I can't remember when I've had so much fun with a book.

Arcade Dreams is a collection of Marlo material which centers on his little known work as a magic demonstrator in Chicago.

While the book begins with some interesting coin material, it really was Marlo's touches with "slum" magic items which impressed me so much. Yes, hidden in these pages is some excellent work on tricks such as color vision, the red snapper, and the magnetic coin changing block thingy. It will make you start digging in your drawers for that old Adam's stash you had forgotten about.

The books concludes with a chapter on Marlo without cards. Here you'll find work on the salt pour, egg bag, linking rings, ring on stick, and dice stacking. Of particular interest is the short but informative history of dice stacking with some fabulous ideas hidden within.

To put it simply, not only was the book a blast to read, but I really learned something usable every couple of pages.

It is a testament to a man who never stopped thinking about any magic which touched his hands.


5 enthusiastic stars