Review Book - Gold Dust

Gold Dust: The Very Best of Paul Gordon
Reviewed by Roger Woods

Some time ago the well-known card magician Paul Gordon decided to write and publish a ‘best of’ book amounting to a compilation of his best effects. After four years of work this volume is the result and it is an excellent publication. It is a nicely produced hardbound book properly bound and side-stitched with an attractive gold foil embossed cover (although no dust jacket) and 352 pages.

The book is only available from Paul and for £50 contains 133 tricks plus ideas and so is good value for money as it includes the explanations for so many commercial card tricks such as ‘The Corner of Piccadilly’. If you haven’t heard of Paul’s tricks (and you should have!) there are links on his website to ‘YouTube’ videos of all his popular items.

This is not a beginner’s book and assumes some knowledge of card sleights and subtleties, although there is a section at the back of the book on ‘Useful Sleights’ where certain items are illustrated. This part of the work is complemented by Paul’s DVDs on card sleights and by many other sources.

Paul is an enthusiastic and energetic performer of card magic and indeed he has been a professional entertainer for over twenty years. You will know his style of performing if you have ever attended his lectures or workshops. He makes the crucial point in the Introduction to this book that ‘the tricks are mostly just the “nuts and bolts” of magic. The real magic is the way you perform them and the way you engage your audiences.’ Wise words from someone who can speak with considerable experience.

There are lots of black and white photographs throughout the book to aid instruction, although not every effect is illustrated, which is to be expected in a volume of this kind.

All the effects are with ordinary cards. There are no fake cards or strange set ups to worry about. The effects are strong as you might expect from someone who makes his living from performing card magic. There is no point in trying to identify favourite effects in this review. As Paul makes clear you need to try every effect in the book before deciding which suits your own style. There is no doubt that with the right amount of work every card magician will be able to find a great deal of commercial material in this volume. As such it must be great value for money.

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