Levitation, 2007, GT Labs,
Jim Ottaviani &
Janine Johnston.
Historical, in the sense that it's about actual historical persons. Howard Thurston was apparently deeply odd for a magician.
I've read one or two other books in this series from GT Labs. This one was actually pretty funny, though.
I like this. The framing of history through the device of fictionalization is pretty well done.
We get the story narrated by engineer Guy Jarrett, who actually wrote a book that's in the bibliography (along with ten other books).