Burger, Eugene: The Experience of Magic
©1989 Richard Kaufman Eugene Burger
Published by Richard Kaufman and Alan Greenberg
Hardcover, w/dj, 140 pages

Comments (Alain Roy): Illustrated by Richard Kaufman. This book is filled with excellent essays to help you really think about improving your magic. There are also some effects that are taught, but you can gain as much or more from the thinking that went into the effects as from the effects themselves.

Contents:

9 Unfinished Pictures. Essay.
11 In the Beginning. Essay: Question: What is the experience of magic?
13 The Negative Way. Essay.
15 Framing. Putting frames around magic effects.
18 A Magic Secret. Effect that is a frame for a color change.
25 Photographs from Memory. Reminisces about magic, and some thoughts about magic drawn from them.
33 The World's Fastest Card Trick. Another example frame around a color change.
40 A Midnight Talk. Essay on bizarre magick.
45 The Tyranny of the New. Advice on learning new magic.
49 The Corner in the Glass (Again). Card trick with interesting revelation, and great thinking.
56 The Way of the Cat. Essay. What can we learn from cats?
60 A Card Stab Routine. Spectator stabs card.
68 Collapsible Canes and Self-Deception. Essay.
72 The Magic Crystal
76 The Devolution of the Magic Shop. Essay.
81 The Two Magics. Essay with history, religion, and more.
91 The Inquisition. A fabulous and unique presentation of Card Warp
102 Weaving a Spell. Essay. Comedy and Miracles.
107 Cosmic Thread. A fabulous and unique presentation of the classic torn and restored thread.
111 A Bizarre Ritual. "Bizarre" effect with tarot cards.
118 The Sense of Mystery in a Japanese Garden. Essay.
124 The Devil's Deck. Personalized and strong version of Brainwave/Ultra Mental Deck.
130 Why I Write. Essay.
135 Experiences of Magic. Essay.