What can be said about Paul Harris's Art of Astonishment set? Imagine a set of books that cater to most every magician's needs!! These books contain amazing effects, and within them, you will find a number of effects for most any setting. The three volumes are comprised of the best of Paul's books, as well as new material. So many people rushed to get the True Astinishments dvd set when it came out, but how many have not checked out where it began?
For me, this was an incredible investment. I got superb card material - re-set, las vegas leaper, bizarre twist, galaxy; some brilliant mentalism routines - deep thought, angel case as well as some excellent pieces of astonishment - shape of astonishment, counterfeit spectator, fizz master, twilight. Talk about bang for your buck!!
I don't think I could give this set any higher of a recommendation.

A very excellent book, it contains many of my best card and non-card close up effects. It's an enjoyable read as well, and Paul's sarcastic form of humor will help to make it one of the most interesting books you've read (including non-magic books). If you are new to magic though, I would wait until you are proficient in sleights such as the palm and the pass, otherwise many of the tricks will be beyond your level.

Oh this book is absolutely wonderful, the pictures are all drawn by pencil and the magic is first class I highly recommend it and I am a working magician. Love these books, Paul has a neat personality that really comes through in his stories, they can inspire you to good things. Top Notch

This is the final book in the series but it has some of his best effects. If you can only get one book in the series, it's a tough choice between this and book 1. Some of the great tricks that you'll get in this book are:

Bleached Blackjack: A card trick that couldn't possibly be done without gaffed cards, but it is. With a regular deck, you move the pip on an ace to another location on the card.

The Bizarre Vanish: A great finish to the Bizarre Twist. A spectator holds onto a card which is sandwiched sideways between two others. Suddenly, the card they are holding vanishes.

Leaf: Tear a leaf off of a tree or a plant and then instantly restore it

Instant Reply: A trick that was seen on David Blaine's first TV special.

There are a ton of other great effects in this book. Some of them you will probably never use, but there are a lot that are so great you'll want to do them all.

This is one of my favorite sets of books. You will learn a lot of magic and technique in these books. you will also learn a lot of psychology and presentations. There are so many close up tricks in this book you will wonder where to start. This is a book you will refer back to time and time again. Add to cart and prepare to get busy. If you liked the first two you have to have this one.

This is a must-have for any street performer. This series of books is loaded with professional routines. You can easily adapt many of the moves you learn in this book to your own routine. This is a book that will help magicians become good magicians and good magicians become great magicians.

This is an awesome book and part of an awesome book series. I have been doing magic for ever and just got these. I wish I got them a long time ago. They are good for any level magician. It is also my first book I learned from and it is a lot better than DVDs. GET THIS NOW! I recommend the others too.

This book has a lot of good material and could be considered the best book of the AoA series (although I have to reserve judgement since I don't have 1). You learn so much from this book and gain much knowledge about magic.

My favorite section of the book was the Magical Arts Journal in which Paul gave his complete close-up act start to finish! I especially love Juke (a reflex game where all the cards turn into duplicates of the selected card) by David Harkey, and even though I ignored it at first, it is now one of my favorite effects. You will not be disappointed by this purchase!

I've just discovered Paul Harris through Book 3 of the Art of Astonishment series and I am hooked. Paul's style is difficult to describe, but 'Zen-like' is as close as I can get. His subtle humor and slow-burns leading to gasps of 'astonishment' as the trick comes to it's conclusion are brilliant and have a depth of feeling that is very rare. His understanding of human psychology and what makes a brain short-circuit when confronted with the impossible puts him head and shoulders above most others. The tricks are all very doable (with practice) and he has obviously spent many years fine-tuning them and pruning them to bansai-like perfection. Love this book and going to buy the other two.

This, in my opinion, is the best book in the set. My favorite effects from the series are almost all in this book. Tons of good effects such as...

Bleached Blackjack: you show the jack of hearts and the 2 of hearts to the audience. you then erase the ink off of the 2, print only one index, then print a smudge of ink on the edge of the card. spread it around and it turns into an ace of hearts giving you a blackjack! (demo availible on the paul harris video vol.4)

Limo Service: you show the audience 4 jacks and 4 aces. the aces are placed on the deck. then you instantly change the 4 jacks into the 4 aces, and the missing jacks are found inside of the card box!

Bushwhacker: You create a perfect square using only 3 cards. Then you take one card and use it to pentrate another card!

This is just 3 of the many effects found in this book. I suggest buying the whole set but if you're short on money, then this is the one to get!