The Everything Guide to C. S. Lewis and Narnia is a refreshing and readable book dealing with the life of C. S. Lewis and his creation of the world of Narnia. My feeling is that you cannot understand the writings of peoples and persons without understanding their backgrounds or personalities. Reading this book sheds a whole new light not only on the person of Lewis and of Narnia, but all of Lewis's writings since the first part of the book is a biographical sketch of Lewis. This biographical sketch is created from many sources, not depending on any one source. After reading Jon's book, I felt compelled to go back and re-read some of the Narnia tales and catch the subtleties that were imbedded in these tales. With Disney's release of the tale of the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, we may fail to see to see there is more to Narnia than this tale. In particular I was mesmerized by how the plot in The Magicians Nephew reflected events in Lewis's life, items I had not realized until reading this book. I was also led to go back and look at Lewis's Mere Christianity. My re-reading of Mere Christianity literately transported me back to another era where I could imagine listening to these short talks on the radio, a feature I had not realized until reading Jon's book.
Another great feature of the book is the use of what I refer to as "factoid" boxes that define and provide additional information along with questions that can lead to more study and deeper understanding. These boxes contribute much to the understanding of the culture and the environment of C. S. Lewis.
If you are a fan of C. S. Lewis, I hope you come away with the same need to go back and look at this great writer's works, if this is your first foray into Lewis, I cannot recommend it enough.