I was hesitant at first - I have heard that the material is impractical and most of it never performed. I took a plunge and I am happy I did. This is a great collection of Bizzare Story type magic and some mentalisim. This book is for someone who can think for themselves and is able to mine the tid bits and ideas that are between the covers. I may not perform the material but my creative juices are defiantly flowing with each issue I read. There are so many ideas and plot lines that it is going to take several read troughs to absorb. And at 900 pages this is going to take a long time. If you are just looking for a book of tricks that you can perform immediately this is not for you. The success of this type of material is heavy on performance ability. If this sounds like your cup of tea then This is a great price and recommend grabbing it before it goes out of print . Vol 3 of this set is already out of print - this is Vol 1and 2 combined