Check the listing for details. Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned. Condition: New, Made in United States. Listed at 17.59 USD. Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear Paperback – September 15, 2004 by Jim Steinmeyer (Author) Now in paperback comes Jim Steinmeyer's astonishing chronicle of half a century of illusionary innovation, backstage chicanery, and keen competition within the world of magicians. Lauded by today's finest magicians and critics, Hiding the Elephant is a cultural history of the efforts among legendary conjurers to make things materialize, levitate, and disappear. Steinmeyer unveils the secrets and life stories of the fascinating personalities behind optical marvels such as floating ghosts interacting with live actors, disembodied heads, and vanishing ladies.