SCIENCEFICTION SQRL's review
Tricks of the Mind
by Derren Brown
SCIENCEFICTION SQRL's review
Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown
SCIENCEFICTION SQRL's review
rating:
bookshelves:
allfred,
non-fiction
This intriguing book gives insights into how Derren Brown performs his stage and television shows, as well as enabling him to give free rein to rants on topics such as alternative healing.
It's notable that while Brown dismisses the role of the anecdote in establishing the veracity of, say, reiki healing, he's happy to offer anecdotes that establish the falseness of television mediums. Either anecdotes are evidence, or they're not--my own view being that they're not--and this double standard casts a shadow over an otherwise cogently-argued book.
Brown comes across as a likeable and modest chap, which is a change from his on-screen persona. Having heard him gently presenting his case against mediums on a radio show, I suspect this is the real Brown. Chirpy, still, but with a well-framed sense of his place in the scheme of things.
It's notable that while Brown dismisses the role of the anecdote in establishing the veracity of, say, reiki healing, he's happy to offer anecdotes that establish the falseness of television mediums. Either anecdotes are evidence, or they're not--my own view being that they're not--and this double standard casts a shadow over an otherwise cogently-argued book.
Brown comes across as a likeable and modest chap, which is a change from his on-screen persona. Having heard him gently presenting his case against mediums on a radio show, I suspect this is the real Brown. Chirpy, still, but with a well-framed sense of his place in the scheme of things.
