Am currently reading this now and just about done with it. Not very impressed with this book at all. (BTW very sorry for any typos. Doing this on my iPhone) I really thought this was going to be filled with effects that are memorable give-always during performance. And yes the book does deliver this. But these effects have been in print elsewhere over the years.

One thing I am not overly impressed with the book is all the (essay) interviews in it. They are quite long. And while some of the are a little bit interesting they take up a good portion of the book. Not leaving (what I was hoping to be many more souvenier) effects.

There are maybe 3-4 effects in a row, whIch is then followed by pages and pages of a interview from the past. So even these talks are old. For MY personal performing style ( and Thas is only my opinion) I would use a very very small percentage of these effects. There are of course may more give-always out there and his is certainly not meant to be an encyclopedia of magic give-always.

So FOR ME personally onnl a scale of 1-10 here .. 10 being best. I would personally rate this book a 3.
I never like to knock a persons work. And Lawrence Hass has certain ing put some work in this book.

Let me add one very commendable thing about this work is that Mr Hass is donattingall proceeds from
The book to the encore foundation. Which is a organization that helps magicians in times of need.

So with that said.. A BIG tip of the hat to Mr Hass.

Again sorry for any typos as I have done this whole thing On my iphone

Instead of supplying you with still more effects that you won't use, might the essays be there to teach you how you might incorporate gifting into your own effects that you DO use?

Usually I love the essay's. And I do have more magic and effects that I could possibly use in a lifetime.. Nothing just "caught" me here.

Sadly,i have to agree on this one. A lot of filler.

One person's filler is another's inspiration. Seriously, it's not the tricks, its the "why" and "how" of gift magic. That stuff you're skipping over is really the point, in my opinion.

Read it twice. Didn't think the "why and how" bits were that good either.

What would you recommend then in place of, or in addition to Gift Magic?? If y'all are gonna knock the book, please offer a recommendation in place of it. It would be very helpful to know specifically what "Gift Magic" you use and have had great participant success with... Personally, I have been getting great results and reactions from Aaron Alexander's "Ant Queen".