There are some very smooth presentations described for a simple card trick, and a simple coin trick, but the most enlightening section related to memory techniques. I’ve seen descriptions of clever memory techniques before, but this surpasses them all. I really want to practice using the linking system to remember lists, and to visualise things in order to remember them in general. I think I’ll leave the number pegging system though, even though I can see its potential.

Derren’s lovely writing style from his previous books could still be glimpsed occasionally, but seemed to mostly disappear after the first chapter or so.

The last section of the book is basically a rant, in the Richard Dawkins style but with less direction.

The book is quite different from the film in a lot of ways, especially the ending. Actually I think when it was adapted for the screen they did a very good job and came up with some good ideas for making the story better.

A lot of the book is in diary form, and I quite like that. Very often the book a film is based on will be better than the film itself — in this case, I think the film has an edge over the book. Good job the DVD is released in March!