D.I.Y. Magic - by Anthony Alvarado (Paperback)

About the Book

Previous edition published in 2012 by Floating World Comics.

Book Synopsis

DIY MAGIC offers a series of reality hacks encompassing self-help, philosophy, psychology, and inspiration, that will help artists, writers, and any creative types find new sources of inspiration.

This is a book of magic. This is a book of mind hacks. This is a cookbook for creativity.

In DIY Magic, Anthony Alvarado provides readers with a collection of techniques for accessing deeper levels of creative thought--for hacking into their subconscious. From Salvador Dali's spoon technique and ornithomancy (divination by crows), to bibliomancy and using (legal) stimulants, the exercises in this book will help anyone chasing the muse--from artists and musicians, to writers and more--as they tug at the strings of everyday reality and tap into the magic of their own minds.

Review Quotes

"Really wonderful.... I picked this one up based entirely on name, a method that has served me just fine in the past, assuming I'd either be conjuring demons or pulling rabbits from hats on the plane ride home. A pretty big win either way. But Alvarado's magic is an entirely different thing altogether. The author describes it as, "the fine and subtle art of driving yourself insane." I'd say it's more along the lines of hacking one's perception -- going on reality trips (mostly) within the confines of the law. Apparently Salvador Dali would nod off with a spoon in a hand that would fall into a bucket below, waking him up immediately with its clamor. That blurred line between sleep and waking is said to have informed the master of surreality."
--BoingBoing

"Presented in relaxed language...Alvarado seeks to create altered awareness in a way that is accessible."
--Publishers Weekly

"Few books are as immediately useful as this delightful, inspirational tips 'n' tricks tome. I'm having a backyard betel nut party in five minutes and everyone's invited!"
--Jay Babcock, Arthur Magazine

"This book is full of tips and tricks that will expand your consciousness and the edges of your world."
--Jason Leivian, Floating World Comics

"[D.I.Y Magic] represents...the stripping away of a lot of the balderdash and exotica from esoteric and magical practices and the reformulating of them for a more immediate, hands-on, consciousness-hacking kind of approach."
--Erik Davis, author of TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information

"Anthony Alvarado has concocted a cookbook for vivid living: poetry that's lived rather than written. His 'spells' are actually practical suggestions by which the reader may coax the extraordinary from the everyday--and from themselves."
--Lord Breaulove Swells Whimsy, author of The Affected Provincial's Companion

"One of the best life hacks I have seen...a much needed prescription for some of the ills of this modern world...[an] eloquent and illustrative tome."
--Farel Dalrymple

About the Author

Anthony Alvarado has been a forest fire fighter, a high school science teacher, a library delivery truck driver, a telephone psychic, and a mental health counselor. He lives with a cat, a dog, and a girl in Portland, Oregon. When he is not doing magical experiments he spends his time writing and trying not to drink too much coffee.