About Bizarre Magic

About Bizarre Magic
P. Craig Browning

What can I say about a free book. Well its thirty-eight pages which makes it longer that a lot of other e-books I've gotten. This book was written for magicians that are interested in a style of performing known as Bizarre Magic. Generally speaking Bizarre Magic is bit on the macabre side a bit darker, and very much more theatrical than other forms of magic. This book proved to contain a good introduction to the realm of Bizarre Magic, but it was clear to me that the purpose of this book was to wet the readers apatite so as to convince them to buy one of the authors more expensive works. My biggest problem with this book would have to be the near constant typos. These are not your letter out of place typos these are the I hit spell check and put the wrong word in sort of typos. It made the book rather arduous to read.

I'm going to have to give this book a 6/10 for the typos.

I haven't posted much.

I haven't posted much which suck I totally meant to post more but what I've mostly been reading is books about doing performance magic. And Well I don't read the whole book I read the bit I find applicable so usually I don't read enough of a book to make a call. Sorry, I will try to do better in the future, provide life doesn't get in the way.

The Art of Seduction

The Art of Seduction

By Robert Greene

How would I describe the writing style of Robert Greene in this book. Like a history buff with a distaste for the mordern. I recently read recommendation for this book that called his style as “amoral, dispassionate tone” I disagree I feel the Mr. Greene understands that while morals are fluid and change from culture to culture and man to man, human nature is a solid and definable force. He acknowledges that some people may view things a certain way but if you want to achieve your goals there is a way it needs to be done.

As for the way it is written, like the 50^th Law each chapter follows the same pattern established in the beginning of the book. Each chapter begins with kind of a descriptive overview and here is where we first see text whose outline form some sort of simple shape like a circle, oval, or triangle. Next we introduce to the concept of the chapter with a bit of information out of the history books. Such as some exploits from Casanova. After that we are presented with a “Key to seduction” Where the general idea presented in the preceding part is explained and elaborated upon so we can employ the lesson in our own lives. So once we have have the idea explained we are given a symbol with which to identify the concept. Again instead of the block text we are used to in book the writing appears in a simple shape. For example in the chapter on Rakes the symbol is fire and the explanation of how that relates to Rakes forms a half circle. Finally each chapter closes with a warning of how applying its concept can bite you in the arse. Now is a good time to point out what I found to be both interesting and annoying about this book. At the start of each chapter in the margins you find quotes and excerpts from old books on the main subject of the chapter. I like them because they were fun and help explain the idea of the chapter but I was annoyed because I found them awkward. O could not read them in tandem with the chapter and would have to go back and re read them after I finished the main section.

Favorite Quote: This desire for a double of the other sex that resembles us absolutely while still being other, for a magical creature who is ourself while possessing the advantage, over all our imaginings, of an autonomous existence. . . .

—ROBERT MUSIL, QUOTED IN DENIS DE ROUGEMONT, LOVE DECLARED,  TRANSLATED BY RICHARD HOWARD

Score 8/10 Good book but awkward to read at times.

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

H.P. Lovecraft

Reviewing H.P. Lovecraft presents me with a challenge. His works are horror mystery. So the problem is how do I review it without giving anything away. Well I made the mistake of looking up something about it that contained spoilers but I was still surprised by the end. So for the most part I really enjoyed this story except for one part. While establishing the love of history and architecture by the title character the author describes his home town in crazy exact detail. I was slow and boring part of reading to me personally. But other than that portion of the text I found the pacing of the text to be very good. I really like the progression of the story the suspense create. I will say this Lovecraft seems to have mastered making the readers imaginations do the heavy lifting. So Charles Dexter Ward is a happy go lucky youth in 1920’s Rhode Island. During his many walks around town and visits to the library to look at old books he discovers a link to an ancestor that had been whipped from local history books. And that’s when his life takes a turn for the weird. Eventually he finds a picture of his ancestor and it looks almost exactly like him. This fuels his research that leads him to secrets man is not meant to know. Over all I recommend this story to all I know who read.

Score 10/10

You Might Be A Zombie

You Might Be a Zombie
and other bad news
by the editors of  Cracked.com

If you have a Facebook and a good amount of friends I'm sure you've seen a link to Cracked.com pop up once or twice a week. It will be link to some funny list of weird facts written with a slightly immature (read guy centered) sense of humor. For example "Five ways Abraham Lincoln was a badass mutant" Well this book is the book form of that website. With chapter titles like; 'Five stories of Jesus' childhood that were cut from the bible (To avoid an NC-117 Rating)', 'Four Great women buried by their boobs', and 'Five beloved U.S. Presidents the modern media would never let into the White House'. That last one actually annoyed me because it bothers me how little a persons message has to do with them getting elected. What if Barack Obama wasn't elected because of his message of but instead because he was younger, taller, better looking, and had a more pleasant speaking voice than McCain? (I personally didn't vote for either but am bothered that a good guy with a good plan would lose simply be cause he wasn't camera friendly.)

I very much enjoyed this book but I did skip quit a few parts that didn't grab my attention and I felt some of their facts may have been a bit off but what ever.

Score: 8/10 due to the fact that I skipped parts.

The 50th Law

The 50th Law
By
50 Cent &
Robert Greene

Going into the book I was already familiar somewhat with the works of Robert Greene. I had already had a look at his other works The 48 laws of power and The art of Seduction. I would describe his works as the application of social psychology with historical examples. As for 50 Cent I knew he was some sort of rapper but I was not familiar with his works or his career.

The book itself looks like a small bible. The cover is a black plastic like material the words are stamped in gold on the cover. The edged of the pages are rough and have a gold tint. The only artwork on the cover is three pictures of a sword (the same sword 3 times once on each cover and again on the spine). The only words other than the title and authors appears on the back cover at the top it says in Latin "nihil timendum est" and below the picture of a sword in English "fear nothing" It is in my opinion supposed to be a bible of power.

The contents of the book is split into ten chapters, each being an important aspect of the struggle for power. Every chapter starts with story of a struggle 50 Cent faced on his path to power. Then there is a quote by 50 Cent followed by an explanation of how being fearless in this area leads to success. Next there is a few examples using historical figure illustrating various way the concept of the chapter was successfully used. Lastly there is a breakdown of how the core concept of the chapter is negatively viewed by modern society. Each chapter ends with historical quote the person most quoted being Machiavelli,

I like the book myself and highly recommended it to anyone with ambition. Its well written and easy to read, if I had to put it on a school based reading level I'd say an 8th grader would have no trouble reading and understanding this book. It didn't take me that long to read it maybe 6 distraction free hours. As for re-readability I think its they type of book you read every few years not because you want to but to refresh its messages in your mind.

Favorite Quote: There is no knowledge that is not Power.- 50 Cent

Score 8/10 (It just feels like an 8)

Introductory Post

Well I like to read A LOT, I also recently realized that reviewing things was something I enjoyed. And from these things this Blog was born. The posts will be erratic at best, I will post when ever I finish a book, and the topics and styles of the books will vary quiet a bit. I will end a review with a score on a 1-10 scale. 1 meaning I hated the book. 10 meaning I loved it. If I can't finish a book, meaning I quit reading it voluntarily, it will not receive higher than a 3, if I skipped sections of the book it will not revive higher than an 8. Well I hope you all will enjoy. The book I'm reading now and will be my first review is "The 50th Law" by Robert Greene and 50 Cent.