Here is Hollywood, where the young, the beautiful and the inspired come to live lives of disappointment marbled with betrayal. They spin gold into flax, striving to placate the unworthy sufficiently so as, one day, to be admitted to their number. Who might be immune? Only a philosopher. Ricky Jay came to Hollywood as an acolyte in 1972. He was 26 years old, and had been practicing magic since childhood. He was a world-class card manipulator and thought to be the youngest performer ever to play “The Ed Sullivan Show.” He came to study with the masters of close-up. They...