When I purchased this magic book, I was led to believe from a convincing review that this book would do for the present generation of magical newbies what Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic (1975) did for the previous generation and The Amateur Magician's Handbook (1950) by Henry Hay did for the generation before that.

Ere dealing with Einhorn's book in particular, let's compare it with the books by Wilson and Hay. (1) Wilson's book rates 5 Stars at Amazon and 4.31 Stars at LibraryThing. He teaches more than 300 tricks in 472 pages. His tricks range from close-up magic to big stage illusions. His book is profusely illustrated with line drawings. There is a detailed table of contents, but no index, no glossary, and no bibliography. (2) Hay's book rates 5 Stars at Amazon and 4.71 Stars at LibraryThing. He teaches more than 300 tricks in 331 pages. His tricks range from hand magic to platform magic with apparatus. His book is sparsely illustrated with black and white photographs. The table of contents is topical only, but there is an informative glossary followed by an extensive bibliography and index. (3) Einhorn's book rates 5 Stars at Amazon and 4.5 Stars at LibraryThing. He teaches 120 tricks in 256 pages. His tricks can be done without gimmicks or fakes using items that can be carried in your pocket or that you have at hand. His book is beautifully illustrated with 1,000 full color photographs. There is a detailed table of contents in front and a detailed index in back, along with a brief glossary and a helpful international list of magic shops with their street addresses and Internet URLs, but no bibliography.

Each of these books gets a 5 Star rating from me. However, if I were asked to rank them 1-2-3, I would put Hay's Amateur Magician's Handbook in first place, Wilson's Complete Course in Magic in second place, and Einhorn's Practical Encyclopedia of Magic in third place.

My review of Einhorn's book can be told in few words. Einhorn begins his book with an interesting, though brief, history of magic. The remainder of his book is devoted almost entirely to impromptu and close-up magic with cards, matches, strings, ropes, silks, thimbles, paper, money, and items from the dinner table. Einhorn's book contains much of value for the budding magician but less of value for the developing platform performer or illusionist. ( )