The Literature of Conjuring:
A very reasonable place to start buying instructional books on magic is Dover. This great publisher keeps many of the classics of conjuring in print, for extremely low prices. Extremely low prices is good, because the average magic paperback, promising to turn you into a miracle-worker, will run you 35 to 45 bucks. They're published by small specialty publishers, and often not even offered on Amazon, etc. This is I guess because they "reveal" "secrets." Get these off magic websites, for example denny and lee, the classic magic shop (baltimore and vegas), or the voluminous penguin magic.
