Professor Booth's unsurpassed edition of the immortal Sonnets has an exhaustive consideration of all the issues that can perplex a reader, but it may proving daunting to beginning students. Undergraduate students may wish to begin with Katherine Duncan-Jones edition from Routledge (The Arden Shakespeare) or Burrows edition from Oxford. Advanced students in Shakespeare or English literature who intend to continue mining this ore over the years will find Booth's edition a precious resource for their library.

Rather than repeat the fine points in other reviews, allow me just to caution the reader about the change in the publisher's standards of printing (beginning around 2000): the paper gets cheap, and the binding too. I would love to support Yale University Press in its commitment to keep this edition in print. Unfortunately, if you are a serious enough student to value Professor Booth's work, you will be using this volume enough to need a better printing, and I need to encourage you to seek out a used copy of an earlier printing.

SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS. Edited with analytic commentary by Stephen Booth. 583 pp. (Yale Nota Bene). New Haven & London : Yale University Press, 2000 (1977). ISBN 0-300-08506-0 (pbk.)

Shakespeare's 'Sonnets' is a deservedly well-loved body of poetry, and there have been innumerable editions. For the enthusiast and student, however, it's doubtful that there could be a better edition than that of Stephen Booth. Originally published in a bulky (and expensive) clothbound edition in 1977, it has now been reissued as a fat though fairly compact paperback that will put it within reach of a much wider audience.

One reason that Elizabethan lyrics are so powerful and memorable, is that they were composed in an age when poetry was still linked closely with music. Elizabethans were often competent musicians, and many of their poems were true lyrics or songs. Often their poems were set to music, and all were probably composed while the gentle plucking of a lute or some such instrument was running somewhere through the back of the poet's mind.

Today we live in an age when composers are no longer giving us real songs, songs that stay in the mind and that can be hummed or sung when for some reason or other they rise into consciousness; songs that are always there when we feel like singing, and that can help cheer us up, make us happy, and refresh our spirit; songs, too, for both light and more thoughtful moods.

In contrast to this true type of song, what we seem to be getting today is little more than words with little or no meaning accompanied by noise, the sort of stuff that a machine could write and probably is writing, and profoundly unmemorable.

Shakespeare's 'Sonnets,' however, bring us a world of meaning. The whole of life is in them - its joys and sorrows, its passions and frustrations and torments - and all expressed in some of the most sonorous and beautiful English ever written, and set to powerful rhythms that deeply penetrate the psyche.

Stephen Booth's edition, after a Preface in which he explains his procedures, gives us not one but two texts of the 'Sonnets,' each of which is printed on facing pages : The Text of the 1609 Quarto (Apsley imprint, the Huntington-Bridgewater copy), and Booth's edited text with modern spelling and punctuation.

Seeing the texts exactly as they were presented to Shakespeare's contemporaries is an interesting experience. Some readers will probably love the antique spellings and typography, other may hate it, but at least we've been given a choice. And having access to the Quarto can lead to a deeper understanding of the poems.

Booth's incredibly full and detailed commentary, a commentary for the advanced student and the scholar, and which "is designed to help a modern reader towards the kind of understanding that Renaissance readers brought to the works," is set in a rather tiny font and runs to over 400 pages. Here, in comments ranging from brief glosses to full-length essays, will be found the answer to every conceivable question we may have about an individual sonnet, and much more besides.

Booth has incorporated four extended essays into his analytic commentary : 1. On explications and emendations of unsatisfactory Shakespearian texts (pp.364-72); 2. On the special grandeur of the best sonnets (pp.387-92); 3. On spelling and punctuation (pp.447-520); 4. On the functions of criticism (pp.507-17).

Following the commentary Booth has provided a list of Abbreviations Used in the Commentary; two Appendixes (1. Facts and Theories about Shakespeare's Sonnets; 2. Excerpts from Book XIV of Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'); a detailed Index to the Commentary; an Index of First Lines; and a section of Additional Notes. The book also includes illustrations of two title pages, and the incredible 'literal portrait of a beauty' on page 453.

It will be seen that Booth has set quite a feast before us, and probably one far bigger than many readers are looking for. Those who would prefer to have a version which, though still offering the original Quarto text along with a modernized text, but with a less detailed though equally sophisticated commentary which takes the form of sonnet-by-sonnet essays, might take a look at the far better produced and more beautifully printed edition of Helen H. Vendler ('The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets,' Belknap 1999).

Others might prefer to think of Booth's prize-winning edition as a sort of investment, which perhaps contains more than they presently need, but which they will probably be able to put to fuller use later on. In terms of its content, the Booth seems to me to be unexceptionable. In terms of its physical makeup, however, it leaves much to be desired.

Although it is well-printed, the paper is not of particularly good quality. The fonts used for the 'Sonnets,' though not large, are readable. But the fonts used in the rest of the book are so tiny as to make them tiring to read for any length of time. You will need very good eyesight and very good lighting to feel comfortable when reading this book.

To return to the 'Sonnets,' the fact that their lines stick so easily in our minds, and that the re-reading of favorites will soon see us having memorized, if not the whole sonnet then certainly substantial portions of it, seems to me proof that the 'Sonnets' are real sustenance for the spirit. They help at different times to to fortify our spirit, to clarify our own thoughts about life, and even on occasions to cheer us up.

As such, and whether we realize it or not, they become a kind of word-music that all of us need. So whether you go for the Booth or the Vendler or some other less ambitious edition, my advice would be to give Shakespeare's words a chance to work their magic. You may be surprised at what they can do for you.

134 pages of sonnets - 583 page book!

This is surely the definitive edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

I thought I knew the sonnets until I read this - and re-read and read again.

The poems are presented in facsimile with a modern version facing allowing the readers to attempt their own direct reading if they wish. The modern version has a British spelling slant - which I find gratifying!

Mr Booth is painstaking in his scholarship - attempting to give a feeling for the Renaissance reader's understanding of the poems as well as explaining the 'meaning' of the lines. And his attempts are successful.

I cannot imagine a better edition in my lifetime!

Booth's 1969 "Essay on Shakespeare's Sonnets" is an important and highly useful precursor to his 1977 edition of the sonnets. In it, he examines the various kinds of organization at work in the sonnets: not merely the obvious formal pattern imposed by the rhyme scheme, but additionally the syntactic pattern, patterns of imagery, phonetic structures, and others. In so doing he reveals an inner drama taking place on Shakespeare's sonnets, patterns either consonant with one another or dissonant, the whole working together, moment by moment, to give the reader an experience analogous to what the sonnet itself describes -- conflict, comfort, confusion, and so on.

It is unfortunate that this highly useful book is out of print, for its approach is not only an insightful exploration of the poems it describes, it is an approach one can use with other poets' sonnets, and, indeed, with other forms than the sonnet. One can only hope that Yale UP will resurrect Booth's "Essay" so that teachers and students alike can benefit from its dynamic methods. Meanwhile, anyone able to dig up a used copy will have found a true treasure.

Honesty requires a disclaimer. Booth is a friend and colleague. But I would react similarly if I didn't know the author. If there were six stars, I would award them to Precious Nonsense. Booth takes familiar texts that seem all too clear and obvious and makes us see a multitude of things going on beneath their surfaces. His discoveries are startling and sometimes you want to argue with him, but because he puts his cards on the table he makes argument possible. What he shows demonstrates the difference between great prose and verse and ordinary writing, and reveals the similarity between the operation of literary art and that of music. Booth is phenomenally sensitive and deeply learned, and he has a terrific memory. A bonus is his style: he , in making us see how much goes on in such art that we are never is clear, convesatonal, and often funny, This is a revolutionary book.

Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry take on a series of seemingly unrelated events - an apparent suicide, a beating, the murder of an unidentified man, a missing infant - in this character-driven mystery. All the cases keep leading back to frozen, snowy Irontongue Hill, where the wreckage of a Royal Air Force fighter plane that crashed there during World War II still remain. Meanwhile, the pilot's granddaughter has arrived from Canada seeking to clear her grandfather's name - and Ben finds himself intrigued by the story and by the woman who is so relentless in pursuit of the truth. Eventually the intertwined nature of the past and present mysteries becomes clear in a surprising ending.

The strength of this novel is in its characters: the pensive Ben, adjusting to moving out of his family's home; brusque, businesslike Diane, who seems not to feel at home anywhere; the Poles who fought for England in WWII and their descendants; and the numerous, perfectly sketched supporting characters who provide a sense of real community. There is apparently some sort of history between Ben and Diane - she is inexplicably annoyed by almost everything he does; he is very ambivalent about revealing himself to her - but its nature is never made clear. The vividly portrayed wintry landscape almost becomes a character as well. If you have read Stephen Booth's previous books, you will probably be pleased to spend time in familiar surroundings with old friends. If not, you will find an introduction to a world worth returning to.

The surprising thing about this author is that he isn't recognized more widely.
His writing is absolutely first-class, and his use of the
English language surpasses almost any other writing most us
encounter. In this narrow field of the "psychological thriller," his command of the language, and his fresh use of
the metaphor and simile, is unparalleled.
A serious reader will have to re-read some of his passages just
for the pleasure of how the mental picture developes as the
words are flowing.
In this outing, his "heros," Ben and Diane, remain at personal
odds, and they have a difficult time working together on their
rural Derbyshire Constabulary, but a series of crimes brings
them together again to work their particular magic on violent
felons.
A couple of dead bodies are found, apparently unrelated, but
investigation leads back to a WWII crash of a British bomber
in the rural mountains, and an amazing series of crimes begins
to unfold as evidence points to an ever-widening story of crime,
deception at multiple levels, and family relationships. The
details presented and analyzed will hold the reader's attention
throughout the book.
This author also has an unusual insight into how crime victims
react to the assaults on them, and some readers will almost
shrink from absorbing the details of that process.
This story is one that should not be missed by anyone reading
in the "crime" or "thriller" field, and we also learn a lot
about life in the rural England of today.
Rush to grab this one.

BLOOD ON THE TONGUE is another fantastic novel from Stephen Booth. Not only another fantastic novel, but one with old friends, and even some new ones. Reading BLOOD ON THE TONGUE felt like coming home again.

It is in the middle of the coldest part of the year in the Peak District. The time of the year for cold, frozen feet and red, burning ears. When snow flurries blow hard, and the snow banks along the roads grow so high that they hide all kinds of secrets. Perhaps even a dead body, or two.

Ben Cooper and Diane Fry find themselves together again, at the Edendale Police Department in the midst of a crime wave. Young men are beating each other, people are being found frozen in the snow, and there is a terrible shortage of help. To make life just that much more unbearable at the moment, Diane has a new nemesis, DC Gavin Murfin. A completely, in Diane's mind anyway, uncivilized brute who drives her nuts with both his disgusting eating habits, as well as just him simply breathing. Everything about Gavin disgusts Diane.

To top everything off E Division is getting a new Detective Chief Inspector. Stewart Tailby is retiring to a desk job at headquarters, and DCI Oliver Kessen is taking over.

In the middle of this chaos a young woman arrives from Canada in search of information concerning her grandfather, Daniel McTeague. The problem with this is that Pilot Officer McTeague has been missing since his RAF plane went down 57 years earlier in the peat moors around Irontongue Hill. It was reported at the time that Officer McTeague had survived the accident, and had left the wreckage, walking away from his military career and past life, never to be seen, or heard from again. His granddaughter, Alison Morrissey does not believe this, and is insistent that the police open the old case again and investigate.

Because of political pressure, the Chief Superintendent agrees to speak to Morrissy concerning her grandfather, but doesn't really have his heart in the whole thing. After all the disappearance was 57 years ago, and all of the evidence surrounding it seems pretty sound.

But Ben cannot, and will not let it alone. He has to find out what happened almost 60 years ago.

BLOOD ON THE TONGUE, like the previous books by Mr. Booth, is full of atmosphere and personal relationships. He does this in such a way that you actually feel that you are in the story. The way Mr. Booth describes the Peak District landscape, and the people of
Edendale draw you into the story.

You feel the cold wind against your face, burning your ears, and making it difficult to breath. As you look up at Irontongue Hill you will see it is, "tongue shaped with ridges and furrows. Reptilian, not human, with a curl at the tip. Colder and harder than iron. Darker rock laying on broken teeth of volcano rock debris." And 'you will' see it. All of this you will see and feel, along with people who you cannot forget, their lives entwined and yet separate. Mr. Booth brings both the land and the people together into a story that is completely unforgettable. One that will haunt you and make you want for more. And when you finally get that next story, Mr. Booth does it again, leaving you satisfied, and yet already yearning for more.

BLOOD ON THE TONGUE weaves the past and the present into one. Brings the story full circle. Every character and scene is woven so tightly that you cannot separate them, and yet they remain individual. The characters are everyday characters with lives, feelings, and personalities of their own that you actually can feel and touch. The scenes are so real that they will haunt your dreams at night. The mood, while dark, is absolutely balanced with enough humor and light that it doesn't depress you, but instead keeps you turning those pages to learn more.

BLOOD ON THE TONGUE is an absolute winner, and Mr. Booth has proven himself again as a literary giant. All I can say is that BLOOD ON THE TONGUE will leave you craving for more from this outstanding author.

As with Mr. Booth's previous books, Black Dog, and Dancing with the Virgins, BLOOD ON THE TONGUE is a book that you will want to read slowly, because you want to savor each and every word. It is a book you will not want to rush through. I took my time, knowing that when I turned that last page I would want the next episode and didn't want to have to wait for a long time. Now that I have turned that last page, I am looking forward to the next book out of Mr. Booth, knowing that he again will outdo himself, just as he has with BLOOD ON THE TONGUE. Until then my dreams will be full of the sights, the sounds, and the smells of the Peak District and the people who inhabit it.

I am a great fan of Shakespeare, so when I bought this book what I was expecting wasn't what I saw. I saw the most intriguing sonnets probaly ever known to man. It wasn't all about love and fear. It was involving a great many things. It had all the human feelings, sadness, happieness, hate, love, curiosity, fear, pain, grief, stress, and you get the ideal. I don't want to give it away so if you seem interested read this wounderful book.

I read these sonnets two a day over the summer, and I wish there were more than 154 of them so I could keep going into the fall. I think I'll pick up "The Tempest" next.

The poetry in this volume is beautiful, equisite and full of passion. What makes Shakespeare worth reading is the way he lets the world into his lines. His metaphors appeal deliciously to the senses, like a beam of sunlight through a high window in the afternoon, or the smell of a new cut lawn in the spring. Shakespeare's writing is immortal, not because a conspiracy of teachers got together and decided it should be, but because it is full of life, and nothing that is full of life can really ever die.

If you're not used to reading Elizabthean English or are put off by the thought of Shakespeare, this is a good place to start. This edition helpfully "translates" each sonnet into modern English on a facing page along with definitions for the more troubling words. Even with the help, I still don't think Shakespeare is all that easy to read. But anything you do in this world that makes you feel more passionate about life is a pretty good thing. If you give Shakespeare some of your time, he's bound to pay you back with plenty of interest.

This edition of Shakespear's sonnets is all you need to read and understand the great Bard.

A very nice feature is the paraphrasing of the sonnets in contemporary English and a translation into ordinary language of the more difficult words.

The edition is a paperback small enough to be carried around to read during one's leisure.

Whether or not one thinks BLACK DOG is the most amazing book ever written or a run-of-the-mill mystery will undoubtedly be tied to one's perspective and prior reading experience. I have read mostly British mysteries (ALL of Sayers, Christie, James, Dexter, Ellis, Allingham, Walters, Hall, Hill, Robinson, etc.) as well as a few American writers (Cornwall, Evanovich). For me, although BLACK DOG is well written, it is a run-of-the-mill British mystery -- great for grabbing in an airport book store to while away the hours standing in the security lines or seated on airplanes. I would not place Booth in the top tier of recently "arrived" British mystery writers (i.e. Minette Walters) as some have. However, like Jill McGowan he shows promise of surviving the long haul without becoming a super star.

Booth's character development is comparable to Reginald Hill's (medium), although Ben Cooper is more akin to Peter Pasco than Dalziel. Ben Cooper has a future, but I don't find Diane Fry appealing. I think Booth would have done better to spend more time in Cooper's head and less in Fry's. Rare is the writer who can inspire a protagonist of the opposite sex. P.D. James succeeded with Adam Dalglish, but Dalglish is older like James, and older men and women tend to think more alike than not. Life simply wears one down around the edges and narrows the differences.

Booth's forensics events are familiar, particularly if you are a fan of Patricia Cornwell, who did a masterful job of explaining the progression of the decomposition of the human body in BODY FARM. I suppose every mystery/crime writer has to resort to forensics these days, but it gets tiresome to read about flies and maggots over and over. Booth is not gratuitous, however, and his descriptions of the material events surrounding the death of Laura Vernon are necessary to futher his storyline.

Anglophiles love the perspective that only Brits can share about their lives. BLACK DOG takes place in what appears to be an English village in or near Derbyshire in Central England. Most Americans who travel to England don't see the life Booth describes--old established connections of the family members and friends; the varous types of housing, streets, and pathways; and other aspects of daily living such as the importance of dogs, manure, and pub life. The ancectdotal bits are wonderful. I never understood the significance of the Black Dog before I read Booth's book, and now, maybe I do.

Stephen Booth has created a very taut psychological thriller in his first novel, Black Dog; thereby establishing himself as an exciting new British mystery writer. This book is a dark mystery with many dark secrets--both of the parents of a murdered girl and the inhabitants of Peak District where they live.

Black Dog is the story of Detective Constable Ben Cooper, an English policeman who constantly worries that he will never equal his hero father. Diane Fry, an ambitious outsider, becomes his new partner, and they proceed to investigate the murder of a 15-year-old girl. Her parents, though, pose an obstacle. They are outsiders to the community and really do not seem anxious about finding the murderer of their daughter.

Ah, but then there is the old man and his black dog who found the body. He is closed mouth giving the impression he may know more. But does he? What is the real story. It is up Ben Cooper to find out.

This book is a great first mystery from Stephen Booth, and I look forward to reading more from him.

In Stephen Booth's debut novel, we are taken to the Peak District of England. It's in this setting that a 15-year-old girl, Laura Vernon, has gone missing only to be found later, murdered. She is from a wealthy family who are new to the district, and so are known as 'comers-in' by the locals, meaning they will consequently be treated as outsiders. It is because of this that the locals are not particularly helpful when questioned by the police.

The beginning of the book is very reminiscent of A Place of Execution by Val McDermid. In both books a young girl is missing from a small rural community, the locals are not particularly helpful with the police and the detectives working on the case are young with their eyes cast to furthering their career.

Mystery not only surrounds the murder of Laura Vernon, many of the integral characters in the book are harbouring secrets. The main character, DC Ben Cooper is dealing with his mother's schizophrenia, his new partner DC Diane Fry has just arrived in Edendale and has brought personal problems of her own. Laura Vernon's parents are both harbouring secrets that they are keen not to let out and Harry Dickenson, the man who found Laura, is being very close-lipped as well. Even Laura Vernon herself was leading a secret life that would have shocked her parents had they found out.

The surrounding Derbyshire countryside of the beautiful Peak District is described with exceptional clarity giving us an insight into countryside that must be simply breathtaking to behold. Although not being overly dwelt on, scene after scene is given a wonderful backdrop of the surrounding land, which gave me a strong sense of actually being there.

The local townsfolk are wonderfully portrayed with the standouts being the three old friends, Harry, Sam and Wilford who amuse each other and the reader with their wry observations of the police to one another. The mood of the story lifts each time one of these men is involved and at times, stole each scene they were involved in.

The length of this review is testament to my enjoyment of this book. I'm usually a 3-paragraph per review man. A quick overview and my impressions usually suffice. This book moved me more than most and my feeling of satisfaction has been reflected here. I strongly recommend you read this book, if you're after a terrific police procedural I don't think you'll be disappointed.

The thing that I remember most clearly about _Dancing with the Virgins_ is that both of the detectives in it were a little annoying. Not drunken and rakishly annoying to women, but fussy and disorganized and at least a little bit thick at times. It takes courage to not give in at the last moment and not make your heros larger than life, and Booth at least has that courage.

I know that I enjoyed the book at the time-- it was a quick read and kept me well occupied in a week where I was sick, but the plot felt a bit overdone. And now that I sit (one week later) to write a review, I found it really difficult to remember who had done what to whom and why.

A woman's body is found in a ring of standing stones which legend has it are the remains of Virgins caught dancing on a Sunday and turned to stone. Bound up in the mystery are a woman with a disfigured face found wandering in the same location, a very angry farmer on the brink of ruin, and a missing girl with dreadlocks who nobody seems to be able to identify. Even while still being at odds, Ben Cooper and Diane Fry need to work together to solve the mystery.

Excellent mystery set in the north of England. Good sense of place, main characters well developed. plot complex and moves at a good pace. Detective Ben Cooper, a local copper with a good feel fo the locals is not led off on tangents like the others, particularly Detective Diane Fry, who has recently arrived from the south. The murder of Jenny Weston and attack on Maggie Crew appear to be related but it is only towards the end that the link between them becomes clear but is muddied considerably by the apparent link with a dog fighting business.

The resolution is slow coming but very satisfactory. The on-again-off-again relationship between Ben and Diane appears to be warming up but both have depths and secretes not yet available to the other.

Reminds me somewhat of the early books by Peter Robinson. rating 4.5/5

This is a long, continuously rewarding whodunit, featuring two young detectives who do not get along. Sergeant Diane Fry and Detective Constable Ben Cooper have to work together to try to solve a murder near the Nine Virgins--ancient standing stones decorating the moors of the Peak District. They also have to link the murder to the hideous disfigurement of a woman who may have survived a first attack by the killer, though scarred Maggie Crew will never be the same and has very little memory of who attacked her. Through it all, Fry picks at Cooper's "naive" personality, while Cooper...well, I'm not sure that he does anything to justify Fry's critical remarks, so Cooper is technically the more sympathetic character, though maybe too wimpy?

This book is packed with red herrings, but in superior story like this, you can't just call the red herrings red herrings. They are full fledged, highly involving subplots. What I mean is, the police connect victim Jenny Weston to a whole lot of strange people, with odd secrets. There's the nasty farmer, with the quiet, scared little boys, whose wife found Maggie Crews after she'd been slashed, and who is up to something sinister in his barn. There is Mark Roper, area Ranger, who may be dangerously manic about the rules, and who seems to know a secret about his lonely boss, Owen, who doesn't always answer his radio when he should. There's another missing woman, Ros Daniels, who may have visited Jenny Weston in her home, but if so, were they friends or enemies?

The two main detectives--with some support from an extended cast of law enforcers, each with well-drawn personalities--bicker, and criticize each other (Fry gets especially incensed by Cooper's investigations beyond the obvious scope of the case; but then Ben Cooper is the one more likely to follow up a vague hunch that turns over the wrong rocks), but they do follow all the various trails left by all the colourful suspects, and naturally it can't all relate to the main chain of violence that cultivated in murder.

In the end,I think some of the clues could be classified as a bit transparent by the adept mystery reader (though the large quantity of red herrings and smokescreening in the form of bona fide interesting subplots may help to counter this if, like me, you read too fast to do any really diligent sifting). I maintain that any stalwart ready to pounce on every apparent clue may pick out the real clues, especially the ones near the end of the book that do some last-minute "pointing" at the true culprit. Plus, I recall a few chapters--short ones in the first half or third of the book--that probably could have been cut. One short chapter basically focuses on Sgt. Fry driving somewhere after an intense interview with scarred and bitter Maggie Crew, and Fry's ruminations and reflections don't really add to the plot. I recall another chapter of a similar nature; mood and character are slightly attended to in ways that merely buttress what is already clear in other chapters, but overall a few chapters that could possibly have been eliminated, or just boiled down to a nub and summarized in a longer chapter. See if you spot this in two instances.

But only two. Mostly, this crime novel is engaging from the get-go, with lots of details, and a powerful mood brought on by a simmering rural pot of explosive ingredients, where not just a murderer has something to hide.

I found this book by chance in the library. I read it for a little while, I could not put it down. I took it home. Then I will buy it. That is a good book.

I have developed applications using Foxpro v2.x for 4 years and shifted to VFP6 quite recently. I opted to go for this book as from the reviews I read, it should get a semi-newbi like me, up and running. On browsing the book, I found out that it wastes too much time on tables and relationships (data structures), and with around 350 pages, not much more space remains.

While I do understand that data manipulation and application design are very important, one finds extensive discussions on these topics in software engineering books or gained through experience.

Somehow, I was left a bit disappointed and have to go for another manual with more "how-to-do-it" instructions.

This book really helped me get off the ground, but once I reached a certain level of proficiency, it quickly became irrelevant. Many important topics are not discussed, or only discussed if you are using VFP at a very basic level. In fact, I find most of their techniques irrelevant, though their philosophies about development are helpful. I don't recommend this book to anyone with serious VFP development experience.

This book is a wonderful resource for actual, practical information that will come in handy when your application in is development. I suggest you read it once through to get an idea of what's inside, and then refer back to it often as you make your way through your development process.