Hello to all. I have looked around for a review of this book but have yet to find one. Perhaps Im looking under the wrong stones? Any comments are appreciated. Thanks
Justin

Great book...the editing is horrendous...

Nathan

So is it safe to say that if I like Lukes other stuff in general and it sounds like I would like it then its a go?

Yes!

Yeah it's great, but some is hard to read with all the errors...& get ahold of penguin for the supplements..

Nathan

Personally I think it's Luke's most mature work to date, plenty of information to digest over time and something you can dip in and out of which sets the mind racing.

Yes...don't let the awful editing hold you back...I love the book!

Nathan

Would also like a more detailed review - particularly in relation to the touching on hoy bit.

Luke significantly expands on Touching on Hoy. Great thoughts. One of the best bits in the book!

And, yes, the editing is just awful. The worst I have seen in any book, magic or otherwise.

Just to make everyone aware there is a planned second version of the book which I hope will right the editing f*** ups that annoy me as much as everyone else.

L.

I very much enjoyed the book - veyr much - even with the editing goofs.... prefer it better edited... but the thinking is great.

dave

Luke,
Any idea how long we are looking at before the "second version" that corrects the "**** ups" is available?
Cheers,
-- Topher

I ordered it from penguinmagic a while ago, just about 30 minutes before they put a promo selling it for 25$...

The book can be divided in two parts, which would be essays, and effects. However the essays interested me much more than the effects.

Luke talks about how he create a presentation to hook an audience, he talks about the casual performances (on the spot) and give some ideas, at some point in the book he talks about an effect that he is going to teach later, but I read it about twice and never found it... Oddly enough.

The book has many bizzare effects, I really liked the effect playing upon life and death with candles, I'm too lazy to walk upstair and see what the name of the effect is. It's so simple and good, you can present this in so many ways.

There is also a whole chapter on Touching on Hoy, I already knew that routine, but the advancements he mades and the contributions from others made it so easy to use, there is also a method which works with no psychological forces, or method that ''can'' fail (I don't say this because I hate those methods, but it terms of advancements.) He has different presentation including a way to make the spectators has mindreader which I really liked, it deals with time and I could see this going in a watch routine.

I'm not very aware of the spelling mistakes because I'm natively french, thus said probably this phrase has dozen of spelling mistakes...

There is something that put me down a little bit about the book, it's the missing pages that Penguin ommited to add, I was reading, in around page 80-ish, and then the subject completly changed and I wondered if I was lunatic or somewhere else... It's only about a month later that I realised that on Penguin Forums there was a sticky with the missing content, I would have hoped that Penguin had sent an E-Mail to the person who brought it.

The book is very good all in all, like most people say it's Luke most mature work.
I only retained two good effects from the book, but just that is worth the price of the book alone, I also like the cover of the book, it reminds me of Derren Brown Absolute Magic.

I own much of Luke material but his expensive manuscripts (the ones going over 150$) I enjoyed to read through the essays and the effects, There is also a ''foreword'' by Banachek at the beggining of the book which I liked very much.

All in all, it won't be a modern classic, but it's refreshing and enjoyable to read this book.

I give a 8.5/10.

Good work Luke!
~Max

I ve not finish reading it yet but the invisible deck presentation it s great.

You know, I noticed the proof reading errors when I came across them and to be honest, it didn't bug me.

Here is my video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECrzcxPkoQM

I've read and re-read this book. Great material, but if poor editing is something that bothers you, you will be bothered quite a bit. If you are dyslexic, it won't bother you at all.

Forgetabout the editing. it's a good book.

It's available on Penguin now for $14.95 so that seems to be a no-brainer!

Penguin must have their beady little feathered eye on this thread then.

Yeah totally worth it. Fantastic book.

It has been rotating in and out of Penguin's blizzard since before Christmas.