Book Description
t has the nostalgic quality of an old-fashioned fable, but Karl Johnson's The Magician and the Cardsharp is a true story that lovingly re-creates the sparkle of a vanished world. Here, set against the backdrop of America struggling through the Depression, is the world of magic, a realm of stars, sleight of hand, and sin where dreams could be realized-or stolen away. Following the Crash of '29, Dai Vernon, known by magicians as 'the man who fooled Houdini,' is tramping down Midwestern backroads, barely making ends meet. While swapping secrets with a Mexican gambler, he hears of a guy he doesn't quite believe is real-a legendary mystery man who deals perfectly from the center of the deck and who locals call the greatest cardsharp of all time. Determined to find the reclusive genius, Vernon sets out on a journey through America's shady, slick, and sinful side-from mob-run Kansas City through railroad towns that looked sleepy only in the daytime. Does he find the sharp?
Customer Reviews:
More than just a magic read..........2007-08-01
This book goes far beyond most biographical treatments that you see in the field of magic. Yes, it talks about Vernon and his search for Bill Kennedy, and yes, it delves into the magic that they shared (although it was not magic to Kennedy; it was a way of making a living). "Magician and the Cardsharp" reads more like time travel. Johnson superbly takes you back into the past, and gives you a true "you are there" feeling. It reads like a novel, and that is an excellent thing...because you find yourself caring about the characters and seeing how they relate to their surroundings. Superb book; highest recommendation, even if you don't care about magic at all.
Great piece of investigative journalism that gives you a real flavor of early 20th century America .......2006-12-05
This is the story of how one of the century's greatest magicians tracked down a gambler who could do what most slight-of-hand artists only dreamed about: deal cards from the center of the deck. This move, the "holy grail" of card manipulation is really just little more than the MacGuffin in this intriguing page-turner of a story.
Even if you are not the slightest bit interested in magic, card tricks or gambling, this is a fascinating read.
You will be transported to the first third of the 20th century into a story full of memorable and colorful characters. Johnson's attention to detail and the thoroughness of his investigation is nothing short of miraculous.
One of the most purely entertaining books I've read in quite some time.
Transport You Back to Another America - Amazing Research.......2006-02-13
For budding and practicing magicians who love history about their art - hard to go wrong in reading and absorbing this book throughly.
For general readers (like myself) - you can appreciate this book two ways, it's an amazing transport back to another America. Back to a time of riverboat gamblers, railroad card sharps, prohibitions, etc, etc ... and the author's journey in tracing and tracking the whereabouts of a near mythical card trick. You learn about an amazing sub-culture that most of us were vaguely aware of and you learn about the daily lives of magicians and card sharps back in the day.
The other thing you learn to really appreciate and marvel at is that in case you thought non-fiction writers were all lazy (or liars these days :-), Karl Johnson proves them wrong. He literally leaves no stone unturned. If someone remarks that he met so and so on a rainy day. Karl went back and unearthed the meteorological from at least two newspaper to verify if that memory rings true ... and by doing so, he paints a very detailed picture of these small towns (and some not so small) and life in America in the years prior to WWII.
So, even if you're just mildly interested in card tricks or magic, the author has woven a very intricate journey of an interesting subculture and portraits of daily small town America in the 1920's and 1930's that's interesting in itself. Afterwards, you almost feel the need to dust yourself off from the Kansas winds ...
The only people who might be disappointed in this book are people who are looking for card trick tips how to. This is not that kind of book - this book literally shows you that the journey is the reward.
The True Story Told Finally and Faithfully.......2005-12-16
We just finished reading The Magician and the Cardsharp by Karl Johnson and are blown away.
If you do not already have this book, get it. Mr. Johnson tells the story of Dai Vernon's hunt for the middle-deal with such excitement, detail, and interest; you would swear he was a magician.
He's not one of us but he is the next best thing; a career journalist who knows how to write a good detective story.
The story of Dai Vernon's pursuit of what many considered a myth - the center deal - is well-known to most magicians (or at least the ones as old as us).
Some magicians assumed Mr. Vernon fabricated the entire story. There is no such thing as undetectable middle-deal, they grumble. And even if there was, no card mechanic would or could ever use it in a real game.
Tony Giorgio's writings against the myth of the center deal has been addressed several times on the Inside Magic web site. We see no need to go into it again other than to suggest this book supports a loud "told you so."
It is difficult to write a book about magic. We've all read the horrible efforts of non-magicians who either describe effects impossible to perform, or expose effects we depend on for our sustenance.
Jim Steinmeyer's approach to writing about the history of our great art deserves praise. We don't believe he unnecessarily exposes magic secrets in his writings.
We thought his balance was perfect in his two latest books: the recently released The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the "Marvelous Chinese Conjurer" and the incredible Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear.
Some may agree with us, some will not.
As much as we loved Mr. Steinmeyer's work -- and we really do -- Mr. Johnson's book on Dai Vernon's hunt for the mythical move surpasses all we've read.
Mr. Johnson's works real magic in his descriptions of the hunt for Allen Kennedy - the card mechanic - and the move magicians either dismissed as impossible to perfect, or irrelevant for a true gambler.
We read Jamy Ian Swiss' review of the book in one of our favorite magic magazines before we picked it up.
Mr. Swiss certainly knows his way around a deck of cards and knows what is possible. Mr. Swiss makes a convincing case that a gambler would learn to perfect the center deal despite the fact that it had limited (or according to Mr. Giorgio no) value in a real card game.
By the way, is it just us, or is Jamy Ian Swiss one of the best writers in our business? The guy is good. In fact, we think he's a gooder writer than us any day.
Some have asked, why would any mechanic take the time necessary to perfect a move that promised no advantage in a card game?
After all, assuming there is a stack you would like to use or preserve, you most certainly would not put the stack approximately in the center of the deck.
Remember, in a card game there would be a cut required after shuffling. The cut would certainly change the order of the bottom or top stack but and certainly not in a predictable sequence.
("Trust everyone but always cut the cards")
The book makes it clear the center deal can be done. Mr. Johnson points out, however, Mr. Vernon dedicated approximately two-years of daily practice to effectively present it.
Let's assume for the sake of argument Mr. Swiss and Mr. Vernon's skills with a deck of cards exceeds the average internet magic blog editor. If it would take them two years of daily practice to perfect the move for use in a magic trick, why would a gambler spend the time to learn the move or ever use it in a game when his moves are being burned by fellow gamers?
This is essentially Mr. Giorgio's point.
The Magician and the Cardsharp convincingly answers this question. We don't want to ruin the incredible drama of Mr. Vernon and Mr. Kennedy's meeting -- but we are sorely tempted because it is such great literature. You'll need to pick-up the book for yourself and read about the encounter. We think it is almost more exhilarating than the story of how Mr. Vernon finally located the card shark.
One of our favorite scenes leading up to the meeting with Mr. Kennedy, has Mr. Vernon and Charlie Miller meeting the underworld boss of the greater Kansas City area.
We never thought of Mr. Miller as being anything other than one of the very elite, cool members of the Dai Vernon mafia. His skills were legendary. But he had to start somewhere and the description of his first undercover test is hysterical and human.
We don't want to disclose too much. But at the same time, we're aching to tell. It's a great moment.
Please buy the book. Read it, buy copies for your magic and non-magic friends. This is a great story and as such transcends the traditional limitations of genre.
(...)
the magician and the cardsharp.......2005-10-09
A book not for everyone, but well written about subjects I rarely am interested in...magic and gambling. True life, the dark side of small towns and of common folks drawn in.
Average customer rating:
- It's great!
- Beautiful, Clear Illustrations
- Good, but there are better.
- Now I know how it's done!
- Good but sometimes incomplete
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Now You See It, Now You Don't!: Lessons in Sleight of Hand
Bill Tarr
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Royal Road to Card Magic
ASIN: 0394722027
Release Date: 1976-10-12 |
Book Description
A new and simple learn-by-picture method that makes it easy for anyone aged twelve and up to perform all the classic sleights just as they are done by the world's greatest professional magicians. Long-time magician Bill Tarr has teamed up with Barry Ross, an illustrator famous for his instructional sports diagrams, for easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions, so that with the help of more than 1,500 line drawings that capture each eye-fooling movement, you'll learn everything from simple sleights you can master in minutes to the great classics of magic. With ordinary objects -- a regular deck of cards, a coin from someone's pocket, a few balls of crumpled aluminum foil -- you'll soon be doing ...
Card Fanning
Springing the Cards from Hand-to-Hand
The Lit-Cigarette Trick
The Three-Shell Game
The Cups and Balls
Three-Card Monte
The Cut and Restored Rope
The Miser's Dream
plus ...
Unbelievable Card Tricks
Coin and Cigarette Vanishes
and dozens and dozens of the world's greatest sleight-of-hand effects!
Customer Reviews:
It's great!.......2007-01-12
This is one of the best sleight of hand books ever written! The pictures are very helpful and one accompanies every single trick. Inside you'll find card sleights, flourishes, coin tricks (including simple routines), and other various sleight of hand tricks. One of my personal favorites is the thimble magic and changing spots trick. The rating system is especially helpful for beginning magicians as they attempt things like the French drop and simple coin vanishes.
I always recommend this book to anyone interested in magic, even children can follow along! I think every amateur magician or magic enthusiast should own a copy.
Beautiful, Clear Illustrations.......2006-07-29
This is a good instructional book with several close-up manipulation mangic tricks. I like the illustrations
Good, but there are better........2005-07-01
I recently purchased this book thinking that I would be getting some new tips in sleight of hand, which I did, but with much aggrevation. If you are a beginner I would not recommend this book. It's books like this that will make people turn away from magic. The concepts are good in this book, but the drawings are difficult to match with the instructions. The drawings and the explanations can cause a great deal of frustration and make one want to pass on tricks all together. Most of the stuff in this book is covered in Mark Wilson's book (which has 10 times better pics and explainations), so if you want just a few more tricks then get it, but altogether I wish that I hadn't bought it.
The only real good thing about this book is that it has some good cigarette vanishes and a good routine, but it may take you 10 hours o decipher what you are actually looking at. For beginners...not really...if you are a beginner...go to Mark Wilson. Cheers
Now I know how it's done!.......2005-02-19
I'm not one of those people who can figure out how tricks are done just by watching. I have to read a book! This book is great, full of very easy to understand illustrations.
Besides card tricks, it covers tricks with money, the three shell game, torn paper (magically whole again), vanishing salt shakers, etc.
This book alone is enough to make a great magician out of anyone! Enough tricks here to entertain an audience for a very long time.
Good but sometimes incomplete.......2004-09-28
This was one of the first magic books I read. I put it down, read a few more, watched a few videos and then picked it up again. It made more sense with a little bit of background information. The tricks are rated as to difficulty, but the rating scale is a little inconsistent. Some of the harder tricks I find to be easy and vice versa. I like the diversity of the book and think it is a great addition to anybody's library.
Book Description
Covers every significant aspect--from palming to clairvoyance, vanishing and producing an object, using essential apparatus, etc. Explains hundreds of astonishing tricks--with coins, cups and balls, handkerchiefs, cards, more. A book with an excellent reputation among professional magicians for teaching techniques.
Customer Reviews:
Magic Mania!.......2003-06-25
The amount of magic covered in this book is astonishing, a wide range of topics, that do not necasserily use sleight of hand.
A great book to turn an ammateur into a proffesional. Loads of proffesional techniques are covered and the language, though perhaps a little dated is stil easily understood. The odd reference to half pennies reveals it's age, but it truly is an incredible buy at great value...... if you've ever been interested in magic then this is a must buy
I was disappointed.......2000-05-06
I have bought this book in order to find a usfull guide in sleight of hand...instead I have gotten a lot of unusfull text with ONLY 57 illustration. Think twise before bying this book.
Excellent reference book........1997-04-18
This book has been hard to find in the hardcover edition, since it was originally privately printed. Dover has done their usual great job in producing this edition, and making it available at a price well within the budget of every magic lover and performer.
The book contains enough information to take the beginner through his/her paces to become a finger-flinger capable of amazing audiences of lay people (and some magicians, too) using borrowed props. Not only actual sleight of hand moves, but actual routines built on the sleights and subterfuge are explained, and in many cases, illustrated with clear diagrams.
Not only is this an excellent introduction to the art of magic without gimmics (some call sleight of hand "pure" magic), but it will also serve as the cornerstone of the magician's working library. Ask a performer to name classic texts on magic, and this title will be one of the ones included. Magazine articles in the conjuring periodicals will often cite a particular sleight that appears within these pages. For that reason alone, a copy of Sachs' treatise is recommended.
Submitted by: Brett McCarron (http://www.olywa.net/blame
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book for the beginner or experienced performer.......1999-08-14
Harry Lorayne, one of magic's most sought after teacher, will teach anyone the ins and outs of excellent magic. I started with this book 9 years ago and still use it today for reference. This book is organized into card tricks, coin tricks, impromptu magic, and sleights. The best part is Harry's personal presentation tips for making a lasting impression on your audience. The tips alone in this book are worth more than the price of the book.
THE Magic Book.......1999-04-30
If you've dabbled in magic and decide you want to get serious, this is the book to get. If you need a gift for a budding young magicion, this is the book to get. Many people know Harry as a memory expert, but magicians also know Harry as an accomplished performer, teacher, and author of magic.
``The Magic Book'' contains descriptions of solid, professional style (no pulling coins out of ears magic here!) close up magic. Indeed, many magicians complained to Harry that he was giving too much away. Their loss is definately your gain.
As a note, this book is in print, having been republished recently by L&L publishing. You might have to search for it. Any magic shop should be able to get it for you, or search the web for a magic supplier.
A superb introduction to sleight-of-hand magic!.......1998-10-13
Harry Lorayne is best known today as a memory expert. Six Las Vegas casinos won't deal Blackjack to him because of his ability to remember cards. However, within the magic fraternity, Lorayne is both a top notch entertainer and original thinker. I've used two card sleights he invented, the halo cut and the ultra-move, to perform what look like card miracles for audiences. In "The Magic Book", Lorayne presents a complete and solid grounding in the basics of sleight-of-hand magic. Starting with cards, he explains the basics of false shuffling, false cuts, double lifts, palming, and forces. His explanation of the jog shuffle is vital for every magician who works with cards. The following two chapters describe effects and routines that use the sleights just explained and essentially self-working card routines. Many of these routines are real stunners, quite literally reputation makers. Whether easy or difficult to perform, the routines give the illusion of the performer being a wizard with cards. Turning from cards, basic coin sleights and routines are explained next, followed by number magic, mental magic and miscellaneous magic. One of the most important parts of the book is the "Afterthoughts" paragraph that follows the description of a particular sleight or routine. Here, Lorayne explains both important points to remember and why certain moves or patter work. These explanations turn the tricks into real magic. Harry Lorayne is one of the best teachers of magic around. "The Magic Book" supports that contention by demonstrating that Lorayne teaches one how to be a magician, that is, how to make real magic happen, as opposed to simply doing tricks. This book is one which belongs in every magician's library.
Book Description
Gregarious Vegas entertainer Wally Lederer hasn't always enjoyed the attention of center stage--something he learned about himself over thirty years ago when he was in the slammer serving time for picking pockets. He claims he's turned his life around, and his lucrative and legitimate showbiz career seems to support this. But will the police believe he's a changed man now that Jay Wilkins, a childhood friend, is accusing him of stealing a valuable artifact? More important, does respected attorney Barbara Holloway believe him when he pleads his case to her?
Wally swears he's innocent. There's no way he would jeopardize years of hard work for the fleeting thrill of minor deception. But when Jay is found murdered, Barbara knows Wally is in serious trouble--the police have named him as their prime suspect.
Barbara begins to "dig up the dirt" and is shocked to learn that Jay's wife is now missing--and that Jay himself was far from being the upstanding businessman he claimed to be. Before long, new evidence points toward an unlikely killer, and Barbara must decide if protecting her client by revealing the truth will destroy another life she means to save.
Customer Reviews:
Five star writer, but start elsewhere.......2007-06-01
Kate Wilhelm (born 1928) is a versatile and skilled writer who has produced stunningly compelling fiction. Wilhelm's first novel was published in 1963, and her works, which include award-winning short stories and novellas, range from science fiction to fantasy to mysteries to legal thrillers.
'Sleight Of Hand' is the ninth novel to feature defense attorney Barbara Holloway. In each of these courtroom thrillers, Ms. Holloway uncovers the truth and fights, sometimes against great odds, for justice. In the earlier novels, Ms. Holloway provides community legal services, meeting clients in a small neighborhood café in Eugene, Oregon. These early novels reveal Barbara Holloway to be an independent and crusading lawyer who will accept murder defense cases that no one else wants.
In this book Wally Lederer, a former pickpocket, is accused by a childhood friend of the theft of a valuable antique. Since the statue is later found in the owner's house, a 'theft' cannot ever be proven. Even thought there is never any evidence that Lederer had further contact after leaving his friend's house days before the murder, Wally is still arrested for the murder of statue's owner.
Readers wanting the best introduction to this author's work should look elsewhere. Several elements are weak in this volume:
- Not much is at risk, nor is the risk very believable. Holloway's client does not face the death penalty. Based on the evidence, it is simply not credible that Lederer would ever have been arrested for murder. Statements by the defendant's wife and others about the danger of conviction do not ring true.
- Any chance for real courtroom drama is subverted by the prosecution's extremely weak case. Barbara's closing argument only reinforces the obvious conclusion that her client should never have been charged.
- The moral quandary Barbara faces is sketchy and not compelling. Barbara knows who killed the victim, and is so confident she will gain acquittal that she never seriously considers using the identity of the real killer (who has diminished capabilities) as part of her defense.
- Barbara's difficulties in having a meaningful and continuing relationship with her boyfriend are not explained. Readers of previous books may remember some of her issues, but there is little in this book to explain her flight from intimacy.
As always, there are significant pluses to the author's work:
- Readability and continuity are good. You are never left scratching your head wondering where some plot element or statement came from.
- Frank Holloway's relationship with his daughter Barbara is insightfully portrayed, although their interactions are a minor focus of the work.
I am a huge fan of Ms. Wilhelm. If you enjoy courtroom dramas, I recommend that you start with one of her early Holloway novels. ('For the Defense,' aka 'Malice Prepense,' from 1996 is a good choice). Kate Wilhelm's earlier works are more masterfully plotted and much more suspenseful and compelling. Both you and the author deserve a better introduction than this particular book offers.
exciting legal thriller.......2006-09-02
Twice he was caught thieving; the first time he received probation but the next time he served hard time in the state pen for five years. When he was released his wife Meg was waiting for him but Wally Lederer knew if he ever committed another crime she would walk out on him He went on to make a good life for himself and his wife using his unique skills as an entertainer. One night at the casino he meets a childhood friend Jay Wilkins who invites him and his wife over for a drink.
They accept the invitation and when they arrive, Wally sees Jay is preoccupied about his missing wife. Wally is later accused by Jay of stealing a gold horse statue valued at $30,000. Wally goes to lawyer Barbara Holloway for advice she tells him to sit tight. They later learn that Jay was murdered and the police believe Wally was the culprit; the motive is that if Jay could make his case, Wally would have gone to prison for a long time. Before the trial starts, Barbara has evidence that will exonerate her client but she refuses to use it and prays she can get a not guilty verdict at his trial.
The protagonist realizes in SLEIGHT OF HAND that justice and the law do not go hand in hand; she is unsure of herself and angry at a system that could incarcerate the innocent. Many readers won't agree with the choice the protagonist makes unless they need a lawyer to extract them from such a mess. The trial is fascinating as Kate Wilhelm known for her exciting legal thrillers, has written a memorable tale.
Harriet Klausner
Customer Reviews:
this book will change your life..........2006-09-21
thats what the gentleman at the magic store told me when i bought this book. i looked at him like, "yeah, sure it will." Well, IT DID. this series of books, especially volumes 1 and 2, are the best magic books out there. Starting from square one, Mr. Giobbi gradually walks you through the fundementals of magic. Every so often giving the reader effects to learn using these new techniques.
Simply stated, if you want to learn magic...buy this book! You wont be disappointed! But remember, magic isn't easy. Be sure to practice, practice, practice!
Invaluable! Unbelievable! .......2005-02-18
This series of books (there are now 5 volumes) provide a comprehensive and detailed overview of everything a card conjurer should know.
What I wonder is why hardcore magic books are so difficult to find? Amazon does not even offer this book, which IS in print. Booksellers are offering USED copies of the book -- at HIGHER than retail price! I don't get it! This book, as well as the others in the series, is available at many magic book websites. I recommend PenguinMagic.com, where you can purchase the book at slightly less than the $32 retail price.
If considering the book, buy it. Topics include:
The Tools of Card Magic
Fundamental Techniques
The Overhand Shuffle
Card Controls
The Glide
The Spread Cull
The Double Lift
Flourishes
and many, many more. It also includes many tricks based on the techniques. The tricks are carefully selected and surprisingly good. In fact, most of the tricks I've only been able to find in this book.
Well written, well researched, and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Average customer rating:
- Exceptional Lesbian Fiction
- Best I've read in Years
- Chills, Goosebumps
- Mercedes Lackey, move over!
- A Gripping Tale
|
Sleight of Hand
Karin Kallmaker , and
Laura Adams
Manufacturer: Bella Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Christabel: A Novel
ASIN: 096777537X |
Book Description
THE NIGHT AUTUMN Bradley died... ...she met the woman of her destiny: the fire-haired woman who sends Autumn back to her dying body and thereafter mysteriously haunts Autumn`s dreams. Getting by with sleight of hand and other quick-fingered magic tricks, Autumn has no memory of her life before the age of 17. In the years since only a medieval choral chant has stirred her memory. Life`s shadows reach for her. But she resists with the power that dances in her hands.
URSULA COLUMBINE begins a journey... ...to join Kelly, the woman she loves. Leaving the protection of a powerful circle that has sheltered her all her life, she is immediately exposed and threatened by a hungry darkness that craves something only the naive Ursula can give. Weakened and afraid, she finds unfaltering strength in Kelly and other women who are compelled to awaken the power in Ursula that can save them all. But she also finds Autumn in her dreams. Dreams that promise passion but may also lead to oblivion.
WHAT DARK FUTURE does the distant past hold? Dreams lead to nightmares. Autumn sees the faces of women she might know, women who have always stood by Ursula. But if her nightmares hold true, only she can save Ursula from the centuries-old darkness that made her a legend.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptional Lesbian Fiction.......2003-09-17
Someone once commented that you don't have to be a house to be haunted. You're not likely to meet a more haunted character in lesbian fiction than Autumn Bradley. When you first meet her, Autumn is struggling through life with little memory of her past. She makes ends meet as a magician in a small venue in Las Vegas. Her talent for "sleight of hand" also helps her beat the casinos at their own game. Autumn feels a profound, irredeemable loss - but doesn't understand why. She begins having vivid dreams that hint of a past life with echoes in the present. In particular, she dreams of freedom, love and challenge, realizing her own humanity in the process. Kallmaker skillfully blends past and present with a compelling love story and interesting forays into psychology and myth. Well done.
Best I've read in Years.......2002-02-27
I was sure this book would get a Lammy nomination and I can't believe it didn't. It's the best piece of lesbian-written lesbian-centered fantasy I've read in years. The story is flawless, the writing exceptional and greatly moving. ...
Chills, Goosebumps.......2001-09-13
This isn't a scary book in the least, but the emotions and powers at work raised the hair on the back of my neck at times! This was a fascinating read with fresh characters beyond Xena, Gabrielle, or Elves and the other common types in fantasy novels or series. Women,lesbians all, and profoundly human most of the time. There were a couple of stomach-punching plot twists all in all just a thought providing and intriguing and entertaining novel. Like everyone else, it seems, I want book two and I want it now!
Mercedes Lackey, move over!.......2001-06-01
It's mythic, it's poignant, it's tragic, it's magical. Those are the elements I love in Mercedes Lackey's work. Sleight of Hand is better, because it's also passionately, unreservedly, openly about lesbians. No teasing, no subtext. The writing is first rate -- lyrical and timeless in the parts placed in the distant past, contemporary and fitting for those parts in the present time. This is a great book, and engrossing. I want book 2, and I want it now!
A Gripping Tale.......2001-04-25
A really great story makes me long for the characters to have truly existed, for them to have done the things in the story. It's been a while since a book made me feel that way, but I never stop hoping. Sleight of Hand delivered all that, making it one of the best fantasy books I've read in years. I found myself thinking back on the story in the days since I finished it, puzzling over the clues the author has dropped about where the series will go from here. Will there be a reckoning for Autumn's seduction at the hands of Rueda? It happened before Autumn remembered Ursula, reminding me of Arthur's legend with Morgana. Ursula seems like Guinevere, caught between the love of two women--how will the author solve this age-old knot? The Arthurian comparisons end there, but this story is just as mythic in its own way. What a find! I'm almost sorry I read it because it'll be so long until the next installment.
Product Description
How to perform amazing close-up tricks, baffling optical illusions, and incredible mental magic. Reveals the secrets of over 120 magic tricks, with over 1,000 color photographs. Includes magic with cards, matches, rope, silk, thimbles and money.
Customer Reviews:
Bill's Back With More than 100.......2000-04-01
Continuing in the style that made the "Now you See it, Now you don't" series of books so valuable for the reader, Bill discusses a series of platform tricks ( quite a few can't be done with ordinary objects i.e. the linking rings and the Chinese wands to name two ) with accompanying hand drawn illustrations by Frank Daniel. This is the system he used to such great effect with illustrator Barry Ross in his other books to show the intricacies of sleight of hand, the drawings were able to show details that would be covered up or obscured in photos. Unlike his other books, which were long on method and short on tricks, this book has a great many tricks often with little thought to the routining of them. And at only 101 tricks he seems at times to be reaching, and missing in the quest to include something useful. I can only recommend about half the book, but in that half is some great classics of magic explained in an easy to follow and understandable manner. The format of the book with its many drawings is useful for but a few tricks (most notably the linking rings). While with many of the others the illustration seem to only waste page space, but then we might have been treated to more tricks like "relit" which is simply the relighting of a just blown out candle by having the flame of a match travel down the smoke.
Magic for the masses.......2000-04-01
Continuing in the style that made the "Now you See it, Now you don't" series of books so valuable for the reader, Bill discusses a series of platform tricks with accompanying hand drawn illustrations by Frank Daniel. This is the system he used to such great effect with illustrator Barry Ross in his other books to show the intricacies of sleight of hand, the drawings were able to show details that would be covered up or obscured in photos. Unlike his other books, which were long on method and short on tricks, this book has a great many tricks often with little thought to the routining of them. And at only 101 tricks he seems at times to be reaching, and missing in the quest to include something useful. I can only recommend about half the book, but in that half is some great classics of magic explained in an easy to follow and understandable manner. The format of the book with its many drawings is useful for but a few tricks (most notably the linking rings). While with many of the others the illustration seem to only waste page space, but then we might have been treated to more tricks like "relit" which is simply the relighting of a just blown out candle by having the flame of a match travel down the smoke.
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Sleight of Hand - A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs and Others
Edwin T., Sachs
Manufacturer: Pomona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1406791504 |
Book Description
Contents Include: PART 1: DRAWING ROOM MAGIC: Coin Palming - Tricks with Coins - Tricks with Common Objects - Tricks with Cups and Balls - Tricks with Handkerchiefs - Chinese Tricks - Tricks at Table - Tricks with Cards PART 2: STAGE MAGIC: General Remarks - The Magician's Table and Dress - Sleights and Properties for General Use - Tricks with Cards - Tricks with Handkerchiefs and Gloves - Tricks with Coins - Miscellaneous Tricks - The Cornucopian Hat - Tricks with Watches and Livestock - Sham Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, Etc - Some Up to Date Tricks - Final Instructions
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