Read Your Mind

You've probably seen Oz Pearlman. Whether it was his performance on America's Got Talent that helped launch his career to another level, or the viral clips of him performing truly astonishing mind-reading tricks on podcast hosts or athletes, Oz has become a household name when it comes to magic and mentalism. In this, his first book, Oz recounts his rise to fame, and shares some of the techniques he uses on a regular basis to squeeze the most out of life.

While the book is part memoir, that's mostly due to Oz's penchant for telling a great story to help make a point. This is, however, primarily a self-help book. Much of Oz's career has been spent as an entertainer for Corporate America, and the majority of the book feels like it would be at the core of the message he delivers to companies. Anyone in hospitality or sales will likely glean plenty of nuggets from Read Your Mind. However, like with most books in the self-help category, there's not a lot that is groundbreaking here. That doesn't mean it's not worth a read or listen; I was entertained, and one can't help but be drawn in by Oz's energy and positivity.

There's no grand reveal of how he does some of his mind-blowing mentalism, but there are nuggets that he uses to be successful that can help people in any profession. Preparedness and plotting all potential outcomes in advance is a big part of how he can engineer a trick to get to a desired answer. He also discusses things like the importance of being present, actively listening, sales techniques, and ways to connect with people. Again, this is not groundbreaking advice, but it's useful all the same.

One thing that I wasn't expecting was some fairly detailed science on how the mind works peppered throughout the book. Oz worked in finance before leaving that behind to pursue mentalism, so I don't believe he has any formal training on the subject. Given that, I appreciated that he took the time to research the why behind certain behaviors and reactions. Whether this is something he explored long ago to make himself a better mentalist or nuggets he looked into specifically for the book, it added a layer of validation to the advice he was dispensing. This isn't just the opinion of the goofy mentalist in the suit; there's actually hard science and brain chemistry backing up the things he's saying.

Self-help is not a category I generally read, but I'm a fan of Oz's work and this was a fun way to get to learn a bit more about what makes him tick. While I went in expecting something that was more memoir (through no one's fault but my own—it's quite clear this is a self-help book), I still left satisfied that I'd spent the time listening to it.