I have read many books that are great for picking out ideas that can be applied to mentalism, either patter or effect. One of these books is "Read them and Reap" and expose written by retired FBI agent Jay Navaro and current poker superstar Phil Hellmuth. The book offers good insight on how to read body language and goes into great depth regarding physiological responses and being a human lie detector. The book is geared torwards picking up poker tells, but many concepts can be adapted to fit mentalism. Any thoughts or other books worth reading?

"Psychology of the Psychic" is worth a look - it's primarily a critical examination of the SRI investigation into Uri Geller.

Otherwise, anything that fits your premise - if you're presenting an occult front (for instance), I feel that you need to be familiar enough to bluff your way around Crowley at least. Obviously if your premise is less formal then there will be less available to research.

Whoa... deja vu...

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=15

Anything by Borges. The master of creativity and inventions.

To piggyback off of what Billy said, I enjoyed reading "What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People" by Joe Navarro. Honestly, I feel this book is a good read even if you don't wish to apply it to mentalism. I thought it provided a lot of valuable information related to nonverbal behavior, which is always good knowledge to have (even more so if you take the "psychological" approach to mentalism).

Shhhh!!!! Don't tell them about him - besides, I have a Zahir routine and others I now do.... shhhhh - although I guess its ok since most won't figure out how to translate it into performance art

So I won't tell them about Cormac's stuff again either

"What Every BODY is Saying" I have read that as well, an awesome book.

Borges! My favorite writer after Robert Anton Wilson.

Enter the labyrinth! Where did that Aleph come from? Or am I only dreaming that I'm in an infinite library? (Or maybe I am just someone else's dream but I won't know until I walk through the fire and feel no pain.)

Hmm... I once started the Leonard Cohn Appreciation page

Maybe we should start the Borges one

His is the realm of metareality where if you think about it enough, ideas are transformed into reality...

Or such genius as Death and the Compass - where people's own intellectual arrogance can trip them up down into a mental trap of death... so cool

And we must not forget the garden of the forking paths... make sure your name isn't Albert

And a lament for the minotaur.

Heck, Borges even wrote a tribute to H P Lovecraft.

When I launched Carcosa, at the bottom of every page, is a quote from Borges.

Finding both Robert Anton (fnord) Wilson and Jorge Luis Borges mentioned in one topic here makes me very happy.

Borges' The Lottery in Babylon (with a slightly different title) can be found here:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/borges02.htm
It is maybe less known than other short stories, but is one of dramatic power (as is Funes the memorious:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/borges.htm )

Italian writer Dino Buzzati is less known than Borges, but he has been a very important author in the opinion of many: often compared to Kafka, he is best renowned for 'Il deserto dei tartari' (The tartar steppe), a classic of existentialism. But his short stories are even better than that novel. I can only list some title:
- The colombre
- The drop of water
- The cloak
- The war song
- The fallen tyrant...

pity that the only English translation of these marvels dates back some 30 years, and the book (a collection established by Buzzati himself), The restless nights, can be only found on Amazon for 37 $ used (16 copies at this date).
Should anybody be interested in metaphysical narratives of experience, this one should not be missed. 'The drop' is in my personal palace of memory the most disquieting, disturbing, chilling story I ever heard. Nothing horrible at all: a simple drop of water, no more, no less..

Interesting resources Danyel, thank you!

David

Dino here I come thx danyl

My pleasure as always.

Should anyone want to have some more, I just found Joan Taber's blog with a good introduction to Buzzati's works, and even the translation of two well-known short stories: Il mantello-The cloak and Sette piani-Seven floors.

The links:
http://papersbyjoantaber.blogspot.com/20......tic.html
http://papersbyjoantaber.blogspot.com/20......oak.html
http://papersbyjoantaber.blogspot.com/20......-by.html

Very sad stories, in the metaphysical sense. Similar to the existentialist mood of 'The tartar steppe'.
But believe me: go for 'The restless nights'.
Diamonds are there.

Another Borges fan here, especially fond of Funes the Memorious.

Thanks for the info about Dino Buzzati. I'll seek him out.

I'd recommend B. S. Johnson's House Mother Normal for the way he so elegantly creates a series of believable fragmented interior worlds using just a few simple phrases.

s

Thanks for the suggestion -I'll surely check this one.

Passages by Gail Sheehy

If you are into occult I wouldn't go with crowley alone, there are much better resources. For history on witchcraft I would go with Gardner (the former curator of the witchraft museum).

Charles Fort anyone?

Works of fiction that have inspired me: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. Plus Alice in Wonderland!

Couple of non-fiction books: The First Psychic and Rise of the Indian Rope Trick, both by Peter Lamont.