Also known under the terms Hellströmism, Cumberlandism, and contact mind reading, muscle reading is a technique to read somebodies subconscious ideomotor effect responses and their manifestation in involuntary muscle contractions. Essentially it is a refined method to read somebodies body language. This is not only a useful technique for the mentalist, but is used to great effect by professional poker players to 'read' the hands of their opponents.
The original edition of this book was selected among the best books of 1935 by John Mulholland, editor of The Sphinx. Contact mind reading or 'muscle reading' is probably the next best thing to genuine mind reading. It doesn't require any gimmicks,
The Austrian born Hermann Steinschneider, or better known as Erik Jan Hanussen, started his career writing books about mind reading. He was a debunker of mentalism and spiritism. Mind Reading and Telelpathy was his most important work in this respect.
