For me, it's hands down Maximum Entertainment !

I'll have to go along with Payne on this one. This book is a stunning read, and, in Dover edition, it is eminently affordable.

Mike

Great subjest, I have to say derren's absoulte magic read the thing cover to cover like 3 times, really makes you think

These are all good suggestions. I would like to add Winning the Crowd by Steve Cohen to the list.

Bob Phillips

Isso also likes to trail wee copies of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones compiled by Nyogen Senzaki and Paul Reps.

H D X!

L

•Step Right Up by McNamara

•Six White Horses by Violet McNeal

•Everything by Hermann Hesse and Walter Russell

Intro to John Carney's Carneycopia as well as the intro to The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley Volume I.

Best,
msc455magic

Correction: "Four White Horses and a Brass Band" by Violet McNeal.

A first person account by the Queen of Medicine men.

Lucia...what are you saying? The closest that I can figure is that you like to follow small copies of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

Bob

Maximum Entertainment, Magic & Meaning

Ascanio's Structural Conception of Magic

Almost all my picks have been listed. Two I didn't see on the list are:

Sankey's "Zen and the Art of Stand Up Comedy"
Sankey's "Beyond Secrets"

Mike

Just purchased "Win the Crowd" by Steven Cohen. Looks like an excellent read. Am seriously considering "Maximum Entertainment" for future consideration. Both books look as if they have excellent advice.

Others, in a general sort of category, would be things like "Awaken the Giant Within" by Anthony Robbins, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and "remembering People" by Harry Lorayne.

Strong Magic
Magic of Michael Ammar.....the essays
Structural Conception of Magic by Ascanio
Fitzkee Trilogy
Comedy Writing Step by Step
Magic and Showmanship Henning Nelms

Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The character of Gandalf the Wizard is an inspiring archetype.
Any book by philosopher Alan Watts.
And I'll second (or third) Henning Nelms' Magic and Showmanship.

Absolute Magic, to break away from the ordinary.
Jurassic Park, to hide a story within a story.
The Bourne Identity, for suspense and sheer hammering power.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, for differences between form and function.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary, for diction.

Strong Magic By Darwin Ortiz

The introduction to Sawa's Library of Magic Volume 1 as well as witnessing the tricks he created.

Best,
msc455magic

David Bamberg's "Illusion Show", "Trouping With Dante" and "Blackstone, A Life", The Fitzkee Trilogy, every single story and book by Philip K. Dick which for better or worse helped shape my adult view of reality and the utter absurdity of life. Add to that anything by Samuel Beckett - I wrote to him when I had to write a paper on "Waiting For Godot" in college - he responded in about a week and a half, a real good egg was he. These books and authors have helped me find unexpected but good contexts for what I do and have helped me gain a small understanding of the many ways people might perceive things.

For me, Joel Bauer's Hustle Hustle contained some sound advice - not only about the business side but also the overall aspects of health and diet - in a section called the Complete Entertainer. Quite interesting stuff...