Art & Artifice by Steinmeyer

[essentialsaltes]

Steinmeyer wrote the amazing Hiding the Elephant, so I was interested enough to try out some of his other work, in this case a book of five lengthy essays on different aspects of magic. Art & Artifice covers some of the same ground as Hiding the Elephant, but not as engagingly. HtE was also a book for a popular audience, while these essays have more of a feel of being aimed at the trade. Still lots of interesting detail on the historical development of tricks and magical principles, but a distant second to HtE. If not a great prose stylist, Steinmeyer does have the gift for ferreting out mysteries. My admiration has cooled a little, but I'm still curious to see what he's done with the life of Charles Fort.