The restaurant was again before me, and my hand again noted its grasp of the cards. I resented the severing of the connection, and wondered whether being privy to a person’s meandering thoughts and gently tracing their dreamy associations was to really know them, at a level far deeper than answers provided by personality tests, school reports or the selective, retrospective narratives of traditional biography.” Brilliant, hilarious and entirely unlike anything else you have ever read before, Confessions of a Conjuror is also a complete and utter joy. he also admits, “means nothing.” For Brown, this is not a cause for despondency. His punters experience “surprise and delight”, and the “trivial nature of the variables is irrelevant”. And that, it seems, is the message of this strange, postmodern book. Brown elevates seemingly insignificant moments in his life and imbues them with drama. “To really know someone,” he suggests, is to “gently trace their dreamy associations”. He may be right. In Confessions of a Conjuror, Brown takes us on a meandering pleasure cruise downriver. It is worth the journey.””

Confessions of a Conjuror, however, was over written, dull, tedious, interesting and fun in parts, but over all a bit of a slog to get through. The content is mostly Derren's musings on a wide variety of topics, from the use of a handkerchief to the satisfaction of closing a drawer with a snap. I found myself nodding along and agreeing with a lot of his opinions and observations (especially the one that kindness is the most valuable trait a person can possess), however I was not hugely entertained. It was more like listening to a friend thinking aloud while you're on a long car journey together. A pleasant experience, but I don't need to have the same conversation again in the future. Here's the thing. I love Derren Brown. I love his shows, his performances, his personality. I've seen him live twice and met him once (he's also a lovely guy) but this book is not it. That aside this is an absolute masterpiece of writing, it really is. Derren uses such intricate language to give detailed descriptions of situations which paint the most vivid pictures in your mind. I listened to the whole thing in 3 sittings and that's not normal for me. But this had me gripped. Magic: magic anecdotes, details of his magic career, the history of magic, and how magic ties in with human perception

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And, above all, he stresses the point that one of the things which ultimately makes life worth living is bringing other people joy. If you haven’t heard, Derren has a new book out called “Confessions Of A Conjuror”. Here’s a recent review from the Sunday Times: This was okay – not brilliant, not deeply philosophical – and even occasionally quite funny. The story about The Sun ‘outing’ him as homosexual was very amusingly told. (Now, Murdoch is someone who has a lot to answer for).

Having already made plain that I am a fan, it is clear that I'm likely to run parallel to Derren Browns feelings on various things and his points of view. At least that was my feeling before the book arrived. I was delighted to have some of my views on things challenged or at least adjusted. Opening up his life time of knowledge and research I feel enlightened and invigorated, and inspired to further my reading on some of the subjects and authors that Derren alluded to in this latest work. However, that is the first, last, and only bad word I shall offer about this book. I’m probably unduly biased anyway; the reason this book took me so long was because I was reading it during a very work-heavy week, probably leading to later frustration when I was only getting around to reading it after having left it for a few days. A woman passed by, having emerged from the ladies’ toilet behind me, and the game ended. The sound of the refilling cistern within was bright and loud, and then abruptly muted as the door bumped closed. The fat man wobbled away from the bar and from me, a little inebriated, and my empathy with his thoughts and sensations was lost under the high ceilings of the wide, noisy lounge. Derren Brown being, I think, a genuinely kind man (or so a friend who's met him less fleetingly than me assures me) and intelligent and reasonably well-informed, I enjoyed reading his views. But I read them in the same way as I listen to the views of a friend on the great issues of the day. If I wasn't already predisposed to like him and pay him some attention, I'd probably just find him boring and opinionated.

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His understanding of feelings and motivations e.g. when stepping into a lift while someone inside steps out only to realise it is the wrong floor, and reactions of both parties are identifiable and amusing. It truly is a set of (humiliating and hysterical and fascainting and impressive) confessions. To anyone who admires derren's work, this book is incredible.