New York, mid-1940s. On his birthday, a young Allan Stewart Konigsberg unwraps a small box of magic tricks — a gift that would change his life forever. Enchanted by the art of wonder, he dreams of becoming a magician. But destiny has other plans. His wit, impeccable timing, and surreal humor will eventually lead him to trade playing cards, coins, and trick dice for a camera. The world would come to know him instead as Woody Allen.
Now, as the filmmaker approaches his 90th birthday, a new book celebrates the invisible thread connecting Allen’s cinema to the world of illusion.
Woody Allen: A Magician in Manhattan — written by Italian illusionist, magic historian, and “dream maker” Marc Casellato — offers one of the most original and captivating portraits ever composed of the American director. Through a fusion of cinema, storytelling, and conjuring, Casellato unveils how Allen’s lifelong fascination with magic has shaped not only his art but also his understanding of life itself.
Following the success of its Italian edition (Woody Allen: Un Mago a Manhattan), which was selected for the Independent Authors Section of the XXXVII Turin International Book Fair, this new English version invites readers into a world where sleight of hand meets the lens of the camera — and where illusion becomes a philosophy.
From the comic surrealism of Sleeper to the refined mysteries of Shadows and Fog and Magic in the Moonlight, Casellato explores how Allen’s films often operate like intricate magic tricks: setups, misdirections, revelations. Beneath the laughter lies a structure of illusion. The director himself, Casellato argues, behaves like a magician — building expectations, manipulating perspective, and finally pulling away the curtain to reveal a truth that is as fragile as it is human.
“Magic deceives only to give back wonder,” Casellato writes. “And Woody Allen understood this better than anyone.”
The book weaves together anecdotes, historical insights, and film analysis, tracing how the art of illusion has long been intertwined with cinema.
“There is a very close relationship between magic and film,” Casellato explains. “To begin with, moving pictures themselves are born from an illusion — the persistence of vision on the retina. But there’s more: many of the pioneers of cinema were illusionists. The father of special effects, Georges Méliès, began as a stage magician. He had the creative daring and the childlike desire to astonish that every magician — and every filmmaker — shares.”
Casellato’s essay expands on this dialogue between cinema and conjuring, revealing how figures such as Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles also fell under magic’s spell. Allen, Casellato suggests, carries forward that lineage — his films filled with hypnosis, mentalism, levitations, and trickery that mirror the structure of illusion itself.
Throughout its chapters, Woody Allen: A Magician in Manhattan unfolds like a well-paced routine — from the sleight-of-hand humor of Allen’s early comedies to the metaphysical reflections of his later works. Casellato balances scholarly insight with a performer’s sense of rhythm, inviting readers to rediscover the wonder hidden within even the most neurotic of Allen’s characters.
“In this book,” Casellato adds, “I wanted to explore the connection between the art of magic and Woody Allen’s creative universe, while also awakening the reader’s curiosity about the history of illusionism — an art that stretches back thousands of years, populated by extraordinary characters. First and foremost, Harry Houdini.”
More than a film study, Casellato’s work is a celebration of imagination — a reflection on how illusion helps us navigate reality. “Magic,” he said, “is not merely deception. It’s a language that speaks to our deepest need to believe — if only for an instant — that the impossible might be real.”
For admirers of Allen’s films and for those enchanted by the mystery of illusion, Casellato’s book becomes what all good magic aspires to be: an experience of surprise that lingers long after the curtain falls.
“Woody Allen: A Magician in Manhattan” will be available worldwide on Amazon, in both hardcover and paperback editions, beginning in the coming days — the perfect way to celebrate November 30.
