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Jamy Ian Swiss Magic Books Reviews

Jamy Ian Swiss Book Reviews

Jamy Ian Swiss

For eighteen years (June 1994 - January 2013), Jamy Ian Swiss wrote thoughtful, opinionated, long-form reviews of magic books for Genii magazine. Jamy's reviews contain insights deeper than just product recommendations, and so we have worked to assemble the entire series (almost 450 magic book reviews) in one complete and fully searchable archive.

Also, from October 2016 through January 2020, Jamy wrote reviews for the Lyons Den at the Magicana website.

Read Jamy's essay, Critical Thinking on his tenure as a book reviewer, or search for, or choose a review below:

Search for a review:
Book Author Date
The Trapdoor, Volume 3 (1994-1998) Steve Beam

Jan 2013
Welcome to the Fabulous Wayne Dobson & Friends Wayne Dobson

Jan 2013
The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary Barry H. Wiley

Jan 2013
Magic Words Gerald Kolpan

Sep 2012
Making the Cut: A Peek into the Magic of Ryan Schlutz Ryan Schlutz

Sep 2012
Noteworthy: a Magical Lecture David Gabbay

Sep 2012
Cryptical Envelopment: Five Gentle Frauds for the Close-Up Performer John Hostler

Sep 2012
Fooling Houdini Alex Stone

Jul 2012
Avant-cards: Tom Gagnon Wesley James

May 2012
The Impostress Princess Expanded Peter W. Tappan

May 2012
Al Koran: The Unique Years Martin Breese

May 2012
The Davenport story: Volume Three Fergus Roy

Mar 2012
Mr. Mysto's Wizard Academy: Simple Magic & Stunts John Carney

Mar 2012
Magic: Page by Page Patrick Page

Mar 2012
Maelstrom Tom Stone

Jan 2012
Hold'Em Magic Tom Frame

Jan 2012
The Nazi Séance: The Strange Story of the Jewish Psychic in Hitler's Circle Arthur J. Magida

Jan 2012
Urban Illusions: Then Cutting Edge Illusions & Presentations J.C. Sum

Nov 2011
Jinx Companion Craig Conley, Gordon Meyer & Fredrick Turner

Nov 2011
Silent Magic: Biographies of Deaf Magicians in the United States Dr. Simon J. Carmel

Nov 2011
Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks Persi Diaconis and Ronald Lewis Graham

Sep 2011
Al Schneider Magic Al Schneider

Sep 2011
Kodell: Do Something Different Jack Kodell

Sep 2011
Devious Standards Jamy Ian Swiss (reviewed by Eric Mead)

Aug 2011
Tales of Enchantment Walt Anthony

Jul 2011
ACAAB: Any Card At Any Birthday Boris Wild

Jul 2011
Look No Hands Wayne Dobson

Jul 2011
Handcrafted Card Magic Volume 2 Denis Behr

Jul 2011
Elements: the Lecture, the Book Lance Pierce

May 2011
Patrick Page: The Pageboy Speaks… Again Patrick Page

May 2011
Semi-Automatic Card Tricks VIII Steve Beam

Mar 2011
Owen Clark: A Genius Forgotten Christopher Brinson

Mar 2011
Del Ray: America's Foremost John Moehring

Mar 2011
The Last Greatest Magician in the World Jim Steinmeyer

Jan 2011
Secret Agenda Roberto Giobbi

Jan 2011
Confessions of a Conjuror Derren Brown

Jan 2011
Tales from the Uncanny Scot Ron Wilson

Nov 2010
Encyclopedia of Impromptu Card Forces Lewis Jones

Nov 2010
Gift Magic: Performances that Leave People with a Souvenir Lawrence Hass

Nov 2010
Secrets of Improvisational Magic Justin Higham

Sep 2010
The Erdnase Journal John Bodine and Theron Schaub

Sep 2010
The Complete Ganson Magic Teach-in Series Lewis Ganson

Sep 2010
Magic's Most Amazing Stories: a Collection of Incredible Stories from World Famous Magicians Ivan Amodei

Jul 2010
Audience Management: A Guide for Magical Entertainers Gay Ljungberg

Jul 2010
Chapter One Asi Wind

May 2010
The Davenport Story Volume Two: The Lost Legends Robert Harbin, Edward Victor, G.W. Hunter

May 2010
Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century Matthew Solomon

May 2010
The Davenport Story Volume One Fergus Roy

Mar 2010
Gibeciere Stephen Minch

Mar 2010
Psychological Subtleties 3 Banachek

Jan 2010