For those of you interested in cons and scams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-L8vqMgFV4

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This looks really cool!

Nice to see you Yiannis... Hope you are well.

Has anyone read The Art of the Con? Is this relevant to us as magicians?

It isn't available until 04 November.

I got my cope a couple of days ago. Now I'm about one-third through. It's mostly about cons. A good read. There is definitely something you can get out of and apply to magic. But if applying those into magic is your sole goal, this might not for you.

Best,
Mike

Is this gonna be available as a Kindle Book or should I just go ahead and buy the hardcover version?

I read this book in galley form as it was being written. I think anyone that frequents The Gambling Spot will enjoy it.

Paul's done an excellent job.

Jason

Half way through the book.

Really interesting and indepth look at this area.

Excellent job, Paul!

Joe Mckay

I can't write a long review because of my broken english. But this book is very good ! I have learned a lot of things here. Especially I like the way of thinking of Paul Wilson about the mark. The victim is not a sucker because of a lack of intelligence. He's a victim because the swindler knows what is the true deep desire of the victim at the right moment.

Just a word about the cover. Knowledgeable guys might be mislead by the photo of the three shells game. "well I already have thousand of books about con games and street games". Trust me on this one, it is not just about classic stuff.
Nevertheless I think the cover is great for laymen/general audience.

Just received the book and had a quick flick through (acknowledgements and such) and noticed there are a couple of rather interest pages on Rod the Hop. I was happy paying the price of the book reading those couple of pages to learn more about Rod.
I'm looking forward to having a good flick through the book. Looks wonderful.

Most comments here are brief first impressions based on a quick flip through, at the time the book first appeared.

Now that R. Paul Wilson's The Art of the Con has been out for over five years, and people have actually had a chance to read it, does anyone have any more thoughts to share about this book?

Have not read the book but I thought the pseudo center deal was nicely performed on the link above. Seems like this was a variation of the pseudo center deal that Darwin Ortiz does, both of which deal a second to fake the center deal.

Which, reminds me of the Masked Magician.

Hey Cag, hope you are well. I havent read the book either but it seems this demo is even more devious. No seconds are used. Sounds like it's gonna be a fun read.

@Bobby Forbes: I only watched it once casually since the center deal is largely a BS move best suited for demos.

So in retrospect it appears he is dealing bottoms. Other than that, he is going over my head and I guess he is really dealing centers and doing so better that Allan Kennedy ever could.

Or... is it really just a magic trick with no practical value other than as a demo?