Reviews: Read What Ben Robinson Is Saying

A Magical Upbringing: Collected Letters and Articles from June Barrows Mussey

reviewed by Ben Robinson
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 23 August, 2008)

I truly enjoyed A Magical Upbringing June Barrows Mussey because it answered many questions I had about the author of The Amateur Magician's Handbook, by far and away my favorite magic book of all. It produces an anecdotal history of firsthand meetings with such personalities as John Mulholland and T. Nelson Downs (among many others). We learn that Mulholland, during the Depression, was "not stirred from his house for less than a hundred dollars" and that T. Nelson Downs could second deal with one hand!

As well, Mussey himself comes across as a purveyor of many languages as he directs the reader in several reproduced articles to proper diction and elocution. The man toured as a child and attended college early and wrote one of the seminal texts of the 20th century. He was considered an authority, and was respected from a very early age. While there is still much more that can be known about this enigmatic Renaissance Man, this book will surely quench the thirst of the hungry acolytes who stand in awe of his work.

The man, his work, his performance and his writing stand tall above the internet age...a purer magic, where magic began and has the most power.