I have studied, treasured, & performed magic for five decades. And these magnificent books since 1999.

If my house was burning down and I could take only three

magic items, it would be Art of Astonishment volumes 1, 2, 3.

This is probably my favorite book out the series. The most well known tricks include Reset and Bizzare Twist. There are a ton of other great tricks in here such as:

Backlash: A spectator signs his or her name on both sides of a card. The card jumps back and forth between the deck and your pocket before you magically change the signature into your own signature

Deep Though: The spectator thinks of any card (no force). The magician fans out the deck and pulls one card up. The spectator reveals the card. The magician lowers the fan and shows that the card they were thinking of is the one sticking out.

Curly Cue move: A really cool one handed double fan.

Solid Deception: The spectator takes a card and signs it. The card is placed in the middle of the pack and it instantly comes to the top. This time it's places on the bottom but it still jumps to the top. At the end of the trick, the deck is revealed to be a solid block of cards.

The book also has many many other great tricks. If you are looking to pick up some magic books, the is one of the best out there.

This is one of my favorite sets of books. You will learn a lot of magic and technique in these books. you will also learn a lot of psychology and presentations. There are so many close up tricks in this book you will wonder where to start. This is a book you will refer back to time and time again. Add to cart and prepare to get busy.

This is a must-have for any street performer. This series of books is loaded with professional routines. You can easily adapt many of the moves you learn in this book to your own routine. This is a book that will help magicians become good magicians and good magicians become great magicians.

I was at a magic store, this one guy did this trick with 3 cards the ending just blew me away I asked him show me or tell me how do I get my hands on this, he told me the name I will not forget Paul Harris: Arts Of Astonishment. I went to California for vacation and went to a Hollywood Magic Store looked for it and I saw a big book now I hate reading, everyone at the magic store recommended it. I bought it, no regrets. I recommend this just like they did. PHOOTE NOTE-It's definitely not your regular magic.

this series has the best effects in it with wild thinking by PH and Looy..

includes bizzare twist and re-set which are awsome effects

What can be said about Paul Harris's Art of Astonishment set? Imagine a set of books that cater to most every magician's needs!! These books contain amazing effects, and within them, you will find a number of effects for most any setting. The three volumes are comprised of the best of Paul's books, as well as new material. So many people rushed to get the True Astinishments dvd set when it came out, but how many have not checked out where it began?
For me, this was an incredible investment. I got superb card material - re-set, las vegas leaper, bizarre twist, galaxy; some brilliant mentalism routines - deep thought, angel case as well as some excellent pieces of astonishment - shape of astonishment, counterfeit spectator, fizz master, twilight. Talk about bang for your buck!!
I don't think I could give this set any higher of a recommendation.

This book has some of the strongest effects that I perform.
Things in here like "Interlaced Space" where three selected cards completely vanish between the four kings, are amazing.

I am at awe every time I sit down and read this. Who could have possibly come up with this stuff? Paul Harris, that's who.
The only downside is that the book is huge. Meaning that the length and the width are pretty big. But besides that, I highly recommend this book.

This is the best magic book out there (except maybe the other books in the series). I was and still am overwhelmed by the amount of fabulous material in this book and in the whole series.

I also strongly recommend the other books in the series but I would start out with this one.

the effects in this book are elegant, artisitic, and hard hitting. i dont know why i waited so long to get started on this series. definitely a must have!