Magic Tricks

Bottomline:
There's a lot of material here and it is very clever and well-explained, unfortunately, most of the routines and principles did not appeal to me (see below). I know others will feel the same. I would recommend this to mentalists that do parlor/stage performances and perform for different people each time or hobbyists that like learning new and clever principles.

Final score: 7.5 out of 10

The Details:
With all the praise and hype surrounding this book and my previous positive experience with Michael's "Beyond ESP" products, my expectations going into this purchase were quite high: I was expecting to want to add several of the routines to my walk-around and stage mentalism acts right away. However, after reading, and re-reading, the book, I will only be working on the first two routines (Tattle Tailed - a 5 for 5 ESP matching demonstration between two participants; and ATM - a PIN number revelation). While I do believe there are routines in here for anyone who performs or is interested in performing mentalism, most of the material will appeal to the hobbyist or professional who regular uses D**l R*****y, "spectator as mind-reader," "prop-less mentalism," and psy*****ical forces. Professionals or hobbyists looking for sure-fire, bullet-proof routines that are simple in both effect and method should think twice before purchasing.

Having said that, I'm still pleased with my purchase because I got a lot of new presentational ideas, two routines I plan to use, and the book did get my creative juices flowing. I just won't be using as much of the material from the book as I had expected. Michael seems like a really clever guy who knows the field of mentalism as well as anyone - I really wish I could whole-heartedly recommend "A Piece of My Mind" and add to the 5 star reviews.

Pros:
-Great value for money: you get a lot for your money in terms of quantity of material and several of the routines are marketed separately.
-Great Production Quality: It's a well-produced softcover book in black and white on good quality paper.
-It's well-written and basically free of grammatical and spelling errors.
-A lot of clever thinking that will get your creative juices flowing.

Cons:
-While there is a lot of material, it will have limited appeal and most of the material is only for certain types of performers
-Be prepared for a lot of shameless plugs for various products and creators, including from Michael himself. Sure some of this is to be expected, but the amount in this book felt excessive.