Fredrick Turner

Reflections

Book review

Book review

  • Book Notes: Don’t Look Now

    In the vast archives of magic literature, there’s much written about tricks, the sleights and the techniques to accomplish them. There’s a handful of books on presentation and scripting. However there are not many that cover misdirection. There’s some chapters or articles here and there. Dariel Fitzkee, Roberto Giobbi, Tom Stone, Juan Tameriz, Tommy Wonder, Continue reading

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  • Initial Impressions: Notes From A Fellow Traveller

    When Derren Brown and Neat Review first published this book, I admit I hesitated. I watched the special edition sell out immediately, then the hardcover, and finally the softcover. Part of me didn’t want to get sucked into the hype and another part didn’t want to pay the postage from the UK. Most of the Continue reading

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  • Revisiting: Mainspring

    I first read Alex Hansford’s Mainspring in 2022 along with its companion book, Shawn DeSouza-Coelho‘s Magic As Medium. On the Neat Review website, it states that “One (book) for the mind, one (book) for the body.” I would be hard pressed to say which is which as both have given me a great deal to Continue reading

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  • Book Notes: Searching for Awe

    Through a recent podcast recommendation, I became aware of the work of Dacher Keltner. According to his Wikipedia page, Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who directs the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab. He is also the founder and faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center, host of the Continue reading

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  • Revisiting: Shadowland

    In 1980, Peter Straub (1943-2022) published Shadowland. I didn’t read it until it came out in paperback a year or so later. I read other books by Staub before and since however this is the one I return to every few years. Shadowland is the story of Tom and Del, two young teenagers who become Continue reading

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  • Revisiting: Magic In Mind

    The adage goes, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” In our day-to-day transactional world, this is true more often than not. Quid pro quo tends to be our motto. Occasionally there are some things that come without explicit expectations of getting something in return. One is the ebook, Magic In Mind, compiled by Continue reading

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  • Book Notes: The Water Knife

    Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015) is his second ecological dystopian novel for the adult sci-fi market. As I mentioned in another post, I read his first, The Windup Girl (Night Shade Books, 2009), in 2023. I thought The Windup Girl was amazing so I was excited to pick up The Water Continue reading

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