The Amateur Magicians Handbook [Hardcover]

Henry Hay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

A lavishly illustrated new edition of the classic handbook for conjurers is designed to help magicians of all levels, from beginning to advanced, hone their skills at legerdemain and develop new and exciting illusions to baffle the mind.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 430 pages
• Publisher: Book Sales; Reprint edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785802045
• ISBN-13: 978-0785802044
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Magic & Illusion

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get it! Get it! Get it! There can't be a better book., April 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Amateur Magicians Handbook (Hardcover)

I've read this book alteast 15 times during the seven years that I've had it, and I still love to read it. If I could meet its author, it would be like a dream come true. This book has made me into a better magician than I could ever imagine. I even love the smell of its pages. One thing though, don't get it if you are looking for apparatus magic. Essentially teaches sleight of hand, but boy does it teach. Its the best book, it has to be.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Calm, Careful, Circumspect and Practical Teaching, January 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Amateur Magicians Handbook (Hardcover)

This book is superbly well-written. It is as if a kind, patient, highly gifted uncle comes to visit. The reader is taken step by step, thought by thought, along the way to appreciating the beauty, skill, and effects of the practice of magic.

The writer's style takes the simplest observations and gradually builds them until, before you know it, you are quickly doing things of startling sophistication and skill!

This handbook not only informs and instructs, it enriches. The author converses with the reader, and this comfort in reading inspires confidence in doing.

This book is an invaluable addition to any magician's library...it is one of the three best I have read in thirty-five years of studying magic.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One stop shopping for any magician, July 15, 2004

By 

Bartender Sam "Bartender Sam" (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Amateur Magicians Handbook (Hardcover)

If you are interested at all in magic then this is the book to get. It lets you in on the secrets of a whole realm of different magic tricks (coins, cards, stage, close, etc....). Whats great about this book is that if you are new to the "hobby" then you can sample a little of alot and find what really interests you, then you can delve into another more specific book with deeper content.