[citation needed] He first became interested in magic at the age of five when he went to a birthday party and watched a magician perform.
[11] Salwak says The Magic Castle was an important part of his career as he was able to practice his tricks in front of an audience.
He has said, “Just as in vaudeville, the comics and dancers and singers had a place to be bad and learn their craft, that’s what the castle afforded the magicians – a place to learn their craft and try out things.” [12] He often travels to perform at magicians' conventions, clubs and casinos around the world during spring breaks and summer vacations.
[15] They include Kingsley Amis: Modern Novelist (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1992) and Carl Sandburg: A Reference Guide (G. K. Hall, 1988).
In addition, Salwak is the editor of The Wonders of Solitude (New World Library, 1998), Anne Tyler as Novelist (University of Iowa Press, 1994), Philip Larkin: The Man and His Work (Palgrave Macmillan, 1989), and The Life and Work of Barbara Pym (Palgrave Macmillan, 1987).
Its focus moves from the obligation to return exams promptly, to Christianity and Judaism, to Kingsley Amis, to experiencing a parent's death.
In 2023 he published The Life of the Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne[18] (John C. Wiley & Sons) and Writers and Their Teachers (Bloomsbury).
In 2009, Salwak was invited by the North Korean government and former leader Kim Jong-il, to perform at the country’s 26th Spring Friendship Festival.