An inverted sense of truth

A HEARTBROKEN America has been stripped of its illusions yet again, and this time the culprit is (pseudo) stuntman David Blaine.

We bow to no one in our admiration for Blaine's previous feats of derring-do, which have included such heart-stopping spectacles as living in a transparent box suspended by the River Thames for 44 days and staying in a wading pool - ah, make that a water-filled bubble - for a week. Still, when a magician makes a big deal about his intention to make like a bat by being suspended by his feet over Central Park for three days, surely Americans have a right to expect that he'll, well, hang in there, and not have himself righted every hour or so to have a medical exam, freshen up, and get his wits, such as they are, back about him.

It would be cruel to call Blaine an upside-down fake, and yet surely this latest episode is akin to announcing you'll fast for a month and then taking a daily time-out to wolf down a Big Mac. Think of the disappointment it must have caused fans who had traveled thousands of miles - OK, OK, a subway stop or two - to witness the event.

To restore our admiration, Blaine needs to undertake a stunt of such epic difficulty that it will test every last ounce of his mettle, will, and endurance: going a full year without attempting to attract any attention to himself.