New Paperback Edition of the Partrick Page Book

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Matthew Field
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Joined: January 18th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Slydini
Location: Hastings, England, UK

New Paperback Edition of the Partrick Page Book

Postby Matthew Field » September 30th, 2013, 4:32 am

As many of my friends know, I spent two years working with Patrick Page on what would become his magnum opus, Magic Page by Page. When he passed away, I spent a further two years working with designer Michael Albright shaping the manuscript into a book.

It was big, 325 pages, 12.5 inches x 9.5 inches, and weighed a ton. It had everything Pat wanted to be in the book ‒ cards, coins, stacked deck, his marketed effects (most of them, anyway), the Topit vanisher, and lots more ‒ more than 100. I was just the hired hand, but Pat’s family decided to publish the book themselves and while the price was more than reasonable, £35 (about $56) the book weighed a ton (did I mention that?) so the postage was high.

The family printed 1000 copies and they sold out. They decided to reprint, but in a paperback edition to make the monster weigh less. That meant I had the pleasure of spending six more months on the book correcting the few errors I and others had noted (such as “Hang Ping Chien” (extra “g” on “Hang”)), for the most part little stuff but, hey, if we were going to reprint, why not correct it?

The family printed 1000 more books in softcover, reducing the weight by 1/3. They priced the books at £5 less ‒ £30. That’s 1 ½ stinking one-trick DVDs!

The big savings is in the postage. Price, all-in, in the U.K. is £48 (they’re not making anything on the postage costs). In Europe, it’s £55. In the U.S. and the rest of the world it’s £60 ($96). My cut is easy to figure: £0.

So why am I posting this? My promise to Pat was that the book would be his legacy, and I hope you read it and that it lives on.

You can find full details, including the full Table of Contents, at http://www.PatrickPageMagic.co.uk.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Matt Field

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Marco Pusterla
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Location: Suffolk - UK
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Re: New Paperback Edition of the Partrick Page Book

Postby Marco Pusterla » September 30th, 2013, 5:50 am

I have a first edition of the book, so I will probably miss on the second printing, but I have to say that this book has more "workers" material than many of the DVDs Matt mentions in his post...

The thing I love in the book are the small details here and there... a couple of things are priceless! The material is generally technically easy to do and, unlike many other books, Pat really explains the timing, misdirection and blocking for most of the material.

Other 1000 magicians can improve their repertoire, now, then!
Marco Pusterla - https://mpmagic.co.uk

Ye Olde Magic Mag: magazine on magic history and collecting.

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Q. Kumber
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Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Tom Whitestone

Re: New Paperback Edition of the Partrick Page Book

Postby Q. Kumber » September 30th, 2013, 8:20 am

I heartily and highly recommend this book to all magicians but especially to any performing professionally.

It is simply crammed with real-world professional routines, both close-up and stand-up.


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