Either write in an assistant, or don't force the rule upon your own story!
I have a huge soft-spot for semi-allegorical stories of mysterious magicians arriving in town and mixing things up (e.g. The Circus of Dr. Lao) and this is right in that wheelhouse.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
May 28, 2021
2.5
Thematically tight and good, universal so it holds up well. The craft is quite odd, I feel like this must be for a parent to read to a child? The structure and verbiage and all around vocabulary is beyond the intended audience, for sure. You’d have a kid pause and ask you wtf these words were had you been reading it to them.
But the dialogue is discordant with the structure as well. It’s very pastoral small upper class British child in a private school. Very proper and highly energetic, to like a degree that wouldn’t be believable.
And then, to top it off, it’s also incredibly self aware, which was the largest fault for me. When a magic boy starts talking about microscopes and microbes and what not, I’m out of the fantasy story, understandably.
It’s totally swingy as well. Like… literally talking about lynching a person for being Othered by the town. Not killed, though that’s mentioned too, by actually lynched. Published in ‘68, it shows. It really does. There’s casual misogyny while tying, ironically, to not be misogynistic and objectifying of Jane, one of the main characters. And there’s lots of casual racism around cultures the author just hasn’t got a proper handle on whatsoever. From evil “Gypsy” to “oriental” people. I have to imagine it’s a huge nostalgia read because people.
I know are progressives really like this novel. And I can see how the ending would stay with you, especially at a young age. It just really feels weird now, given context. It’s barely a pass for me.
Thematically tight and good, universal so it holds up well. The craft is quite odd, I feel like this must be for a parent to read to a child? The structure and verbiage and all around vocabulary is beyond the intended audience, for sure. You’d have a kid pause and ask you wtf these words were had you been reading it to them.
But the dialogue is discordant with the structure as well. It’s very pastoral small upper class British child in a private school. Very proper and highly energetic, to like a degree that wouldn’t be believable.
And then, to top it off, it’s also incredibly self aware, which was the largest fault for me. When a magic boy starts talking about microscopes and microbes and what not, I’m out of the fantasy story, understandably.
It’s totally swingy as well. Like… literally talking about lynching a person for being Othered by the town. Not killed, though that’s mentioned too, by actually lynched. Published in ‘68, it shows. It really does. There’s casual misogyny while tying, ironically, to not be misogynistic and objectifying of Jane, one of the main characters. And there’s lots of casual racism around cultures the author just hasn’t got a proper handle on whatsoever. From evil “Gypsy” to “oriental” people. I have to imagine it’s a huge nostalgia read because people.
I know are progressives really like this novel. And I can see how the ending would stay with you, especially at a young age. It just really feels weird now, given context. It’s barely a pass for me.
February 20, 2021
A debate about whether “oilily” is or isn’t a word sparked a vivid, unexpected (and inaccurate) memory of my mom reading the phrase “he smiled oilily,” aloud from this book. (it doesn’t appear, although there is an “oily smile”) I remembered that she stopped reading it before we got to the end, and I found a copy to read so I could finally finish it.
For me it lands somewhere between “A Phantom Tollbooth” and “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” (or maybe between good C.S. Lewis and bad C.S. Lewis) - joyous and life-affirming, but bowed down in places by its own allegorical weight. It did have one really excellent set piece that made me laugh aloud.
These days I’m always a little on edge venturing into the land of the Old White Male Author, and there were some cringey moments for modern sensibilities. Ironically I think Gallico was trying to portray the magical city of Mageia as fairly diverse, but he leans too much on unpleasant stereotypes to do so.
For me it lands somewhere between “A Phantom Tollbooth” and “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” (or maybe between good C.S. Lewis and bad C.S. Lewis) - joyous and life-affirming, but bowed down in places by its own allegorical weight. It did have one really excellent set piece that made me laugh aloud.
These days I’m always a little on edge venturing into the land of the Old White Male Author, and there were some cringey moments for modern sensibilities. Ironically I think Gallico was trying to portray the magical city of Mageia as fairly diverse, but he leans too much on unpleasant stereotypes to do so.
August 19, 2020
A slight, sweet fairy tale in every aspect. Old fashioned, simple lessons about the miracles in the everyday ordinary, and a reminder that we can all access riches through our imagination alone.
I liked the characters, though all were drawn in the broadest of strokes and none went beyond cliche except for the lead. There were some outdated racist stereotypes that disturbed me as well.
The ending left me unsatisfied. It was abrupt and without real closure for most of the storylines. And the hero simply disappears without achieving his goals. I was hoping for more than a simple aphorism to tie it all together.
I’m shocked that this is the mind behind The Poseidon Adventure. The two stories could not be more different, but I guess his range was Gallico’s true magic gift.
I liked the characters, though all were drawn in the broadest of strokes and none went beyond cliche except for the lead. There were some outdated racist stereotypes that disturbed me as well.
The ending left me unsatisfied. It was abrupt and without real closure for most of the storylines. And the hero simply disappears without achieving his goals. I was hoping for more than a simple aphorism to tie it all together.
I’m shocked that this is the mind behind The Poseidon Adventure. The two stories could not be more different, but I guess his range was Gallico’s true magic gift.
October 22, 2024
I recently reread The Boy with the Bubble Gun, and went looking for other Gallico novels. I did not recognize this title, so I immediately ordered it. I am not disappointed.
Adam hikes for days to reach the city of Mageia, the center of magicians in his land. He is interested in learning more about magic and joining the magician’s guild. He arrived in totally incorrect garb, with a tribble-ish looking talking dog. The city amazes him so much he almost doesn’t notice the girl sitting on the steps, but he needs directions on how to get to the official to appear in the testing. The poor girl is in tears, but is enchanted by Mopsie, the dog. It’s a charming tale , that questions what magic actually is.
Adam hikes for days to reach the city of Mageia, the center of magicians in his land. He is interested in learning more about magic and joining the magician’s guild. He arrived in totally incorrect garb, with a tribble-ish looking talking dog. The city amazes him so much he almost doesn’t notice the girl sitting on the steps, but he needs directions on how to get to the official to appear in the testing. The poor girl is in tears, but is enchanted by Mopsie, the dog. It’s a charming tale , that questions what magic actually is.
November 12, 2023
I read this when I was young and wanted to reread it; Paul Gallico wrote charming stories for children (Thomasina--made into a Disney film, Manxmouse, etc.), the Mrs. 'Arris series of books (one made into a film recently with Leslie Manville) and The Poseiden Adventure. The subtitle is A Fable of Innocence and this is a fable about what happens to an insular community when a stranger shows up (similar to Stranger in a Strange Land). Here, a magician and his talking dog show up in a small town and are able to perform real magic; the local magicians become jealous and threatened by his skills. What will they do to the outsider? As sweet as I remembered...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews