This Is Not a Book by Robert E. Neale - Book

Wonder and magic surround us, yet we need a guide to see them. Historically, that guide is the magician-and Robert E. Neale is the celebrated mapmaker for this terra incognita.This new Neale collection explores the sphere of close-up magic without playing cards. In the process, it expands the borders of magic in ways never before seen. Neale takes magicians at their word when they claim their job is to provoke wonder in their audiences. As he explains in his introduction, "there are many effects ahead that are not tricks, because I am more interested in magic than I am in tricks."Beginning with the title of his book, echoing René Magritte's famous comment on the deceptive quality of all art, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe," Neale begins to demonstrate how illusory our perception is and how fuzzy the borders are between the real and the unreal. Using uncomplicated sleights and props, he dares magicians to seek wonder in ways that are new and unexpected by both audiences and other magicians.