From the moment news of Max Maven’s new Hermetic Press release — The Protocols of the Elders of Magic — hit the digital streets, the response was fairly predictable, but for one exception.

From Stephen Minch’s web site’s description:

Announcing an unpleasant little book that no discerning library should be without. Over a century in the making. No tricks. Only one secret, but it’s a killer!

A long-standing goal at Hermetic Press has been to produce books of quality that stand out from the crowd; books that are interesting and unusual. We’ve never published a book more unusual than The Protocols of the Elders of Magic. It is so unusual, we aren’t going to tell you exactly what it is. All we will say is that there has never been a magic book like it. If you enjoy the erudite humor of MAX MAVEN, if you love books beautifully produced, and if you enjoy having something in your library few others do, The Protocols of the Elders of Magic is for you. If, on the other hand, you are looking for another collection of tricks, pass this one up and check out our other titles.

The thread on The Magic Cafe was filled with everything from blind acceptance to objection due to perceived offense. (To understand the perceived objection, make yourself familiar with the quasi-paronymic title.)

Years and years ago, I asked Max about the value of a particular book being published by Stephen Minch. His response was, essentially, that if it was published by Hermetic, it was worth having. In the years since, that’s never once been proven wrong; neither Stephen nor Max has led me wrong.

So, put me in the “blind acceptance” column.