Modern Enchantments: The Cultural Power of Secular Magic

by Simon During

Book Overview

Magic, Simon During suggests, has helped shape modern culture. Devoted to this deceptively simple proposition, During's superlative work, written over the course of a decade, gets at the aesthetic questions at the very heart of the study of culture. How can the most ordinary arts--and by "magic," During means not the supernatural, but the special effects and conjurings of magic shows--affect people?

Modern Enchantments takes us deeply...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674013719
• ISBN13: 9780674013711
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Magic: a serious business?

Apparently this is the first overview of stage magic from an academic perspective. But it's not just about magic tricks: it deals with magic and literature, magic and film, the theory of popular culture and a helluva lot else besides. Sometimes requires real concentration (the chapters on magic history are easiest), but I learnt a lot. This is one of the best books in cultural history I have read over the past few year: after reading it you wont think about popular culture history the same way again. Highly recommended.