The biggest problem with the book is that it is stuuffed with tricks that are not very entertainig.
To my way of thinking, that is a very interesting statement. I can't imagine that any trick is entertaining or dull, in and of itself. A "trick" is inanimate and, for the most part, an intangible. It is not capable of being anything other than what it is - that is to say, it can neither be entertaining nor dull; it just "is."
In the hands of an adequate magician, any trick can be entertaining. But the trick doesn't bring about the entertainment, the magician/performer does that.
In the hands of a good magician, that trick can be taken past just entertaining and it can become a magic experience (that is also entertaining). But, again, it isn't the trick that brings this about.
I have several Bob Longe books. One thing that I've found about all of them is that they aren't very in depth in explanations. They tend to be more encyclopedic than anything else. I think that Mr. Longe always expected his readers to really supply the nuts and bolts of making any given trick that he covered entertaining.
Bob was a prolific author of magic books. I have no idea how many of them he has out there, but it's quite a lot. And, it's rather funny, because when I first met Bob, I didn't realize that he was who he was...I always pronounced his name "Lonj," so when I was introduced to Bob "Long" it just didn't click.
Bob gave me a massive stack of old Phoenix issues (circa mid '40s) - he was making room for other stuff, he said. Just up and gave them to me and this was the very first time that I met the guy - he didn't know me from Adam. He had a trunk full of stuff that he gave away that day to a bunch of other guys, too. He opened the trunk (the "boot" for you UK guys and gals) and said, "Grab what you want."
I knew him for nearly a year before he died on May 17, 2004. I didn't find out who he was until after his death...He simply didn't brag about it, ever. It was at the funeral when I learned
exactly who he was. Just a very giving and modest man - not many of those in our ranks.
Bob's books are almost all very inexpensive. If you buy one of his books and you take away one trick, and one trick only, then you have more than paid for the book. I have one coin trick that I do, in particular, that fries magicians. That trick was gleaned out of a Bob Longe book. There is real gold to be found in Bob's books, if you honestly look for it.
Mike.