What's the big deal with the Frank Garcia books?

[Guest]

I was just wondering what makes Frank Garcia's books so sought after.

I know that his "Million Dollar Card Secrets" and "Super Subtle Card Miracles" (I hope those are the right titles) have a near mythical status.

Why is that? Didn't he borrow a lot of material from other sources? Weren't those books the 70's equivalent to today's Ammar ETMCM videos?

Your enlightenment is appreciated.

[Guest]

pierredan,
I agree with you. I'm still wondering what makes Cards as Weapons by Ricky Jay so ridiculously priced.
Frank Garcia (from what I heard) did do a lot of "borrowing"

[Guest]

They went out of print about twenty years ago and there's little sign that they will be reprinted.

At the time they were popular and plenty of folks do remember Frank Garcia from NY and his travels.

[Dustin Stinett]

Yes, Garcia borrowed a lot of material, but one must admit that it was excellent material. He had an incredible nose for really good card tricks that were well within the grasp of the intermediate performer.

Dustin

[Richard Kaufman]

Frank had a very good eye for excellent material which he frequently published without permission (and often without credit). Sometimes he simplified the methods.

The two books, Million Dollar and Super Subtle, are superb: where do you think Michael Ammar got the idea for his videos, even if it was a subconscious inspiration? Frank created that template.

[Guest]

Am I correct in assuming he took credit for Wild Card when in reality it was Peter Kane's ?

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

Sort of.

-Jim

[Richard Kaufman]

He changed Peter Kane's original routine at the instigation of Lou Tannen, who wanted something to put on the market. The use of the Hamman Count, Glide, layout, etc. (if memory serves)--all things we associate with Wild Card, came from Frank. If they had simply mentioned that they were inspired by Peter Kane in the instructions then there would never have been any sort of fuss.

[Guest]

The one Garcia book that stands head and shoulders above the rest is the Encyclopedia of Sponge Ball Magic. It will probably never be reprinted. If you can read German, copies of the German edition are fairly plentiful.

[Guest]

Mr. Garcia's book on the three shell game was touted to me by Harry Anderson and Michael Weber. It is an entertaining and informative little book.

I believe the real reasons his books are so sought-after are the "magicians' recipes" he included at the end of each... ;) (I believe the 3 shell book features baclava...)

[Martin Kaplan]

They are also available in Spanish at very reasonable prices.

[Guest]

Although I do not own the books, I have had the chance to read them.

My impression was that many of the "best" effects in "Million Dollar Card Secrets" and "Super Subtle Card Miracles" are already in the Ammar ETMCM videos.

For example, let me point out that Garcia states in "Super Subtle Card Miracles" that the effect "Miracle Worker" is by far one of the strongest effects in this book. Well, "Miracle Worker" is an effect that is well explained on one of Ammar's ETMCM DVDs (although the effect is known under a different name).

So this brings me back to my initial question. What is so great in these books that I have not already encountered in some readily accessible source?

Sometimes, I feel the search for the "best" effects in card magic through the 100+ magic books that I own always bring me back to the Ammar ETMCM. Maybe I should stop searching for the mythical best effects and realize that what I'm looking for is in one of the first things that I acquired long ago.

[Guest]

"Sometimes, I feel the search for the "best" effects in card magic through the 100+ magic books that I own always bring me back to the Ammar ETMCM. Maybe I should stop searching for the mythical best effects and realize that what I'm looking for is in one of the first things that I acquired long ago."

If I may be so bold, I think the answer to this query can be found in the introduction to Sharpe's Expert Card Mysteries.

[Guest]

Although the Michael Ammar DVD's/videos are excellent teaching tools, they are by no means exhaustive treatments of any of this material. One of the dangers of learning from DVD's is that the student may have a tendency to "channel" the person on the video. With a book, that danger is minimal.

I first noticed this with people who had learned to do various Slydini items from tapes or lectures. They would do much of their close-up routine standing. Then they would sit, turn their body at a 30 to 45 degree angle to the edge of the table and begin to mimic Slydini.

It was very unnatural.

Books force you to interpret works for yourself.

100+ books on card magic is barely the tip of the iceberg.

[Guest]

Bill,

I appreciate what you are saying. I do not want to get into a Book vs. Video debate. It may be obvious that I am a fan of both mediums. Ideally like Michael Close does with his eBooks and Darwin Ortiz does with his series of videos that go over the material book by book.

However, I would like to hear more on the real value of the Garcia books. What makes them so outstanding from what is available today?

[Guest]

Yes, they are full of good material but they are out of print, and like so much stuff that's out of print, prices can go through the roof for no logical reason.

[Guest]

Hi Pierredan,
You said"My impression was that many of the "best" effects in "Million Dollar Card Secrets" and "Super Subtle Card Miracles" are already in the Ammar ETMCM videos."
May I suggest that you re-read those two books?
You missed for example:
Million Dollar Transposition MDCS
Peekaboo Revelation MDCS
Just a "Second" MDCS
Hide and Seek Kings MDCS
Uncanny Revelation MDCS
All Backs SSCM
Jackrobatics SSCM
Super Subtle Shuffle SSCM
Unique discovery SSCM
Father Cyprian's Wild Card SSCM
Riding the Aces SSCM
O'Henry Four Aces SSCM
Enjoy!

[Guest]

Philippe,

I guess I'm going to have to try to borrow them again.

Thanks.

[Robert McDaniel]

I would have killed for the Ammar "ETMCM" series back in the 70's and 80's. I actually had to read and sift through all those books to find the real gems. It was hard work, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. :-)

Robert

[Guest]

It appears that the Garcia books have lost a bit of their lustre -- a copy of "Super Subtle" just went for $27 on eBay. Not so long ago, another copy went for a similar price, and "Million Dollar" wasn't very much higher.

Is there rumor of a reprint, or is the market so inundated with "modern stuff" that the gems have been lost in the process?

[Guest]

Wasn't Super Subtle reprinted at least once (although the reprint too is out of print)? Perhaps Million Dollar was reprinted once as well.

Doug, were these the paperback printings, or the first printings in stiff boards and spiral binding? The first printings usually seem to fetch at least 150% of the reprint prices.

Clay

[Guest]

I asked a similar question in February and got the following answers:

Link

[Guest]

Originally posted by Magicam:
Doug, were these the paperback printings, or the first printings in stiff boards and spiral binding? The first printings usually seem to fetch at least 150% of the reprint prices.

Here's the link to the auction. Looks like a "stiff boards and spiral bindings" to me. These used to go for ~$100 on eBay...