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boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts |
Beyond Imagination: The Gilbreath book.
It's out. I bought it. I'm reading it. It's ... interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it yet. Anyone else have it? Any comments? |
magicphill Veteran user 359 Posts |
Not purchased yet but I'd be intersted in knowing the table of contents
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owen.daniel Inner circle England 1048 Posts |
I was just dropping into the Café to ask whether anybody had picked this up! I went to Norman's lecture in London a few months ago, and I guess there is some overlap in the material.
Will be curious to see the reviews. Owen |
boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts |
A couple initial thoughts:
- The book is complex and not necessarily easy to follow. Lots of math -- and math notation -- when it comes to describing the principle. It's interesting -- it's just not what I expected. You don't need the math or the strange notation, but there is a chapter in the beginning specifically about notation. Odd, I thought. - Many of the tricks are very, very customized -- custom decks, custom props. Not a bad thing, just something I noticed. But it also means that one is probably not going to do the tricks. This is especially the case in the first third of the book. (I'm about halfway through it.) - The layout of the book is very, very unusual. The cover -- hands down -- is horrendous. The single worst cover I've ever seen on a book -- ever. The illustrations are sometimes hard to immediately figure out. Others look like screen captures. The book layout is strange -- very old school, it seems. Again -- not a bad thing -- but just ... odd. And at times -- distracting. These are cosmetic issues, but in this case -- more than just about any other I've seen recently -- they stand out. Constantly. - I'm still reading it. I don't not like it. It's just not at all -- at all -- what I expected. A very unique book in all respects. More on the tricks once I finish it. |
owen.daniel Inner circle England 1048 Posts |
Thanks for your thoughts Boinko.
I can easily understand your remark about custom decks/props. Norman's lecture had two such effects (the first a coin box routine, the second a version of Magnetic Colors using sarcophagi! The second of which was perhaps a nice presentation, but would certainly involve some work to put together, and in my mind the effect does not play strong enough to justify that work. I'm interested in your comment about the cover... Is it the same as the image on the H&R website? Or is it this image on the Penguin site? Owen |
boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts |
H&R website cover. What you see there is the entire cover, magnified to fit.
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owen.daniel Inner circle England 1048 Posts |
Oh dear!
When I first saw that on the website pre-publication I assumed it was a temporary image. Regardless of the content, that truly is an awful cover to the book: I find it hard to believe that H&R willingly accepted that as the cover. I personally am interested in this book, but 'judging a book by its cover' I cannot help but be put off by that, which I'm sure means that nobody will add this book to their library on the off-chance, since it looks awful. I am not the slightest bit surprised that Penguin chose to advertise using a different image, though one has to wonder whether that is false advertising on their behalf. I'd be interested to hear what Marshall from H&R says about the book. Owen |
boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts |
What's strange about the Gilbreath book is that it looks like it was typeset with a computer from 1980's. I hate to harp on this because I understand that the real issue is Gilbreath's genius -- which I certainly appreciate in a new way as I read the book. The tricks are fascinating -- complex, particular, and very specific (as I mentioned above -- very unique decks, very special props.)
It does contain a very detailed -- very detailed -- explanation of the Gilbreath principle. But good god -- the illustration illustrating the principle takes longer (for me, at least) to figure out than the text describing the principle. Truly, it's one of the most inscrutable illustrations of something I've ever seen. It's composed of dots and letters and arrows (?!). But it doesn't look like it should look -- which is something resembling a deck of cards (with perhaps dots and letters and arrows). I'm bummed about the visual look of the book. I don't mean to insult anyone -- but it looks like it was designed by someone stuck in the 1980s with a Spectrum ZX or a TRS-80 as their main "layout" computer. It's retro -- but retro in a bad sense. What bums me out about this look is that this odd visual look really does hamper the overall experience of the book -- and certainly adds a layer of complexity to already complex explanations. Someone should have taken another pass at this -- clarified the visuals, created a nice cover, and given the book a far more modern, contemporary visual look. Hands down, one of the strangest books I've seen in a long, long time. |
M Petersen Regular user 117 Posts |
Hey everyone,
Marshall from H & R Magic Books here. Just wanted to chime in on a few thoughts. I completely understand the views on the cover image. Norman chose the cover himself and Charlie, who runs the publishing side of H & R, will normally go with what the author requests. I know that is not the most attention grabbing cover, although it has been made the topic of discussion , but it is what he wanted and represents his wishes. Many times, with the books we publish, the author has a specific end product in mind. For better or worse, we try to honor their requests. We are most interested in getting the information out to the magic world. For instance, we have been asked about the volumes of the Trost series. Nick laid all of those books out before he passed away, right down to the color of the covers. He laid them out as far as trick, chapter and volume placement. We try to clean it up as much as possible while still fulfilling the end product the author had in mind. I do hope the information in the book is read. Norman has some great ideas and theories on routining your tricks, that I believe are missing in a lot of today's one trick performances. Many of the tricks are described using extremely custom decks, but those are only to fit Norman's presentations, which unless you have his personality, you would not want to use. That being said, you can use regular backed decks to perform the effects using your own presentation. Norman's version of OOTW is one I enjoyed. He also has a three trick routine on history that I think is great! I do appreciate everyone's feedback, as it does give us things to show other authors that are working on books. Just a few that are in the near pipeline. The new Trost should be out by the end of the year. Cameron Francis' book will be out next year. The Mike Rogers Book Claude Rix and a few more, including one that I am REALLY excited about, that I can't announce yet. Thanks everyone for your feedback and support of H & R. We don't get it completely right every time, but we are trying to keep the printed magic book alive! Marshall |
boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts |
Thanks, Marshall! I appreciate the additional information.
Despite my comments on the cover and overall visual look, I very much enjoy reading this book. It's unique -- and, as I say above, it certainly puts a welcome spotlight on Mr. Gilbreath's genius. |
owen.daniel Inner circle England 1048 Posts |
Marshall,
Thanks for your feedback. I had assumed that Norman must have designed the book, and it is refreshing to hear that you allow authors their own freedom in design, as you put it for better or worse. Owen |
Cardguy52 Loyal user 246 Posts |
Still awaiting the arrival of my copy but was wondering what others thought of the material presented. And how much is devoted to the gilbreath principal itself.
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boinko Elite user Illinois 427 Posts |
There's a good, 4 page description of the principle on the book's page 44-48. The description is good and detailed. The illustration is, as I've pointed out above, essentially inscrutable.
The description is fairly heavy on the math -- but it works (with some effort). Others have given more straightforward explanations, but certainly the explanation here is the one everyone has been waiting for. |
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