[4] Jeremy Mars is a young teenager who (like many of his friends) is a fan of — and also a character in — a mysterious television program called The Library.
The story follows his life, and those of his friends and family, as various episodes of The Library are broadcast at irregular intervals.
[10] Nancy Pearl compared "Magic for Beginners" to M. C. Escher's Drawing Hands, saying that it is "intricate, wildly imaginative and totally wonderful".
[11] Cory Doctorow called it the "standout" story in Link's 2006 eponymous collection, describing it as "absurdist magic realism, like Douglas Coupland wandering through a Márquez novel".
"[13] At the SF Site, Rich Horton stated that "Magic for Beginners" was "one of [his] favorite stories of this decade", and "a delight",[14] while at Subterranean Press Magazine, Dorman T. Shindler compared it to being mildly intoxicated.