Here Is Real Magic

A Magician's Search for Wonder in the Modern World

By: Nate Staniforth

Narrated by: Nate Staniforth

Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

An extraordinary memoir about finding wonder in everyday life, from magician Nate Staniforth.

Nate Staniforth has spent most of his life and all of his professional career trying to understand wonder - what it is, where to find it and how to share it with others. He became a magician because he learned at a young age that magic tricks don't have to be frivolous. Magic doesn't have to be about sequins and smoke machines - rather, it can create a moment of genuine astonishment. But after years on the road as a professional magician, crisscrossing the country and performing four or five nights a week every week, Nate was disillusioned, burned out and ready to quit. Instead, he went to India in search of magic.

Here Is Real Magic follows Nate Staniforth's evolution from an obsessed young magician to a broken wanderer and back again. It tells the story of his rediscovery of astonishment - and the importance of wonder in everyday life - during his trip to the slums of India, where he infiltrated a 3,000-year-old clan of street magicians. Here Is Real Magic is a call to all of us - to welcome awe back into our lives, to marvel in the everyday and to seek magic all around us.

©2018 Nate Staniforth (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Why Magic Matters

A worthy dive into why magic matters.

His honest search is revelatory in terms of our purpose in creating a moment of astonishment.

Great insight into a traveling magician’s life

This was a well written book, discussing the journey of a magician, including the highlights and low lights of work on the road!

A look into the REAL secrets of magic!

Magician Nate Staniforth does what many people dream of doing but, sadly, few will ever attempt...he discovers and digs into the secret of a magic trick many of us perform daily and are completely unaware we're doing it...

Nate will learn that being comfortable and not following your desires is the greatest deception of our lives.

Setting out to try to learn more about the moment of astonishment that occurs when someone witnesses a strong magic effect, Nate finds himself on what becomes a very personal, transformative journey that takes him to the other side of planet in search of answers.
Along the way he meets some incredible people that will teach him the real meaning of magic and just how important it is to our lives.

I expected a write-up of life on the road and stories of a magician...
This book has that...
But it contained much, much more.
Nate's narration is passionate and personal. What you think will be a "road diary" becomes a funny, thoughtful, touching and personal search for something deeper. During the course of the book, you'll hear Nate mature as he meets person after person who cause him to rethink magic as an art form as well as a tool for crossing cultural barriers.
It's just an incredible story of someone who needed answers so badly he does what most won't do...
He goes on an amazing road trip that will leave him exhausted, disenchanted, triumphant and humbled doing what most of us won't....
Taking action in order to learn about ourselves, what we want in life, Nate discovers the secret to real magic...
And asks that we all take the time to do so as well...
Because if we don't, we'll always find ourselves looking at those who do and ask ourselves...
"How'd they do that?"

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Title lives up to the book

Never read anything like this. If you love wonder, if you see through the fabric of the world, this book will let you know that you are not alone. One of the best! Thanks so much Nate.

Redefines what magic is for me

And turns it into a powerful experience about life. No pun intended but it is a magical book that moved me deeply. Thank you Nate.

Pure. Endearing. Invigorating.

A man searches for wonder in the modern age. Narrated by the author, which is always good, but especially so in this case. A heavy mixture of awe, historical perspective, inspection of culture, and seasoned with some real solid laughs.

Good.

Not to shabby. Good listening. Has a amateur a magician. Good stuff. I don’t know why I need to wright 50 words.

Spellbinding

This was a magical travelogue for the mind. Thank you, Nate, for the word paintimgs.

A surprise stunner

I stumbled upon this book and bought it on a bit of a whim, and then started listening and quickly realized that I had made a very, very good decision. It was amazing! I finished it in one day - very rare for me. I was so pulled in by his fascinating stories, his soothing voice, his superb writing, and, most of all, his thoughts on wonder. It was so interesting and convincing. I want to listen to some parts again, to let those ideas really settle into my brain. I am left really contemplating the connection between a lack of wonder in life, and spending my days feeling weighed down by my responsibilities, stressors, even, in a way, ambitions. His idea of, instead, finding a way to stay awed by all the “magic” that surrounds us, all of us, every day, and letting that wonder fill you up as a means to become more resilient to the constant weight of stress and anxiety and disappointment - I love that idea. It makes sense to me. It feels attainable. After all, how can I stay disappointed about anything when every night I can look up at the stars and be surrounded by infinite, beautiful mystery? Where there is mystery, there is hope. A+ all around.

Helped me to rediscover the magic in everyday life

Amazing journey of a magician to re discover his passion. Along the trip we too discover the fact that we are human beings , human beings with a gift to have wonder... Loved the book and changed my life ... Thanks Nate .