Harry Lorayne's "The Magic Book" provides an excellent overview of sleight of hand magic. It's written for the beginner, but it provides enough material that will take months to master. [I consider it one of the two must-reads for the beginner, along with This book is wonderful, every beginner should have this book, it's great for starting with card and coin magic. Mr. Lorayne had written this book with passion, he starts it with talking about how he started the "journey" of magic when he was a little kid and how it gave him confidence and courage to start a talk with anybody, then dedicates 150 pages to teach you all you need to know about card magic;flourishes,basic sleights, tricks based on those sleights and also self-working tricks. The next chapter is about coin sleights and tricks, then number magic, mental effects and at last comes the chapter "Miscellaneous Magic", every sleight and trick is explained properly with enough drawings and illustrations and there are also "afterthoughts" below each explanation. This is -by all means- a wonderful book that will help you start with magic.Had this book several years ago, but lost it. This is a very good book for a beginning magician. There is a wide variety of close up magic. Highly recommended. Also recommend Henry Hay's Learn Magic.Harry Lorayne is best known today as a memory expert. Six Las Vegas casinos won't deal Blackjack to him because of his ability to remember cards. However, within the magic fraternity, Lorayne is both a top notch entertainer and original thinker. I've used two card sleights he invented, the halo cut and the ultra-move, to perform what look like card miracles for audiences. In "The Magic Book", Lorayne presents a complete and solid grounding in the basics of sleight-of-hand magic. Starting with cards, he explains the basics of false shuffling, false cuts, double lifts, palming, and forces. His explanation of the jog shuffle is vital for every magician who works with cards. The following two chapters describe effects and routines that use the sleights just explained and essentially self-working card routines. Many of these routines are real stunners, quite literally reputation makers. Whether easy or difficult to perform, the routines give the illusion of the performer being a wizard with cards. Turning from cards, basic coin sleights and routines are explained next, followed by number magic, mental magic and miscellaneous magic. One of the most important parts of the book is the "Afterthoughts" paragraph that follows the description of a particular sleight or routine. Here, Lorayne explains both important points to remember and why certain moves or patter work. These explanations turn the tricks into real magic. Harry Lorayne is one of the best teachers of magic around. "The Magic Book" supports that contention by demonstrating that Lorayne teaches one how to be a magician, that is, how to make real magic happen, as opposed to simply doing tricks. This book is one which belongs in every magician's library.If you've dabbled in magic and decide you want to get serious, this is the book to get. If you need a gift for a budding young magicion, this is the book to get. Many people know Harry as a memory expert, but magicians also know Harry as an accomplished performer, teacher, and author of magic.``The Magic Book'' contains descriptions of solid, professional style (no pulling coins out of ears magic here!) close up magic. Indeed, many magicians complained to Harry that he was giving too much away. Their loss is definately your gain.As a note, this book is in print, having been republished recently by L&L publishing. You might have to search for it. Any magic shop should be able to get it for you, or search the web for a magic supplier.Harry Lorayne, one of magic's most sought after teacher, will teach anyone the ins and outs of excellent magic. I started with this book 9 years ago and still use it today for reference. This book is organized into card tricks, coin tricks, impromptu magic, and sleights. The best part is Harry's personal presentation tips for making a lasting impression on your audience. The tips alone in this book are worth more than the price of the book.Harry Lorayne is a master of Memory Cards and Slight of HandHis easy writing style makes it fun to learn the tricks and I'm sure with practice you'll be able to perform miracles, although not as good as the master(some great displays on You Tube)