A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

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Joe Mckay
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A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Joe Mckay » April 21st, 2019, 11:32 am

Interesting new book announced from The Miracle Factory.

https://www.miraclefactory.net/product/annemann/

I already have the Max Abrams book on Annemann. That book is not a beautiful book in the way Todd Karr's products are. So this will be a nicer compilation of Annemann material. But since there will be a lot of duplication - I was on the fence at first. Still - the Max Maven introduction will be fascinating. And I think I will uncover hidden gems by been able to study Annemann's work from two different angles (the Abrams book and this new one). There is also a new biography of Annemann included as well.

Ultimately I decided to get my pre-order in so I can save 25 bucks. And also because I just love magic books. I have to find reasons not to buy a good magic book rather than the other way round.

I always feel underserved by the magic book industry since I have money in hand but nobody to give it to!

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Jack Shalom » April 21st, 2019, 11:44 am

I can send you my address, Joe...

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Syd » April 21st, 2019, 6:57 pm

I will never preorder anything fro pm Todd Karr. His last book was about ten (or more) years past his promised delivery. He kept making new promises he never kept.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Leo Garet » April 22nd, 2019, 1:24 pm

Joe Mckay wrote:Interesting new book announced from The Miracle Factory.

https://www.miraclefactory.net/product/annemann/

I have to find reasons not to buy a good magic book rather than the other way round.

I always feel underserved by the magic book industry since I have money in hand but nobody to give it to!


I've never had to look for reasons not to buy magic books. There's just one and it won't go away: lack of funds.

Meanwhile, I'm with Jack on this.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Ted M » April 22nd, 2019, 11:26 pm

I look forward to buying the book when it is published. However...

Syd wrote:I will never preorder anything fro pm Todd Karr. His last book was about ten (or more) years past his promised delivery. He kept making new promises he never kept.

...I will not pre-order anything from Todd Karr.

Todd Karr took $40,000+ in pre-orders for Martin Gardner's Impromptu and then took nearly 10 years to publish the book -- and when finally published, it lacked the major ballyhooed feature of commentary by Michael Weber.

Remember and/or read the saga here:

viewtopic.php?t=30931

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 23rd, 2019, 11:01 am

Aside from the issues with the publishing schedule and Michael Weber's missing commentary, the larger issue (for me) is that all the material which Martin Gardner collected since the initial publication of the book was dumped in the back by scanning his index cards at a size that I found difficult if not impossible to read. A responsible publisher would have had all the new material typeset and integrated with the rest of the text. My copy is not at hand at the moment, but that is my recollection. Can someone confirm?
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Tom Gilbert » April 23rd, 2019, 12:34 pm

I won't pre-order any product or participate in a Kickstart program. Safer to spend a few more dollars for an actual product. On top of that if it is subpar you're not stuck with some expensive crap.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Syd » April 23rd, 2019, 12:55 pm

I think it depends. I agree with Kickstarter.... been burned too many times. But if, for example, you order from Richard, he always delivers. Sometimes the timing may be off but not by years and the quality is superb. I purchased the Deland limited edition book in advance. If I had not, I would not have been able to purchase it until and unless it came up on the used market. But Richard has a good track record. Todd Karr has a track record too. A very bad one, as of late.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 23rd, 2019, 1:26 pm

Thank you. The experience that taught me the lesson about not advertising too early was David Roth's book in 1985. People paid, but it was at least a year late. Maybe more. I got slightly tripped up with both Tenyoism and DeLand, but they were printed in China and presented problems I had not previously encountered (there's a good 30 to 60 day swing in there that you can't foresee). But, with only a few months' delay, both books appeared and buyers seem happy.

I generally don't advertise a book until it is either a week or two from going to the printer, or at the printer. Advance sales help me pay the printing bill (which is net 30).

But advance sales are rarely sufficient, and I have benefited from the financial assistance of several people in my publishing efforts over the years, from Alan Greenberg to Randy Pitchford.

I'd like to say I made a lot of money publishing magic books over the last 40 years, but my wife would laugh too loudly.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Tom Gilbert » April 23rd, 2019, 1:56 pm

Richard would be one of the very few I'd have trust in.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Jack Shalom » April 23rd, 2019, 2:42 pm

I think it depends. I agree with Kickstarter.... been burned too many times.


I think Kickstarter is fundamentally different from pre-order in the implicit and explicit contract being made with the consumer.

If a book is advertised as a pre-order, then I expect to get the book in a reasonable time frame, as advertised.

Kickstarter, however, I see more as encouraging folks who look like they're attempting to start up something interesting. Sometimes those things don't always pan out. I contribute to Kickstarter when I'm in a generous mood, and like the sound of the project, or the people behind the project.

I hope, but don't demand that the project comes to fruition.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Pete McCabe » April 23rd, 2019, 3:36 pm

Richard,

I can't comment on what a "responsible" publisher might have done, but your recollection of what happened is accurate. The hand-written cards were reproduced at smaller than original size. I could not read any of them. What really bothers me is that I would have gladly typed them all in myself for a pittance, just to have access to the material. I'm sure I am not alone.

I appreciate people who make high-quality, expensive books that reflect the respect they have for the subject, and I buy some of them. But I think this was all wrong for the EIM, which is not about high-quality, expensive things at all. I would have greatly preferred a searchable digital copy. I would bet that Gardner would have too.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 23rd, 2019, 3:53 pm

With Kickstarter, if a project does not get funded, you get your money back.
With Indiegogo, you don't get squat back.
With Kickstarter, if the project DOES get funded, there's still a chance you will get neither the product nor your money back.
I have backed several Kickstarter projects from The Mysterious Package Company. Sometimes what we received was quite different from what was promised, and there is no recourse.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby erdnasephile » April 23rd, 2019, 4:09 pm

What I think was the real shame of the "Impromptu" project was that in 2013, a sample pdf was produced which showed what the project could have been. Things were typeset and the new stuff was integrated with the old. It's really too bad that this fell through as it could have been really great.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Syd » April 23rd, 2019, 5:12 pm

The Impromptu debacle was lie after lie after lie. And once delivered absolutely no explanation or apology. I’m am surprised anyone would buy from him again.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 24th, 2019, 9:14 pm

There would have been nothing complicated about typing in all the new material and then inserting it into the original text where it should have been properly placed according to Martin's wishes.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Syd » April 24th, 2019, 9:17 pm

There would have been nothing complicated about typing in all the new material and then inserting it into the original text where it should have been properly placed according to Martin's wishes.......

Or producing it timely. Or including what was promised. Or communicating with buyers.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Joe Mckay » April 25th, 2019, 3:03 pm

I was just chatting with a friend about The Jinx. And that conversation reminded me of a long email discussing The Jinx that I sent to a friend about a year ago. I thought I would share it in this thread as well since some of it may be of interest. What prompted the original email was a discussion about the excellent The Jinx Companion that is for sale here:

http://www.mysteryarts.com/jinx/

-----------

As magicians we always like the idea that there is buried treasure in old magazines. Of course - that buried treasure might need to be cleaned up a bit before you realise it is gold. And may be there as a throwaway remark rather than as a full-fledged routine.

Well - before I follow up that thought. Let me take you on a quick detour. I feel the two strongest card tricks for laypeople are Cardtoon and Unshuffled (by Paul Gertner). If you showed a layperson the 100 best card tricks in magic - I think there is a very good chance that these two are the ones that would stand out the most. Since they are so unique and magical. And totally unlike anything else in card magic. Remember I am only talking about what would appeal to laypeople here.

Now here is the interesting thing. The seed of the idea for both of these tricks can be found in The Jinx! Somewhere in the magazine there is a little comment from Annemann about being showed a clever trick put out by U.F. Grant. As the cards were riffled by - a drawing of a pencil would animate itself and write out the name of the selected card.

You can find the exact details here:

http://www.conjuringcredits.com/doku.php?id=cards:animated_flipbook_card_revelation

It is an important reference from Annemann. Since even though U.F. Grant is a famous creator in magic - this particular trick of his is forgotten about (and it seems - impossible to get hold of) today.

So - the above is a good example of an important idea/principle being buried away in a classic magazine. Let's not forget as well that Cardtoon is the best-selling marketed trick of all time. It really was a genius idea from Dan Harlan.

Now let's move on to Unshuffled by Paul Gertner. We have a similar situation again. Check out the bottom right column of page 103 and the top right column of the following page (page 104). You will find the seed of the idea that would later be combined with the 8 OUT FARO SHUFFLES RETURNS A DECK TO IT'S ORIGINAL ORDER principle by Paul Gertner to create Unshuffled.

The two examples above are a great example of why it is important to read a classic magazine like The Jinx closely.

Bob Cassidy produced a guide to The Jinx as well. I am not sure if he finished it before he died. But I am going to find out how many he managed to produce. Bob Cassidy was a great creator, a good performer and very knowledgeable when it came to magic history. He was also a huge fan of Annemann and had an encyclopedic knowledge of The Jinx and Annemann.

http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/guidjinx.html

A lot of the mentalism in The Jinx was eventually reprinted in Practical Mental Effects. A book that Max Maven says he does not own. He lays out the logical reason for this in the thread over here:

https://forums.geniimagazine.com/viewtopic.php?t=21117

Bob Cassidy was the one who pointed out that the full routine for 'The Fairy Goblet' was not included in Practical Mental Effects. He thought this was a shame since that trick was one of the earliest examples of Bizarre Magick in print.

He also felt it was a wonderfully odd effect that was capable of producing real miracles.

Here is the quote from Bob Cassidy:

"Only half of the "Luck of Edenhall" effect is included in Practical Mental Effects. But it's NOT an Annemann effect. It originally appeared in "The Jinx" as a two effect routine starting at page 701. The first is called "The Fairy Goblet" and is by Lew Smith and Vosburgh Lyons. The followup effect was called "Entity Alone" and was contributed by Bruce Elliott and Lyons.

The first effect, "The Fairy Goblet" has long been one of the best kept secrets in mentalism and would probably sell for hundreds of dollars to many of today's mentalists."


Bob Cassidy has a few interesting contributions to the same thread where the above quote appeared. It is worth working through:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=145936&start=0

Like I say - Bob Cassidy idolised Annemann in a way I have not seen with any other creator. Most knowledgeable magicians pay their respect to Annemann but do not get excited by his work the way Cassidy did.

Here is something I wrote about Cassidy's work the other day. It is a bit of a ramble - but it will make sense by the end:

-------------------------

It is funny how no matter how much you know about an area - there is often a blindspot where you realise something important has passed you by completely.

I remember being an embarassingly well-read card guy before I realised I was doing Out Of This World the wrong way. I didn't realise the cut was part of the method - as such my red-black displays at the end were completely illogical and made no sense.

More recently - I remember falling in love with a clever principle that I attributed to Barrie Richardson. It seemed it was not his principle. But he seemed the only person I had seen who made use of it in a trick. This was not a surrpise to me since Barrie Richardson is my hero when it comes to mentalism. I just love the way his brain works. His books are my favourite books in mentalism.

The principle was "passing off one person's writing as your own prediction when read out by somebody else".

Damn - that was a clever principle I thought. And then a couple of years later - I found out the principle is more commonly known as "Tervil" and is one of the first things most mentalists learn.

Fine - lesson learned. Anyway - I mention all this because I am still in love with this devious piece of thinking.

I will come back to "Tervil" in a second - but I want to mention Bob Cassidy first. You will soon see why.

For some reason - he was the last of the major authors in mentalism that I got round to studying. As such - for the past couple of months I have been playing catch-up. I didn't have high expectations (for some reason). But I have been very impressed with his work. He is a real favourite of mine now. And it is sad I only started to appreciate his work just after he died.

Well - after enjoying his books I decided to check out his two Penguin Live lectures. On the first Penguin Live lecture he covers his work on the "Fourth Dimensional Telepathy" plot. This is a complex routine and probably the best thing Bob ever came up with. It has a wonderful structure and you need to enter a zen like state of mind to really picture all the different things going on in the method. You are continually one-ahead and one-behind in this trick.

Well - the great thing is this. In Bob's latest version of this trick (it is a trick he has spent decades working on) - he makes use of the "Tervil" principle. It makes for a wonderful combination of ideas. And I doubt "Tervil" will ever be put to better use than this.

I am not sure if he ever put into print this use for "Tervil". But it is there in his first Penguin Lecture. And it would be a shame if this brilliant piece of thinking was forgotten now that Bob is no longer around to help make sure more people hear about it.

---------------------------------

An idea of Annemann's that Cassidy really loved was his 'The Mystery of The Blackboard' effect. He actually made use of ia key part of it in his Russian Roulette routine. It is a great performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPBZTm1SGrg

What I love about this trick is not the performance above. But the even bolder variation he came up with later. I really love how sneaky the idea was. His later version of this trick even fooled Dai Vernon at The Magic Castle. And Vernon wrote a poem about the trick and gave it to Bob. You can read all the details in the attached file. Check out page 18 of The Art of Mentalism.

Something else I like about The Jinx is issue 97. This was a special issue devoted to Henry Hardin. I have never heard of him in magic except for this issue. But he was a real genius. He invented The Princess Card Trick and The Living and Dead Test. Apparently he also invented The Change Bag as well.

--------------------------------

To add to my "email" above - I have often been struck by a comment by Max Maven. He said something to the effect that he is a big fan of the work of Annemann but the real value came for him when he started to critique the choices Annemann made in his routines. Perhaps he will elaborate on this thought in his introduction to the upcoming Annemann collection?

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 25th, 2019, 5:15 pm

What's your point? That we should all read The Jinx again? I think we can all agree on that.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Joe Mckay » April 25th, 2019, 6:06 pm

In my earlier days I used to think The Jinx was quite a dull magazine. But in many ways it is a victim of its success. Miraskill was a marketed trick (I believe?), but didn't become well known until it appeared in The Jinx.

Stewart James's Sefaghjlia routine and Dai Vernon's Brainwave debuted there as well. But those tricks don't jump out at you when you are digging for treasure since they are already so well known.

So in that sense the magazine is a victim of its own success. It reminds me of the witticism about Shakespeare's plays being nothing but a series of cliches strung together.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 25th, 2019, 10:41 pm

The Jinx, and The Phoenix, are both brilliant. And desert island companions.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Gordon Meyer » April 26th, 2019, 4:05 pm

I wonder how much this book differs from the DVD of PDFs called "Annemann's Enigma." That was available for years form the Miracle Factory, but seems to have disappeared from their catalog.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Steve Bryant » April 26th, 2019, 5:35 pm

Although Enigma is out of stock, you can still look over the contents at Penguin

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S12312

-- Steve


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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby magicam » April 27th, 2019, 4:31 pm

There’s a distinct “let’s s**t on Todd Karr” mood in this thread. With its complete lack of context, one could form the impression that Todd is an unscrupulous, bumbling publisher.

Which isn’t true (at all) and does Todd a great disservice. He has published numerous quality books under the Miracle Factory imprint, and took ‘pre-orders’ for most or all of them, without incident.

Say what you will about the Gardner book and the circumstances of its publication, but it would be grossly untrue and unjust if Todd’s publishing career was defined by that one book.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Ted M » April 27th, 2019, 5:05 pm

Trust, once lost, can take a long time and a lot of effort to rebuild.

Todd Karr is at the very beginning of that road. There's a long way to travel.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Steve Bryant » April 27th, 2019, 5:24 pm

Todd has never lost my trust. Fortunately, as I explained in my review of the Gardner book

http://littleegyptmagic.com/magic_november2015.html

I never positioned myself to suffer disappointment. Just lucky in this case. Todd's books, including the Gardner, are among the favorites in my library, and I regard them all without a grudge.

-- Steve

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby chriscaldwell11 » April 28th, 2019, 4:50 am

Joe Mckay wrote:
Bob Cassidy idolised Annemann in a way I have not seen with any other creator. Most knowledgeable magicians pay their respect to Annemann but do not get excited by his work the way Cassidy did.

Well - after enjoying his books I decided to check out his two Penguin Live lectures. On the first Penguin Live lecture he covers his work on the "Fourth Dimensional Telepathy" plot. Well - the great thing is this. In Bob's latest version of this trick (it is a trick he has spent decades working on) - he makes use of the "Tervil" principle. It makes for a wonderful combination of ideas. And I doubt "Tervil" will ever be put to better use than this.



Thought I'd share a quick story about an Annemann routine....

“Stuart Cumberland” (aka Blair R.) released a number of books and a few DVD sets based on Annemann’s act about a dozen years ago. It was superb. His enthusiasm for Annemann was really inspirational. Stuart demonstrated in front of a huge college crowd how strongly Annemann’s act could still play. I’m not certain if Stuart’s work is still available, but it was really really good.

One particular routine that stands out was Annemann’s “Book Mentalism.” It’s an extremely bold test with a phone book. I thought it was genius in its boldness. But I also thought it would be transparent in methodology. That is, until I saw Stuart perform for that college crowd.

About 8 Years ago. I was booked for an awards show for Canon in NYC. It was an audience of 500+ at Javitz Center. They had booked me for a full show, but the awards speeches went long, so the stage manager said they wouldn’t need me after all. Then, at the last minute, he asked if I could just come out and do ONE routine at the end.

So I decided to perform Annemann’s Book Mentalism from his Complete One Man Act. It got one of loudest gasps of amazement I’d ever had heard in a show! The boldest book test ever. I couldn’t believe I had paid 5 dollars for that secret. I went off stage, and the client was happy and the meeting planner was thrilled. I got hired many more times by that planner. Here I had just flown from Phoenix to NYC to do ONE bit. Annemann’s Book Mentalism. I’ll never forget it.

(BTW I recall Bob Cassidy’s use of the “Tervil” principle in his Penguin lecture was part of his Name/Place routine. Brilliant indeed.)

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby DanZ » April 28th, 2019, 7:27 am

Steve Bryant wrote:Todd has never lost my trust. Fortunately, as I explained in my review of the Gardner book

http://littleegyptmagic.com/magic_november2015.html

I never positioned myself to suffer disappointment. Just lucky in this case. Todd's books, including the Gardner, are among the favorites in my library, and I regard them all without a grudge.

-- Steve

http://littleegyptmagic.com/magic.html


Hi Steve: Since I always find your comments rewarding I tried the link to the review and it took me to one of your reviews that mentioned Gardner in passing, but not to the review of the book in question. I look forward to reading your comments on it.

Previously posting as Daniel Z

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Steve Bryant » April 28th, 2019, 9:34 am

"Hi Steve: Since I always find your comments rewarding I tried the link to the review and it took me to one of your reviews that mentioned Gardner in passing, but not to the review of the book in question. I look forward to reading your comments on it."

Thanks. I had trouble finding it myself. It is in the section near the bottom titled RECREATIONAL MAGIC, and most of it is below the La Physique Amusante image. Although it is a lengthy review, I did not do a trick by trick review on this one -- just too massive. Indeed, I was wondering about the folks who complained so much (rightly from their perspective) for waiting about 10 years for the book: have they now read it all in the 4 years since publication? I don't expect to ever have read every word.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » April 28th, 2019, 10:45 am

I have read Martin's original version from cover to cover over time.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby DanZ » April 29th, 2019, 8:05 am

Steve Bryant wrote:" Thanks. I had trouble finding it myself. It is in the section near the bottom titled RECREATIONAL MAGIC, and most of it is below the La Physique Amusante image.


Got it thanks. I have the older version but....

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Bill Mullins » September 17th, 2019, 1:25 pm

The Miracle Factory web page shows it to be in stock and shipping now.
(I just ordered).

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Richard Kaufman » September 17th, 2019, 1:47 pm

I wonder whether there will be anything new of substance in it.
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Bill Mullins » September 25th, 2019, 3:24 pm

Received my copy today, but haven't had a chance to look it over. I can tell you that it is a large book with a black DJ.

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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Steve Bryant » September 27th, 2019, 1:37 pm

For complete details, I just published my review on Little Egypt Magic.

The bulk of the book is a classy repackaging of all Annemann's writings before and after The Jinx. (The Jinx itself is provided on CD as a searchable pdf.)

As to new ...

There are two interesting forewords from Max Maven and Steranko that put Annemann in a context I never appreciated before. These are followed by a 73-page biography written by Todd. And there are lots of great photos. As I say in my review, visually the book does for Annemann what The Vernon Touch did for Vernon.

http://littleegyptmagic.com/magic.html

Bill Mullins
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Re: A new book on Annemann - The Miracle Factory

Postby Bill Mullins » September 27th, 2019, 2:59 pm

If the new attention to Annemann causes people to go back looking through The Jinx, well, that's a good thing. Steve's review mentions in passing The Jinx Companion, which may guide your review of Annemann's magazine. And if you don't have a copy, be advised that the authors have it online, in its entirety.


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