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Confessions of a Conjuror

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However, that is the first, last, and only bad word I shall offer about this book. I’m probably unduly biased anyway; the reason this book took me so long was because I was reading it during a very work-heavy week, probably leading to later frustration when I was only getting around to reading it after having left it for a few days. And, above all, he stresses the point that one of the things which ultimately makes life worth living is bringing other people joy. I'm a big Derren Brown fan. I watch him on TV, I've seen him live, I've read stuff he's written and even – fleetingly – met him. So I was pleased to find a copy of this book under the Christmas tree. His understanding of feelings and motivations e.g. when stepping into a lift while someone inside steps out only to realise it is the wrong floor, and reactions of both parties are identifiable and amusing. You know sometimes you're attention will switch away from the audio book and you miss a bit? That didn't happen to me with this because it's so entertaining.

And most of us get it wrong. (This book really reminded me of Sturgeon’s Law, the revered line of wise philosophy: “ninety percent of everything is crap.”) He relates his anxiety about losing his pens and dots them around his flat but still cannot find one when he needs it before dashing out of the door. I can relate to his 'slight' OCD and his curiosity about what would happen if chose to crash his car. In fact, I can relate to many of his observations.Confessions of a Conjuror, however, was over written, dull, tedious, interesting and fun in parts, but over all a bit of a slog to get through. Magic: magic anecdotes, details of his magic career, the history of magic, and how magic ties in with human perception I loathed myself again. My heart pounded beneath my stupid blousy gay shirt, and as ever, I found it absurd that I had done this a thousand times yet still battled with the same weary desire to be veiled in the shadows of a corner, to keep out of everyone’s way and let them enjoy themselves in peace. This was okay – not brilliant, not deeply philosophical – and even occasionally quite funny. The story about The Sun ‘outing’ him as homosexual was very amusingly told. (Now, Murdoch is someone who has a lot to answer for).

Blimey, he's so pompous! / He's clearly bragging but pretending he's casually mentioning something."I tried to recreate these sensations mentally, and considered, as I tensed and shifted in microcosm, that that was what he was feeling right now; that for him the experience of all life revolved in this instant around those sensations, and that I was (with my annoyance and self-hatred and reluctance to work) at most a blur in the corner of his vision. I pictured them tumbling to the floor, myself bending over to gather them up, and the embarrassed derision of the silent diners as they watched me carry out the apologetic, uncomfortable process. I came away going 'oh my god' Derren is just a man. You put these people on pedestals and then now and then you realise they are just like everyone else and it's our perception of them that we see. urn:lcp:confessionsofcon0000brow:epub:45622e84-4799-47ee-8944-5b795b3c1e71 Foldoutcount 0 Grant_report Arcadia #4281 Identifier confessionsofcon0000brow Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t70w79b11 Invoice 2089 Isbn 9781905026586

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