When Derren Brown first appeared on channel 4 with his mind reading programme 'Derren Brown - Mind Control' I was quickly hooked, and watched with awe and facination everything he did after that, so when I saw his book 'Derren Brown - Tricks of the Mind' which promised to go into everything he does (as described at the start of every show, as a mixture of 'magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship') in detail, I didn't have to think for too long before buying it. The book begins with Derren talking about his early obsession with magic and his facination with trickery and fraudulence in the world of the paranormal. He discribes his ...  Read the complete review

After seeing his shows and seeing how instantly he can put some of his tricks to use I became quite fascinated and decided to check this book out to see how informative it really is. It covers a wide range of topics including magic, hypnosis, unconscious communication and cold reading. The book also covers these in areas in quite a lot of depth without going into things too deeply and remaining understandable enough for a beginner to read. This book holds some fascinating information which cannot really be found elsewhere and can be put to some good uses including self help, giving up smoking and overcoming your phobias. Some of the information I found shockingly ...  Read the complete review

I should declare an interest before I start: I worked as a 'close-up' magician and have studied the sort of subjects D.B. talks about in his book for about fifteen years now. So my opinions are not going to be without prejudice. First off, I like Derren Brown. He's been extremely good for what gets broadly referred to as 'Magic' here in the UK, and he's single-handedly made it (almost) socially acceptable in a way that Paul Daniels was never going to (exceptionally irritating though he was). Tricks of the Mind is part autobiography and part introductory guide to some of Derren's famous interests: hypnosis, sleight of hand, Neuro-Linguist ...  Read the complete review

This book surprised me a great deal. I was expecting a simple autobiographical account of Derren's interests and life leading up to and during his career. Whilst there are bits of this throughout the book, interesting in itself, this book is full of informative conclusions on the psychic world, religion and other "tricks of the mind" and skills that the reader can learn and use. Derren does not hold back in giving the reader his opinion on those who try to convince people that their own "mind tricks" are real. He distinguishes himself from these people by clearly stating to his viewers that the things he does are not "real" - ...  Read the complete review

In his introduction, Derren Brown does actually write that he won't be telling you all his secrets. If you think at that point he's joking, he isn't. This book is not a behind the scenes expose of Derren's act, rather a collection of musings about what techniques work to blind-side and misdirect you. After reading the book, I came away with the sense that all was not as it seemed and that there was a much, much bigger picture that I couldn't possibly understand. If you want to be left with that feeling, and are happy to mull over it for weeks after, you'll love this book. I did. It's challenging, laugh out loud funny and enigmatic. For weeks I was pondering how to put ...  Read the complete review