Derren Brown

Derren Brown (1971) je britský psycho-iluzionista, který nevěří na paranormální jevy. Studoval práva a germanistiku v Bristolu a k hypnóze ho inspirovalo představení hypnotizéra Taylora. Začal se sám hypnózou zabývat a vystupoval po barech. Na Vánoce roku 2000 běžel v britské televizi pilotní díl jeho pořadu Magie a manipulace mysli, který se velmi rychle stal hitem. Brown od té doby vydal tři knihy, dobýval USA na turné za účasti odborníků, kteří měli posoudit, zda je podvodník nebo ne, hrál v televizi naživo ruskou ruletu a vystupoval po celé Británii. V roce 2006 získal cenu Laurence Oliviera za nejlepší zábavní show. Dělal všechno, aby se mediálně zviditelnil, a vydělal dost peněz, aby na jejich vydělávání už nemusel myslet. V knize naznačuje některé své techniky, popisuje metody manipulace mysli, napovídá, jak se naučit „číst“ chování lidí, důkladně probírá umění hypnózy, vysvětluje alternativní medicínu jako placebo efekt a věnuje se také zábavnímu průmyslu kolem magie.

Darren Brown je českému čtenáři znám nejen ze své televizní show, ale také díky jeho bestselleru Magie a manipulace mysli. Kostru nové Brownovy knihy tvoří jednotlivé fáze kouzelnického triku, který jeho mladší já provádí v zaplněné restauraci, a tut o kostru Brown obalil vyprávěním na nejrůznější témata o dějinách magie, o psychologii, o tom, jak správně vařit ztracená vejce, o tom, jaká melodie mu zní v hlavě při čištění zubů, nebo o společenské etiketě týkající se parmezánu. Vyznání iluzioni sty jsou neobyčejně čtivou a neobvykle vystavěnou autobiografií, která čtenáře vtáhne a okouzlí.

Happy : Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine

`Deeply informative, moving, wise and full of love'Alain de BottonEveryone says they want to be happy. But that's much more easily said than done. What does being happy actually mean? And how do you even know when you feel it?Across the millennia, philosophers have thought long and hard about happiness. They have defined it in many different ways and come up with myriad strategies for living the good life. Drawing on this vast body of work, in Happy Derren Brown explores changing concepts of happiness - from the surprisingly modern wisdom of the Stoics and Epicureans in classical times right up until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own. He shows how many of self-help's suggested routes to happiness and success - such as positive thinking, self-belief and setting goals - can be disastrous to follow and, indeed, actually cause anxiety. This brilliant, candid and deeply entertaining book exposes the flaws in these ways of thinking, and in return poses challenging but stimulating questions about how we choose to live and the way we think about death.Happy aims to reclaim happiness and to enable us to appreciate the good things in life, in all their transient glory. By taking control of the stories we tell ourselves, by remembering that `everything's fine' even when it might not feel that way, we can allow ourselves to flourish and to live more happily.

"Friction and struggle lead to growth." In A Book of Secrets, internationally bestselling author Derren Brown considers the value and benefit of having pain in our lives, asking: Is it in those moments that we are faced with adversity that we find the most lasting rewards? Do we spend so much time trying to make sense of our lives that we forget what makes us wonderfully us? What are the secrets that show us how to meet challenging moments head on? In thirteen fascinating chapters, Derren takes us back to his own scenes of childhood humiliation, to lonely evenings on tour, to being paralysed by shyness at a dinner party hosted by famous guests, to navigating middle age and to finding love. By sharing his own moments of anger, frustration, loneliness and loss, Derren reveals how it's possible to find consolation and compassion in our most challenging times. A Book of Secrets is a profound and practical guide to finding value in sadness and strength from what life throws at us - it is from the difficulty of life that we find meaning and grow.

"Friction and struggle lead to growth." In A Book of Secrets, internationally bestselling author Derren Brown considers the value and benefit of having pain in our lives, asking: Is it in those moments that we are faced with adversity that we find the most lasting rewards? Do we spend so much time trying to make sense of our lives that we forget what makes us wonderfully us? What are the secrets that show us how to meet challenging moments head on? In thirteen fascinating chapters, Derren takes us back to his own scenes of childhood humiliation, to lonely evenings on tour, to being paralysed by shyness at a dinner party hosted by famous guests, to navigating middle age and to finding love. By sharing his own moments of anger, frustration, loneliness and loss, Derren reveals how it's possible to find consolation and compassion in our most challenging times. A Book of Secrets is a profound and practical guide to finding value in sadness and strength from what life throws at us - it is from the difficulty of life that we find meaning and grow.