"I think it's the best and most enjoyable piece I've ever written." -Bob Cassidy

The foundation of mind magic. Hailed as "the definitive resource for anyone interested in mind magic, and probably for most people interested in magic." Bob's list of 39 assorted books to read is valuable in itself because you not only get a list of books, but you also get the reasons why each book is so important. This allows you to judge for yourself whether or not you should read a particular book. The basic principles can be seen as Bob's assortment of important concepts from these 39 books.

The list of 39 books, or as Bob calls them "39 steps to spiritual magic" can be read here.

Bob mentioned in an interview that this work has an unfortunate name because many people look at it and think, "The basics - oh, I already know all the basics." However, these are not just the basics for beginners; these are primarily the basics that intermediate and advanced mind magicians need to understand and internalize. Most of the mind magician's questions are answered in this work.

Contents:

Preface

Introduction

How it All Began

A Few Members of the Original Cast of Characters

Overview

The Psychology of Mentalism

Plausibility

The Path to Mastery

A Note on Rehearsal

Fundamental Structures

Common Misunderstandings

The Opening Effect Comes Second

Some Fundamental Principles

The Bulldog Deck and The Scary Movie Routine

A Fundamental Psychological Ploy

A Thought to Ponder

The Shuttled Newspaper Test

Get the Lead Out

Three Canisters and a Bill

An Essential Secret

Handling

Quiz

An Introduction to the Interaction of Physical, Psychological and Presentational Principles in the Performance of Mentalism

"A Startling Thought Reading Effect"

An Interesting Fact

Activity Time with Dr. Bob

A Startling Thought Reading Effect

Commercially Available Effects and Gimmicks

Persona and Subscript - the Keys to Believability

The Subscript

Riding the Web

The Thirty-Nine Steps

Some Thoughts on Performing