Metamagic: An Introduction (A Guide to Using Magic as a Medium For Discourse) Paperback – March 17, 2013

It's not that I'm into performing magic, but I love the philosophy in this book! "Don't speak for your magic. Speak through your magic." Isn't that wonderful!? I bought this mainly because of a current interest in Philosophy of Language, Sociolinguistics, and Semiotics, but also found great material to consider in a special interest concerning the concept of the old Greek word "KHORA," the space of potential, Plato's place between the ideal and the real, the Greek Orthodox concept of the Mother of God as Khora, the container of the uncontainable, and I find that this idea goes quite well with what this book talks about as "the moment of astonishment," that more or less tiny time between witnessing the magic effect and rationalizing what you just saw. Wonderful book!

Shawn does not set himself an easy task in this book. In the beginning pages he warns the user that "this entire book can be construed as an attack on the magic community". Insulting the reader is never a good strategy to sell a book. However, the author recovers by explaining that he does not blame the community, but the practice of magic itself.The book takes the reader on a journey using semiotics as a guide to unpack magic as a performance art. Shawn uses this method to unearth the poetry underneath the standard Fair/Fair/Fair/Fair/Wow structure in magic performances.One important question the author does not address is why magic needs to be an art. Magic - like any other creative activity - can fill a wide spectrum, from meaningless entertainment to artful expression of mystery. The book is not clear on why magic as an art should be important. Why should the reader care? The author writes how magic has been relegated from a once respected art form. This statement is questionable at most. Perceptions of art itself change over time. Concepts of magic in the 19th century were not the same as we view them in current days. The status of magic in the cultural landscape over time requires a complex analysis of history.Metamagic is more than an introduction into the art of magic; it dives straight into the depths of cultural theory and will require a lot from the reader. Shawn needs to be commended for writing a book that goes far outside the beaten path when it comes to the philosophy of magic.Metamagic is certainly recommended to anyone with a theoretical interest in magic. I hope that there will be a follow-up to this book with practical tips to help magicians put Shawn's vision into place.

I am over 20 years in magic now. This is the best magic book i ever read. The book is a big love letter to the discipline called magic. He explains why magic is not accepted as an artform and in my opinion will never be. I dont share all opinions, but the thoughts this book provokes are so precious. The world is changing.Thanks to the author.