FIRST THOUGHTS:
When I first got this book, I found it to be MUCH smaller than it looks on
the computer. It is pretty small, about the size of a normal paperback novel. It, like it says
above, has 182 pages. Small book.
But man, does this book contain THOUSANDS of pages worth
of information.
THE ASTHETIC:
This book is designed by NEUEVISION, the same
company that designed the packaging to Twenty-Two Blows to the Head. Needless to say (for those of
you who own 22 of course) this book looks BEAUTIFUL, and is definitly high budget.
The
dust jacket is full color, depicting a picture of Jay on the front and describing the book on the
back (like you wouldn't have guessed THAT!). But the flaps are what really get me; even though they
only have advertisments for other Sankey products (4 of which aren't sold anymore) they look REALLY
nice.
The pages are just normal paper, printed on in fairly small ink.
THE
LAYOUT:
This book is laid out into a bunch of different chapters, or sections. Each one is
anywhere from a paragraph to 4 pages long, and all contain useful information from the thoughts of
Jay.
MATERIAL:
This is NOT a book of tricks. In fact, there are no tricks or
techniques in this book, only theory. This is a fantastic read if you want to learn more about the
art of magic. Jay has essays on ANY topic a performer could think of or ever have to face.
I can't give descriptions of the topics here, because a lot of them are very short and it is
really better if you just read it without knowing what to expect (except what is in the
description).
HUMOUR:
It is Jay Sankey people. Of course there is humour. Behind
all the madness (and my madness I mean in depth psychological and sociological theories and essays)
there are jokes that make the reading entertaining. This book is not only insightful, entertaining,
and powerful, but also hillarious.
PRICE:
Well, at the lecture, I got it for 15
bucks. But on Penguin, it is 30. And on his website, it is 19 dollars.
Frankly, I can't
say how much this is worth. It depends on what you are looking for in a magic book. If you are
looking for a book of sleights or routines, this isn't worth a cent. If you are looking for a book
that will give you insight into Jay's thoughts on magic and probbably redefine yours, this is
priceless.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I will be honest with you; I got a LOT out of
this book. A lot of my thoughts on magic are similar to Jay's and this book did exactly what it said
it was going to do: It has made me see music in a whole new light.
This was DEFINITLY a
worth-while purchase, and I can't wait to read it again.
