“Eisenheim the Illusionist” although it comes off an objection nonfiction, but has hints of the playful and fantastic. I see this in small details such as the fact that he is a mysterious magician. It is also interesting to point out that this sort of fantastic element of illusion happening to a magician-type character which are typically known to be the masters of illusion is a nice touch. We also have this lovely parallel of these illusions being reflections and in the end we have this reveal that it in itself is an illusion to others and partly to himself of a reflection of different parts of himself.
We also then have how Millhauser has trickled in parts of illusion throughout his stories, in “The Disappearance of Elaine Coleman,”was in part the illusion of a real person, someone that had been so thoroughly overlooked that she had to disappear. And then we have “Dangerous Laughter,” were we see what could be the illusion of happiness, but rather an addicting and deadly game. So really the theme or idea of illusion extends far beyond “Eisenheim the Illusionist.”