Magic for Dummies
by David Pogue
IDG
I’ve been following David Pogue’s writing for some years now – he’s been writing about Macintosh computers and software for as long as I can remember, so it was somewhat of a surprise to find he’d penned one of these ubiquitous Dummies books, about Magic. (He’s also written one about Macs.) His easy-going friendly style is perfectly suited for the task at hand, as he shows you all sorts of card tricks, physical gags, rope tricks, displays of psychic power, feats of strength…
Instructions are clear and straight-forward, with plenty of notes and pointers, and to top it off, the book ends with a series of useful resources, like mini-biographies of several famous magicians, the Ten Commandments of a good magician (#1: Don’t Reveal the Secret – Ever), what to do when you mess up the trick, and an invaluable list of resources and glossary.
If you’ve ever wanted to be the life of the party, this is the book for you. The tricks are nearly foolproof, given Pogue’s instructions and the abundant photographs, and there are so many to choose from, you can always have a fresh one up your sleeve, avoiding that “one trick pony” moniker many seem to get. IDG Books, 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Suite 400, Foster City, CA 94404; http://www.dummies.com
