New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Discuss products and their reviews in Genii.
Guest

New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 23rd, 2007, 7:37 am

Hello Everyone.

A short note to let you know about a new book about the Maskelyne/Kellar/Thurston levitation. Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception stars the aforementioned magicians and also features Guy Jarrett as narrator and tour guide. If you've ever wondered how presenting real magic in the form of a graphic novel would work, this is probably the first book to do so. And even if you haven't wondered about that, I think Genii readers will enjoy this classic story!

You can read more information (written in a style that sounds remarkably like a press release) at

http://www.gt-labs.com/levitation.html

At the site you'll also find links to reviews, a web-based preview, and can order it as well, of course. As a further enticement, I've posted a longer preview exclusively for Genii forum members at

http://www.gt-labs.com/images/levitation_excerpt.pdf

(It's at a reduced resolution to give you a quick download.)

Thanks...I hope you all enjoy the book.

Jim Ottaviani


(The vital statistics...
Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception
Jim Ottaviani and Janine Johnston (illustrator)
72 pages, 6x9 on antique paper
ISBN: 978-0-9788037-0-4
$12.95)

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 26th, 2007, 12:23 am

it looks nice, but i have to ask.
Who is this aimed at?
magicians, or lays?

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 26th, 2007, 4:55 pm

Originally posted by Dale Shrimpton:
it looks nice, but i have to ask.
Who is this aimed at?
magicians, or lays?
Thanks...I'm glad it looks good to you. I would say it's aimed at both, but leaning towards a lay audience. If you enjoy Jim Steinmeyer's popular books (I certainly do) then this is in the same vein.

Thanks again,

Jim

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 27th, 2007, 12:19 am

Hmm.the thing with the steinmyer books,is that they left a great deal to the imagination.


seeing a picture of the aparatus, kind of edges towards exposure.
i applaud the project, in that i dont recall ever seeing a magical comic novel,such as this.
it would sit perfectly in many a collection, thats for sure.
But i am wondering if maybe, it gives too much info for lays, but not enough for magicians.

Id be interested to hear others views on this.

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 27th, 2007, 6:57 am

Originally posted by Dale Shrimpton:
...i applaud the project, in that i dont recall ever seeing a magical comic novel,such as this.
it would sit perfectly in many a collection, thats for sure.
But i am wondering if maybe, it gives too much info for lays, but not enough for magicians.

Id be interested to hear others views on this.
Thanks for the applause, and I think you're right that this is a first. I certainly hope you're right that many will find it a good addition to their collection!

Regarding exposure: Not to diminish the research effort that went into the book (a great deal), the illusion in question has been described and depicted in publicly available books repeatedly over the last 80+ years. So that part was relatively easy. Fleshing out the details of the history and personalities involved was much harder, and required finding and tracking down many more obscure sources.

All that said, I too would like to know other views on this!

Thanks again.

Jim

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 29th, 2007, 12:32 pm

If this is for laymen, then it is exposure.

The very same principles are being used by a number of professional performers today to make their living.

- entity

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 29th, 2007, 9:14 pm

It's very nicely done, and quite entertaining. (I picked up a copy at the local comic shop.) I think most magicians, if you can see past the generally-available secret, will enjoy it. It's certainly not exposure for exposure's sake.

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » November 30th, 2007, 7:38 am

I have been "exposed" to this little gem. I love it! You must all get a copy.

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » December 1st, 2007, 1:55 pm

Thanks for the comments, everybody. (I'm blushing over "little gem".)

I appreciate your taking the time and taking a chance on what is, at least as far as I can tell, an unusual format for telling this kind of story.

Jim

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » December 1st, 2007, 3:17 pm

Originally posted by entity:
If this is for laymen, then it is exposure.

The very same principles are being used by a number of professional performers today to make their living.
For the sake of discussion, which is worse, the publication in cartoon format of a "history" of a 100+ year old trick in which (I presume) there is no hint about the fact that such principles are still in use today by professionals, or a statement on a public forum like this which confirms that such principles are still in use, etc?

Also for the sake of discussion, how do we conclusively determine which publications are "for laymen" and thus deserving of condemnation for exposure? Whatever standard is used, those who set it should be prepared to apply it (and thus condemn) uniformly.

I do not have an answer to either question.

CHS

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27054
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 1st, 2007, 4:28 pm

I do: our field is contracting. We need to get more young people interested in learning about magic, and learning how to DO magic. That means initiating them by giving them some secrets.

It's a good thing.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: New book on Maskelyne, Thurston, Kellar and Jarrett: Levitation

Postby Guest » December 5th, 2007, 4:33 pm

I think this is a very entertaining graphic novel of which I bought 6 copies to give to students and friends. I suggest everyone should do the same, it will make a great gift for your magic friends!

Jeff


Return to “Light From the Lamp”