I have a copy of Ortiz's Annotated Erdnase. In order to complete my education, I was considering obtaining Revelations. How similar are the two books? Are they complementary?

Revelations has considerably less commentary than AE. Obviously, they are similar in that both contain the complete text of Erdnase'd "Expert at the Card Table," but Ortiz offers significantly more detail and commentary on the text. This is not to say that Vernon's comments aren't good; just sparse.

They are both very good books, they just have a different focus.

Revelations is more about the text of Erdnase itself, Dai Vernon's ideas on how to do Erdnase's stuff and what you should pay special attention to in the text.

The Annotated Erdnase is more of a historical cross reference. Ortiz describes where he thinks Erdnase learned stuff, where other people took Erdnase's ideas and gives tons of references.

If you are looking for references and ideas on what other books would be good to buy in order to get a better historical perspective on card magic, The Annnotated Erdnase is a wonderful book. If you are trying to understand Erdnase better, you may find Revelations more enlightening. Personally, I'm glad I have both.

Andru
http://www.practicenotincluded.com/