Customer Reviews

More Optical Illusions (Illusion Works)

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I purchased this book from Amazon.com as a set, paired with "the Great Book of Optical Illusions" by the same author. "More Optical Illusions" is simply the last 4 chapters of "the Great Book of Optical Illusions"!! Why on earth does Amazon sell these as a set, giving the impression that the "More" book is a collection of different illusions than the first book???
If you buy these 2 as a set, you are simply paying extra for another copy of the last half of "Great Book...".
What a rip...

I bought this book along with The Great Book of Optical Illusions by the same author. The "Great Book" was suggested by Amazon as pair for "More," and indeed if you look on Amazon's page for "More Optical Illusions" you find that many people bought both books. However, "More" is just the last half of the "Great Book" so if you buy the "Great Book" you don't get any more with "More." This is especially galling in view of the text by author Al Seckel, who writes in BOTH books: "Many books on optical illusions reprint the same examples over and over again, but this is not the case [in this book]." Amazon's book pages and suggested pairings may be generated by a computer, but this is one case where Amazon should insert a human's touch to make sure its customers understand before purchasing "More" that it is simply a partial version of "Great."

The 2 Seckel optical illusion collections (this volume + "Art of...") are the best collaborations I've ever seen on the subject. Not limited by or to the trite everyday old-time "dot-outside-box" stuff relegated to kids, these 2 volumes sample every category in optical-illusion science, including perspective, color, a whole host of 3D/1D impossible objects (including our old friend, the "3-pronged blivet" of 1964), modern/surreal artwork/photography, and op-art psychedelia as well as illusions which are actually experiments that test our other senses. Many you still don't believe even after proof!

I especially had interest in the "face" category, which includes faces hidden within plants and scenery; upside-down faces within right-side-up faces; the mirror-image bilateral split of Hillary Clinton's face; and what I call the "Eyes (& Mouths) of the Beholder" heads (Thatcher & Frakes) in which faces of famous people can be presented upside-down, while only some of their facial features left upright. Photo-cropping software can reproduce such effects. These last 2 ideas could start national fads if the results weren't so unnerving...

The illusions are beautifully presented on each glossed page with enough white-space for breathing room, while not too much to be considered a waste of page area. The paperback books are strongly bound, so pages wouldn't easily become dislodged. Most of the entries have explanatory notes set up as "footnotes" at the end of each "gallery" section (I would have to dock 1/2 star because several of the illusions I questioned were left without explanations).

Get one of the volumes, get both; they complement each other (but the 3rd, larger book, "Great Book of..." appears to be a rehash of the material in both of these).

This is an excellent follow-up to "The Art of Optical Illusions " by the same author in 2000 and which was voted BEST BOOK for young adults in 2001 by the American Library Association.The only thing I can say about that is, don't let yourself think this is a book just for Juveniles. See my review for that book dated Feb 26,2005.
This book is very similar in concept ,but has a whole additional array of 137 new and different illusions.To anyone who likes unusual art,graphics,and the various art forms that comprise the world of optical illusions;you'll love this book.There are a raft of books that include some illusions and even some that are full of them;but none that show the breadth asd variety that Seckel gives us.He must have spent an enormous amount of time searching for these examples from the works of artists all over the world and from many past years and centuries.
While these illusions easily grab the attention of people of all ages and artistic as well as technical background;Seckel gives explanations,at least where they can be explained,to tell what makes the illusion work.
It wouldn't be fair to review this book without commenting on the supurb quality of the graphics,paper,color rendition,printing and overall construction of these two books
If this book has been as enjoyable to you, as it is to me,may I also recommend "Masters of Deception" also by Al Seckel.See my review of it Dec 1,2004.
With all of these Optical Illusion books by Seckel,its a thrill to sit back and go through the book and come upon a whole new experience with each turn of the page.A sure pleasurable treat to anyone who enjoys the world of intriguing and unusual things.Or, if that's not enough,when coming across something strange likes to ask,"How did they do that"? ...well Seckel gives good explanations,if the reason is really understood.