Tricks Of The Mind

This book is phenomenal and works on several levels.It's an introduction to the kind of mind trickery that Derren specialises in. It introduces basic concepts of magic, teaching a simple disappearing coin trick and a card trick. It teaches a variety of mnemonic techniques, together with practical demonstration exercises, which prove to be extremely effective if you can be bothered to put them to the test. It moves on to discuss subjects such as hypnosis and NLP, the curing of phobias and pain control, placebos, and culminates with cold reading techniques, exposing the tricks of fake mediums and psychics and the dangers of bad thinking and snake oil merchants in general.It is, as I say, an introduction to these subjects, because you surely didn't expect to learn all there is to know about these skills and deep topics from a single paperback, did you? But it's also just about the BEST introduction you could get, exposing the woolly thinking and smoke screens that make a lot of the literature on such things of limited value at best. This book prepares you to think properly and clearly if you wish to study the 'tricks of the mind' further; also, how to train yourself to recognise the tricks levelled against you by others.On another level, it's simply a delightful and hugely entertaining read, just like one of Derren's shows. It's an absolute pleasure to turn the pages and I often laughed out loud. Derren's wit and sarcasm are often very subtle and I'm sure a lot of the most hilarious gags will go right over the heads of many people. I recall one section where he was railing against pretentiousness and then proceeded to explain what pretentious meant for people who might not know. Utter comedy gold, sir.And on a yet further level, if you really stop to think about what you've just read, all of the core principles are actually revealed here very clearly indeed. Just don't expect to find them in bullet points.A charming, conversational, controversial and enormously satisfying read.

It's not until you read his book you truly find out how smart Derren actually is. The book cover of him pulling a silly face gives of the impression the book is just a laugh, which it is not. Helpful tips, tricks and life hacks given away for free. Many topics are discussed and the book actually cleared up a lot of misconceptions I previously had. I actually felt quite liberated after reading parts of it. He gets to the point about certain topics and clears up a lot of BS in a blunt, but polite manner. Too much to get into really but well worth a read.You know how lot of rich and famous people say they read Napoleon Hill's 'Think And Grow Rich' over and over again and that's how they are so successful.. Well you know the feeling that leaves you? When you think you SHOULD read it over and over again because you think there is some magic force or formula attached to it? When deep down inside you just really cant be bothered reading it because it's boring AF and you know it's just absolute BS?.. Well this book here brought me back to the real world and helped me realize all these secret formula and self development books are a waste of time and money and pretty much all say the same thing which Derren referred to if I remember correctly as 'an age old philosophy of just getting things done'.This is the book I will be reading over and over again in the following years to come. RECOMMEND!

I really enjoyed this book, though would give it 4.5 stars if possible. But firstly what I liked; very funnily written, very interesting in terms of sharing Derren's personal history and interesting academic studies, and some good rants in there. I also loved the section on improving your memory, managed some great party tricks there. The only bits where I started to glaze over where when he was discussing the basics of hypnotism, as I didn't buy the book hoping to learn how to do that. But if you do want that then that's a plus for you, as there's a small section that gives the basics, allowing you to hypnotise someone into being relaxed and maybe raising their arm in the air. Other than that a great read though, and I was really impressed by how funny it was.

This makes great reading! I really enjoy Derrens writing style and character which seems very different on paper than his TV shows. The book gives a great background into how Derren questions everything "supernatural" and I think it makes a great read for both paranormal skeptics and those who believe in such things.A very similar book I also read is "Why We Believe the Impossible by Professor Richard Wiseman" which I also recommend.

Known as a magician and performer, he writes a deceptively thoughtful, challenging book with wit and humour.The challenging chapters on memory provide exercises for the reader, some of which I can make work, others I cannot do. Derren puts a lot of store by memory as an important facet of intelligence. He describes the Linking System , which I have used successfully, the Logic System and the Numeric system which I cannot get head around.Moving on to hypnosis and suggestability, he really debunks Neuro Linguistic Programming which he has obviously studied quite carefully.He is really interesting and thought provoking on mirroring people and on telling lies.He then moves onto a psychological discussion on anti science, pseudo science, homeopathy and religion where his views chime with Richard Dawkins. But then there is an interesting section on the placebo affect. Whilst debunking alternative therapies, he accepts that the Placebo affect is real and valuable. He maintains that alternative therapists could contribute to conventional medicine if they discarded their unfounded claims and credited the placebo affect.One of the interesting side benefits of the book is his reading list with a short synopsis of the really good books he has read.