Uli,
I believe that it states in the introduction to Strong Magic that it is not a book of theory. As you pointed out it is a book of techniques. Perhaps even the nuts and bolts explanations of tricks can be considered as theory if you do not put them into practice.

Maestro,
Thank you for the correction to John Carney's website address.

I bought a deluxe signed copy of Carneycopia by accident once. That was fun

Months since the last post here.

I feel I've walked into an empty room where there was much ado and now all is still again.

Months later, I am still puzzling this book and feel I will for times to come.

It is incredibly layered.

Reading at it makes me feel like I am wind blown, spiraling around some hugely magnetic center.

And haven't figured out how to get in.

A very thoughtful and thought provking book.

I have the book. I think the book is well produced, well written and the illustrations (photos changed to illustrations for clarity) are very good.
The book as a nice "feel" when reading it. It is a book you will want to keep unlike some publications.
It is good that he put some history in every chapter. I think many of us lack in the who's who of the moves and theories we use.


I must say I was a little disappointed in the "theory or creativity" content.
I do not see anything to gush about. The Text book style, "now what would you do to make this trick better" might be helpful for beginners but it is not something that changed how I view magic.

I guess how some view this book depends on what other books have be read and what level of study you are at.
For some reason the way I read some reviews they made it sound like this book was full of theory and essays. I found it to be more a excellent detail of how to properly perform the tricks described with few essays mixed in.

I also did not quite get all the "lessons" he was trying to illustrate with the tricks he teaches. In some cases he explains why he includes this or that effect but in many I would have liked to see a side bar in the explaination of the connection to the lesson. That is, to explain what others do wrong and why he feels this effect ties in with his message.

The book is enjoyable to read through and reminded me of a time when I was a teen trying every effect after I read it.

How does this book weigh up against Carneycopia?
Andre
ajcombri@telkomsa.net

Ok, I got this book a while ago. It is now one of the best magic books I own. It's beatifully produced, well written, thought provoking, and forces you to examine the "real secrets" of magic. The secrets he refers to are not the routines, but what makes the routines work. However, the routines themselves are amazing. You would be proud to own this book. Highly recommended.