the fact that the book is in black and white is a real problem.. it is hard to follow the tutorials that tell you to click on a particular point and you can't quite tell what point they are talking about. Tutorials themselves (if you can get past the B&W problem) are good -- at least until around lesson 16 and 17 where it seems like the author or editor got in a hurry and started missing steps.. at least thats what it seems to me since I couldnt get thru those particular tutorials. But, that said, this book has been a better introduction to me to Max than the Bible series which really threw me some loops. Overall, it just seems that Max doesnt have very many good learning books.