I will also chime in on Mark Wilson. That\'s one of the first books I ever got and I still use it today.

You can also check out the Tarbell series. They cover pretty much everything you need to know to establish a solid foundation in your studies.

Also, don\'t over look the books you may find in your local librabry. Just because they are usually found in the kids section, doesn\'t mean there isn\'t good basic information there.

For those who like to learn from Video and DVD, the Mark Wilson Course did also come on a video. Just do a search on Google.

Mike



BrianT wrote:

I agree that Mark Wilson\'s book is excellent. However, I find that I get a lot more out of a video or DVD.

I am left handed so written explanations of card tricks have to be reversed as well as understood.

I was recently given a DVD set of \"Royal Road to Card Magic\" and have found it to be an excellent introduction to cards. It will keep me busy for years!

HI, THIS WILL BE MY VERY FIRST POST,EVER. MY FIRST MAGIC BOOK MANY YEARS AGO WAS THE AMATURE MAGICIANS HANDBOOK. THAT STARTED ME OUT AT AGE 10. IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT MAGIC, TARBELL HAS EVERYTHING YOU WIL EVER NEED TO KNOW. MARK WILSON IS GOOD FOR THE BEGINNER. IT IS NEWBIE FRIENDLY. BUT GRADUATE TO TARBELL, THE RICE SILK BOOKS AND STARS OF MAGIC AND YOU WILL HAVE A WELL ROUNDED BASE AND THE GODESS OF MAGIC WILL SMILE UPON YOU.

The Magicgizmo suggested beginners book is already pretty comprehensive.

I'll add to it books that i recommend:
-Joshua Jay's Magic The Complete Course Book (With DVD)
-Nicholas Einhorn's Encyclopedia of Magic Tricks

Both in full color and a pleasure to read. And can be pass on to your kids!

ssmagic wrote:

What are some good magic books you can recommend for the beginner magician?

I hate being one to answer a question with a question, but what type of magic do you want to do? If you just want to learn close-up to start with (Cards/Coins/Impromptu/etc) then there are a number of good book on the market that you can get via "mainstream" retailers.

One of my first magic books was Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. An excellent book to this day and I still refer back to it from time to time.

Also, Santa brought Joshua Jay's Complete Magic Course book for my son. I was very surprised by this one and it even comes with a DVD. I was thumbing through it and it covers quite a bit on both tricks and performances. I'll give it two thumbs-up!

If you want a book dedicated to coin magic, JB Bobo's Modern Coin Magic is considered the bible of Coin Magic. Also available in stores and not expensive.

These three alone should be enough to keep you busy with Cards, Coins, and other items for quite some time. If you'd like any other suggestions, feel free to ask and I'll steer you in a different direction.

Good Luck,

Sloveez