In the vein of Neil Strauss’ THE OVERALL GAME and Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein comes the fascinating story of 1 man’s colorful, mysterious, and personal journey into the world of magic, and his unlikely invitation into an underground secret society of revolutionary magicians from all over the world.

Magic Is Dead is Ian Frisch’s head-first dive into a hidden world filled with extraordinary personas and highly guarded secrets. It is a story of creativity, deception, and artwork that spotlights about Magic Is usually Deceased: My Trip in to the World’s Many Secretive Culture of Magicians today’s most brilliant young magicians-a mysterious club referred to as the52, who are revolutionizing an ancient artform beneath the mantra Magic Is usually Dead.

Ian brings us with him seeing that he not merely gets to find out this fascinating world, but also becomes an integral part of it. We meet the52’s founding members-Laura London, Daniel Madison, and Chris Ramsay-and explore their personal demons, professional aspirations, and what drew them to their build. We join them at personal gatherings of the very most extraordinary magicians functioning today, follow them to magic conventions in NEVADA and England, and discover among the better tricks of the trade. We also encounter David Blaine; go out with Penn Jillette; meet up with Dynamo, the U.K.’s most well-known magician; and proceed behind the moments of the Netflix magic show. Magic Is Deceased can be a chronicle of magic’s rich history and how it has transformed in the internet age, as the youthful guns embrace social media marketing and move away from the old-school undertake the build.

As he tells the story of the52, and his part as its most unlikely member, Ian reveals his own reference to trickery and deceit and how he first learned the components that make magic work from his poker-playing mom. He recalls their ventures in card areas and casinos after his father’s sudden death, and shares a touching second that he previously, as a working journalist, along with his youth idol Shaquille O’Neal.

“Magic-the romanticism from the inexplicable, the awe and admiration from the unexpected-is an underlying force in how we watch the world and its own myriad possibilities,” Ian writes. As his journey continues, Ian not merely turns into a performer and originator of magic-even fooling the late Anthony Bourdain throughout a possibility encounter-he also cements a new brotherhood, and begins to understand his relationship along with his dad, fifteen years after his death. Written with emotional acuity and an enthusiastic eye for detail, Magic Is Dead can be an engrossing tale full of question and surprise.