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by **Ted** » Sat May 01, 2010 8:58 pm

spooneythegoon wrote:http://www.emagictricks.co.uk/Absolute_Magic_by_Derren_Brown.html

Out of stock, rather predictably.
These books really aren't available at reasonable prices any more.
That's the bad news. The good news is that you can still buy The Devil's Piturebook DVD, which pretty much covers the contents of Pure Effect. As for Absolute Magic - I don't own it but I do know that there's similar material out there.

by **SamGurney** » Sat May 01, 2010 9:16 pm

Material wise the devil's picturebook covers, I think, all of the card effects, but it still misses several other very good on card effects. There is also the lectures he did which cover his performance philosophy in pure effect quite succintly.

by **Ted** » Sat May 01, 2010 10:05 pm

Sure, but is it not the point that you can't buy these (unless you're prepared to pay silly money)?

by **Lenoir** » Sat May 01, 2010 10:07 pm

The books aren't worth the money you'd pay these days. I don't think there worth more than 50 quid each. You could get a lot more for your money.

by **Ted** » Sat May 01, 2010 10:09 pm

I think you must be right, Lenoir. I honestly have not read either fully (I don't own them), but any book of the size that costs more than £50 has to be really pretty special. It's obvious that the DB label is driving the prices up and not the content.

by **Lenoir** » Sat May 01, 2010 10:11 pm

For sure. They have great ideas and some nice effects, and even when Derren was hugely famous they sold well, but I don't think they deserve the hype they have.

by **SamGurney** » Sat May 01, 2010 10:23 pm

I disagree. For me the books are invaluable, but I am very biased, but I can understand where you're coming from and indeed the prices are extortionate.

by **dat8962** » Sun May 02, 2010 10:15 am

My neighbour has leant me his copy to read. He's a fan of DB and not a magician. His wife brought him the copy (2nd edition) on ebay for his birthday a couple of years back and he tried to read it but couldn't make head nor tails of it.

I'll let you know if I think that it's worth the price when I've finished reading it. :lol:

by **Mandrake** » Sun May 02, 2010 10:24 am

Both books were probably worth the original selling price but certainly not the inflated figures now being asked for.

by **Bertoneski** » Sun May 02, 2010 12:40 pm

This one was on ebay.com recently - no book is worth this amount - except to someone desperate enough to want it...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

by **Lenoir** » Sun May 02, 2010 3:04 pm

First editions of Pure Effect will sell for a lot more than others also, for the additional content.

by **Grimshaw** » Sun May 02, 2010 5:54 pm

At least i have a fall back if i get a bit skint.

by **SpareJoker** » Wed May 05, 2010 10:21 am

Lenoir wrote:For sure. They have great ideas and some nice effects, and even when Derren was hugely famous they sold well, but I don't think they deserve the hype they have.

Seconded.

There is a lot of stuff on theory, but don't expect it to be a clear and concise as say, 'Strong Magic'.

I thought the last section on 'Performance and Art' (in Absolute Magic) was completely unfocused, to the point were I think he dissapears up his own bum (a bit).

The main thrust of the book appeared to be: "When you perform magic, makes sure it's really good".

by **themagicwand** » Wed May 05, 2010 10:41 am

SpareJoker wrote:
The main thrust of the book appeared to be: "When you perform magic, makes sure it's really good".

Yep, I had both books and happily sold them on eBay. The above phrase about sums up both books. Or perhaps "if you're doing magic, really believe you're doing proper magic so your spectators believe, for a moment, that the magic is real too."

There. Saved yourself a few hundred quid.

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