I'm not sure how to write this review. The core idea is very good. It's made me think about my work in a new way. But there are a lot of issues.
* The first half of the book is a mix of personal history (which is solid) and a whole lot of teasing about the big reveal. The reveal doesn't happen until well into this fairly short manuscript.
* The reveal is largely the work of another writer. I did purchase the (mass market) book, and it is indeed well written, insightful, and applicable to my work. I can see it as a very fruitful approach. But this makes the tease aspect above all the more annoying. That said, the pointer is very solid.
* The author does offer some details about how the ideas apply to his work, but there's way too little about this. Of note, this is a very sharp contrast to the author he recommends, one who offers a lot of details about how their ideas apply to real material. This is important, as the referenced author is not one who writes about magic, or has any real working knowledge of magic as a performing art.
* The author, like many working performers, is quite obsessed with the economic aspects of the art. This extends to a lot of quotes from marketing writers. I find this grating, and also have a visceral reaction to the puffery that's inherent in this style of writing.
I hope this is useful to others (even, possibly, to the author). It bears repeating that the core insight is quite good, but the writing is heavily padded.
