Masters of Deception: Escher, Dalí & the Artists of Optical Illusion

I teach high school freshmen, and I keep this book on my shelf for students to look through on their own time. It is easily one of the most popular books, and after only three years the wear is beginning to prove this. I don't know how many times I have dropped it off at a student's table because they were bored, and dared them to not find something interesting in the book. Without fail, a students will be engrossed in the book within minutes. One of the best features about this book compared to other books of its kind is that it contains dozens of examples of dozens of various types of art. Beyond the typical optical illusions, it features trompe d'loeil murals, artwork created with hair or chocolate syrup, artwork that can only be viewed with a reflective cylinder, and much more. As I mentioned before, nearly everyone will find something fascinating in this book.

Wow - I chose this based on the chorus of 5 star reviews, submitted by others who seem much more knowledgeable in this field than I, and I am NOT disappointed! This is a great looking book - big, hardcover, suitable for your coffee table. As stated in other reviews, the book has a nice sampling of well known artists, plus an array of fun illusions, and EXPLANATIONS, which is something I had not seen in other books of illusions. This is just a very nice book, meeting the hype, and worthy of your coffee table or anybody else's for that matter .. definitely gift-worthy.

Buying Masters of Deception was the best $25 investment I have made in years! I wish all my investments gave me as much knowledge and pleasure as this book did. C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S to Al Seckel!!! I, like the author, have been fascinated with illusions ever since I was a child. In fact, I have been studying illusions for the past 20 years as a scientist in visual perception. Thus, I was familiar with most of the artists, but the value of the book is that, in addition to the well known ones, it has a remarkably wide range of other top artists, and great illustrations. (I am also a big fan of Douglas Hofstadter, and I enjoyed his Foreword.)

Here it is - the coffee-table book of eye-twisters! Don't misunderstand, here - it's not the complete works of Escher, with all the best Dali and a couple of others thrown in. This volume contains only a very few examples of the most powerful works of a handful of major mindtwisting visual artists. No, it's not just a gallery. Instead, what we have are explanations - the "why?" of Escher, the "what?" of Dali, and the "how the -?" of modern shadow-sculptures. (The sailing-ship of scissors on the back must be seen.) The origins and evolution of the school of illusion are described in detail, but in such a way that the reading is far from dry. Buy it. You won't regret it.