Jones, Graham M.: Trade of the Tricks: Inside the Magician's Craft ©2011 Regents of the University of California University of California Press, CA Hardcover, 285 pages

Image from University of California Press

Comments: From the website description: "Trade of the Tricks offers an unprecedented look inside the secretive subculture of modern magicians. Entering the flourishing Paris magic scene as an apprentice, Graham M. Jones gives a firsthand account of how magicians learn to perform their astonishing deceptions. He follows the day-to-day lives of some of France’s most renowned performers, revealing not only how secrets are created and shared, but also how they are stolen and destroyed" Available as a hardcover or an e-Book.

Contents:

ix List of Illustrations
xi Preface and Acknowledgements

1 Introduction - Men of a Thousand Hands
5 Secrecy and Risk
9 Being Magical
17 Magic as a Culture of Expertise
25 Staging Talk
28 All the Tricks In the Books - An Overview

34 Chapter 1 An Apprenticeship in Cunning
35 Profiles in Cunning
49 Joining the Tribe
51 Internalizing Magic
56 Seeing Through a Spectator's Eyes
69 Idealogies of Learning
74 Conclusion

77 Chapter 2 The Social Life of Secret Knowledge
80 Creating Secrets
92 Circulating Secrets
106 Destroying Secrets
112 Conclusion

118 Chapter 3 Potency and Performance
122 Presenting Magic
131 Outside the Box: Female Magicians
139 Discourses of Domination
148 Play Signals
157 Conclusion

160 Chapter 4 Business as Un-Usual
165 "A Few Professionals Lost in a Sea of Amateurs"
171 From the Stage to the Supermarket
181 Getting the Job Done
185 Intermittence du Spectacle
188 "People Need to Know You're an Artist"
196 Conclusion

199 Chapter 5 Conjuring Culture
201 The Family Romance of Modern Magic
210 The Enchanted State
215 Magic as Cultural Heritage
221 Magic as Fine Art
225 Toward a New Magic?
231 Conclusion

237 Epilogue: "Giving People a Gift"

245 Notes
263 Bibliography
283 Index