I generally find learning actual techniques easier from a book than from a person. A demonstration is great for seeing a routine or presentation, but not for actual sleight-of hand. Explanations need to be very carefully planned and thought through, and they rarely are in person, unless the situation is a prepared lecture. The only way I can learn difficult sleights directly from a person is if they are very patient and happy to repeat themself a lot. Book format tends to pace itself

Alright. I've had enough of n00bs coming here and getting mad at some of the more expirenced magicians for telling them that books are much better then DVD's. (BTW, this applys it ID's as well.) This essay is on why books are better, how books are better, the pros and cons, and the best books for beginners.

Books are much better then DVD's. Period. Ask any magician who does magic for a living and they will say 99% of the time that they have learned more from books then they have from DVD's. Of course there are some things, like XCM that you can't learn out of books, but thats a different subject. Back on track, books have more bang for your buck. A DVD generally contains 10-15 effects for around $30. A book of the same price would give you much more. Card college volume 1 is $30. You will learn so much more from that book then you can from 5 DVD's.

First of all watching a DVD, you have to have the remote in one hand, and the (cards, coin, silk, rope, exc.) in the other because you have to watch the explination over and over again. With a book, all you have to do if flip a page. The authors of the books that i will list later are all very sucessful magicians who are excellent authors and explain with words what most magicians can't explain with a video. Reading is much easier then having to watch some guy try to do a trick slowly, and explain whats going on.

The pros of books:
More bang for your buck
Easier to learn from
Cheaper
You have 2 free hands while learing a sleight
You can take it anywhere
The good authors are better then the best "visual teachers"

The cons of books:
When i think of one, i'll post it here

Now, the best books for beginners. I will start with people who are just getting started in magic and want to know what to start with. I would suggest Tarbell Course in Magic. It is a set of 8 books and covers everything from the history of magic to cards, coins, ropes, cups and balls, silks, sponge balls, everything. If you can't afford those, or your not sure if magic is right for you yet, get Mark Wilsons Complete Course in Magic. Its basically the beginner sleights of each gerne of magic. If you've decided what you like best is cards, i reccomend picking up Card College by Roberto Giobbi. It is by far the forefront of card magic and will take your magic to the next level. If you like coin magic, J.B. Bobos Modern Coin Magic is the way to go. It is known as the bible of coin magic, and should be in every magicians bookshelf wether you like coin magic or not... Some other good books would be The Royal Road to Card Magic, just about anything by Gazzo is good to learn crowd control skills and busking magic, also a personal favorite of mine is Terry LaGeroulds PasteBoard Presentations II.

If anybody wants to add anything to this, feel free.
Magically yours,

Marc Dolan

Both of your points are flawed. First of all, last time I checked, having dyslexia affected your abillity to write--not read. Additionally, there are many great dyslexic magicians. They didn't have access to DVDs when they were learning. Why should that block you?

Also, your second point is completely untrue. Art of Astonishment Volume 3 has more/about the same amount of material as Volumes 1,2,3, and 4 of Bill Malone's On the Loose DVD series. The DVD series, in total costs about 130 dollars, while the Art of Astonishment book costs about 50. These are rough estimates, so don't start correcting, I know these are probably wrong. I'm just giving a general ballpark.