This guide is nothing fancy, but I found it very helpful for a trip in southern Illinois simply for being a handy collection of addresses, phone numbers, and accurate capsule reviews of camping spots. When one place turned out to be a little more rustic than I was looking for it was easy to flip through and find another nearby spot.
My only criticism is that I would like more of the author's opinions, more directly expressed -- it's obvious that Ted Villaire knows his stuff, so I'd like some clearer endorsements and critiques of particular places. You can kind of read between the lines to figure out which campgrounds he likes best, but in the age of smart phones with 24h access to google it's the editorial commentary that really adds value to a guide like this (it's easy to find a list of lots of campgrounds, but hard to pick one). The great posts on Villaire's web site give a sense of how with a little more room to move (the guide is fairly slim at 150 pages) his reviews would be even more helpful. Still, this guide was a great help and I intend to check out other guides from the author, especially his rails trails book on bike paths.