Most of these are not worth reading more than once. However, "The Legend of the Paper Spaceship" is a haunting, beautiful story. To me, that redeems the book. The rest of them are amateurish at best, though "The Savage Mouth" has a certain shock value about it.

I came across this in the Waterstone's bookshop on Gower Street, WC1, and chose it ahead of a couple of recent Nebula Award anthologies - I felt that a bit of horizon-widening would not come amiss.

The introductions to the book were interesting in themselves, giving a background to the not-straightforward process of translating into English due to the complexities and nuances of the Japanese language.

The editors do inform the reader that the stories in the volume are quite different to most of the English-language SF, and those who are looking for hard SF are most definitely looking in the wrong direction. The stories collected, which were written between 196x and 199x, are very much at the 'speculative' end of SF, to the extent that some would argue that they do not constitute SF ('it's SF Jim, but not as we know it!). The stories are also on the short side of short SF, which does have implications. I personally would tend to shy away from a collection of such short stories, regardless of origin.

The stories themselves tend towards the contemporary, and reflective, and are about people, and the environment. They tend toward the contempletative, with the protagonist(s) in number of the stories being almost detached from what is happening (a la Ballard) - which is no mean trick when there is a massive confrontation between tyrannosauri and triceratops(es?) in the neighbourhood. A couple of stories would be more accurately described as horror stories, and several could be stories from the likes of Twilight Zone, Tales of the Unexpected and so forth.

All in all and interesting read, and worth the purchase if nothing else just to give an extended flavour of SF in a different culture.

I enjoyed reading this book not only because I am a lover of Science Fiction but also because it was interesting to see SF written from a different cultural perspective. Among these beautifully written and translated stories there is gruesome (The Savage Mouth), thought provoking (Take Your Choice and Standing Woman) and elegant prose (The Legend of the Paper Spaceship). All the stories are unique with concepts distinctive from Western writers but still valuable as entertaining Science Fiction. I recommend this to anyone who wants to read something slightly unusual. I look forward to reading more translations of Japanese SF in the future. Please publish another book.

another book for (people) and romantics who want to believe JFK was not the hardbitten, unreflective, Cold Warrior he was.

This book does not mill about. Its author, E. Martin Schotz, argues effectively that there is no real mystery as to who killed President John F. Kennedy and why. The facts of the case powerfully and overwhelmingly show that JFK was removed from power as a result of a conspiracy, and those facts say it was orchestrated by various members and affiliates of the intelligence community. Schotz states categorically the reason the President was assassinated was because, whilst a not too unfamiliar servant of the Cold War, Kennedy gradually departed from the Cold War script in his dealings with the U.S.S.R. and on the critical issue of peaceful coexistence with socialism. He also asserts that while the truth is as plain as the nose on the end of our face, the conspiracy has evolved over the years in an effort to see that confusion and mystery persists. All of this by sleight of hand, by doubting and presenting seemingly legitimate counter claims, and by allowing the populace to interject; to further blur, entangle, and to obscure the accuracy of the facts.

And as this book also makes perfectly clear -- through the effective use of longstanding works, telling speeches, and with the assistance of respected colleagues -- and like much else of the Warren Commission's dealings, their analysis of the 'Shots, Trajectories, and Wounds' was formulated to affirm a preconceived and desired conclusion, in that the assassination was the work of a single "crazed" gunman, whose name was Lee Harvey Oswald. The sheer amount of logical fallacies committed by the Warren Commission is staggering and their findings are not befitting of any fair judicial system -- least, you would expect, one in the United States of America. Perhaps even more worryingly is that the truth laid bare by this book leads to further truths; truths that, and in spite of the vast majority of Americans (fourth-fifths) believing the assassination was the result of a conspiracy, we as a people have not cared or moved in similar enough numbers to actually do anything about this disgraceful turn of events. And further to our inaction, we have not significantly altered the political or social path we nonchalantly follow in order to better ourselves.

History Will Not Absolve Us depicts a world in which the best kept secrets are the ones that everyone knows; a world in which everyone knows very well that their world is not as stable, as exclusive, or as moral as it pretends to be; and a world in which the government, defenders of the establishment, and other winners appreciate the vital importance of maintaining at all cost what they know to be the fictions of everyday life.

If you are looking for an in-depth examination of all the players and subsequent controversies then look elsewhere. If you want to bypass almost four decades of bullshit that has piled up in the Kennedy assassination then this book is for you. The clarity this collective work brings to the table is refreshing and it will be appreciated by all those seeking the simple but awful truth.

This little-known book contains the distilled thought of a group of prominent and well-respected lawyers and psychiatrists, who were convinced as early as 1963 that Kennedy was shot by the CIA (at the behest of the military-industrial complex) for his increasingly "soft" stance toward Cuba and the USSR. The book contains facts that are both obvious and sinister, and lends credence to Schotz's assertion that almost everyone in America today "believes" in some conspiracy to kill Kennedy, but doesn't really want to know. The book's only weakness is its occasionally overly-complex language; this is not unexpected, given the profession of its authors. No, this is NOT the ravings of another internet-conspiracy-theorist! Read it and you'll agree.

He strikes an interesting balance between the various Luther mythologies: the "Oak of Saxony" of ideolized Protestantism, the "Devil's Spawn" of reactionary Catholicism, and the mentally disturbed creature of speculative psychology.

It doesn't break any new ground or make any brilliant points, but it's a fun read.

Not only have I read Luther, but I have performed in the play. I played the Role of John Tetzel, the Dominican monk who sells indulgences. I found the play rather boring. Tetzel's scene in Act 2 scene 1 is one of the few entertaining bits of the play though a 4 page monolouge is a lot to memorize.

Osborne, the popular enfant terrible of British drama in the 1950's and 60's (then ignored once his politics became unfashionable in artistic circles) won several awards for this play, an interesting but hardly comprehensive portrait of Martin Luther's career. The title role (originally played by Albret Finney)is challenging for an actor, and intriguing for the reader. The second act--in which Luther fights the Catholic Church--is strong and well-written; the first is also dramatic in its attempt to explain why Luther did what he did; the third, however, by viewing Luther at the end of his life, disappoints because we are only TOLD about his accomplishments rather than sharing them.

The scope of the play is too large--it tries to cover too much time rather than concentrating on one (or a few) specific events. But it is a curious and fascinating play; few are written about religion any more, and for that alone it is engrossing.

Exploring and colonizing the stars is the theme, a classic science fiction idea. But only a couple of stories here have any chance of becoming classics. Many are bland and mediocre.

Two classic science fiction tales, A.E. van Vogt's "Far Centaurus" and Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel, provide the inspiration for a mediocre story and a bland story. The mediocre one is Robert J. Sawyer's "The Shoulders of Giants" with a starship racing to a frontier already settled by humanity. The bland story is Eric Kotani's "Edgeworld" with its discovery of an alien artifact.

Also on the bland side are Jack Williamson's "Eden Star", with family conflicts played out on a planet with light-worshipping aliens, and Edo van Belkom's "Coming of Age" about colonists who discover that their children are doomed to permanent pre-pubescence. The weakest story, in terms of originality, is the entirely predictable "Full Circle" by Mike Resnick and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Even humor can not save this old plot about futilely trying to get rid of one noxious pest by importing another.

On the marginally interesting edge of the spectrum are Paul Levinson's "The Suspended Fourth", about a planet where birdsong may hold the key to avoiding disasters, and Alan Dean Foster's "The Muffin Migration", another of those stories where colonists rue ignoring the natives' advice about the local fauna. Dana Stabenow's "No Place Like Home" has a few plot holes but its black humor and mean-spiritedness make up for it in a tale weighing the relative values of human life and that of alien bacteria.

Both Allen Steele's "The Boid Hunt" and Tom Piccirilli's "I Am a Graveyard Hated by the Moon" are character centered stories. The Steele tale is a deadly coming of age story and an examination of courage before and during a hunt for alien predators. Piccirilli's mixture of virtual reality, nanotechnology, characters who think they're gods, and landscapes haunting characters doesn't quite work but is an enjoyable story reminiscent of Roger Zelazny.

Peter Ullian's "The Vietnamization of Centauri V" is not a strict retelling of the Vietnam War on an alien world but, rather, how three soldiers are differently affected by the carnage around them to which they sometimes contribute, sometimes balk at. Its plot may not be that original, but it rings psychologically true.

The best stories of the anthology, both very much worth reading and both sharing settings from their authors' novels, are Robert Charles Wilson's "The Dryad's Wedding" and Pamela Sargent's "Dream of Venus". Set on the same planet as the setting for his BIOS, "The Dryad's Wedding" features a woman's whose memories and personality were re-set by a trauma that almost killed her when she was sixteen. Nineteen years later she is set to again marry her old husband. Wandering the planet Isis, with its ecosystem lethal to any one not genetically engineered to live there, she has began to notice some strange things . . . like a mound of talking spiders. Set in the same universe as her trilogy about terraforming Venus, Sargent's "Dream of Venus" is about the conflict between artistic integrity and political realities. Rich, aimless, and young Hassan hopes producing a propagandistic "mind-tour" on the Venus project will be a ladder to the kind of Earth-side job his father wants for him. He's partnered with brilliant Miriam, a poor woman from the North America provinces. She has something different in mind other than a simple celebration of the centuries-long terraforming project.

This collection is worth reading despite the bland and predictable tales. There are enough interesting, if flawed, stories here, and a couple of very good ones, to make it worthwhile.

A good collection of stories. We start off with the obligatory Looking-to-the-Future Introduction by one of the editors, which I could have gone without. Must we start every science fiction short story collection by an introduction that mentions the moon landing, Isaac Asimov, and Mars, and tells us to keep dreaming? I mean really. At least it's kept short.

Which is good because it lets us get to the 13 stories in the book, none of which suck, and some which are inspired. Most of the stories are amusing even if they are given dark elements. 'The Muffin Migration', 'Eden Star', and 'Full Circle' are all told with a light narrative even when creepy and disturbing things occur. I like this.

The worst story in the collection and the one that seems to fit least is 'The Vietnamization of Centauri V'. The Message is so obvious and heavy-handed (as I'm sure the title gives away) that it distracts from the story, as you continue making the obvious connections between Centauri and Vietnam. The question I have is since the story is Vietnam set on an alien planet, why not just make it about Vietnam? The other strategy would be to make the connection less obvious and let the reader come to it on his own. The way it is now simplifies it all too much. Not a bad story at all, and there is some nice dialogue about God, but just the worst in this collection.

'The Dream of Venus' is one of the better stories if only because it takes the concept of terraforming Venus and gives it the story a fresh point of view. This, along with 'The Shoulders of Giants' and 'Full Circle' are stories that could have seemed trite or cliched if they weren't written so well.

Even if you're not a fan of sf, this collection should still be enjoyed. If you strip away the sf elements you're left with well-written stories about people. The collection doesn't insult your intelligence and it's solid.

Star Colonies is an anthology of thirteen science-fiction short stories. The theme of this collection is (obviously) human colonies on other worlds. Some deal with human interaction with natives of various forms, some deal with planet-wide superminds, but all are well written and thought provoking. Sadly, unlike many anthologies I have read, this book contains no one story that leaped out at me because to its excellence. But, the stories are all solidly written and enjoyable to read. Overall this is a very good book, and I recommend it to you.

John Fowles is a talented writer, and I think that if you end up buying this book, you will not be disappointed. It has some interesting points in it. Many deep thoughts, some interesting chapters. But, the problem is that I don't think that the story of "Daniel Martin" is a good one. It is not fascinating, atleast it didn't raise my interest. At some point I started to dislike this Daniel Martin.. He seemed boring and dull, just like any stupid, chauvinistic, self-centered, egoistic middle-aged man you can see. Maybe there is a point in describing a person like that, but frankly: I am not very thrilled to read about a man like that, I think I've met too many "daniel martins" in real life!

John Fowles is a great writer. I consider The French Lieutenant's Woman and The Magus to be two of the best novels of the 20th Century. I've read both several times. But I just can't say the same of Daniel Martin.

It started off so well, with it's scenes from the war. But then Daniel grew up and became a painfully self-absorbed creature. Daniel may represent Fowles' picture of late 20th Century man, but it's not mine. Because his portrayal rang so false, I found the book to be merely a well written slog through the angst of the 20th century (sorry--I should be ashamed of that last phrase).

A noble effort, but false in the end. Worst of all, a lot of it is just plain boring.

I continue to hope that Fowles will write another book that will capture my heart and mind like The French Lieutenant's Woman. (Sigh!)

Although I count The Magus as an intriguing, favorite book from the past, I considered Daniel Martin to be equally well written. Though most different in style and content from The Magus, I would rate Daniel paired with Magus, as being the best of Fowles. The plot is compelling, the descriptions of place so fine you may later think you've been there. Not as complex nor finely written as in the Robertson Davies trilogy, but a great read for any time of year! If you like Davies, John Irving, P.Reverte', Palliser, you may well enjoy this novel, though it is less complex than much of the aforementioned authors' works.

I thought The Art of War was an good book - albeit slightly different than what I expected. Its literally a basic survey of military theorists, not a survey of military practice (this can be very weird in terms of structure since major conflicts are usually skipped over - everybody being too busy fighting to write much about war).

A quick read (many of its pages are devoted to large and completely irrelevant illustrations and historical paintings), I thought it was disappointingly light in articulating the core theories of the many theorists it discusses (the maps describing key battles which supposedly illustrate key principles of the various theorists are uniformly awful). Its other great weakness is the author's continual need to gloss over details "which everyone must know" despite the fact that the tone and depth of the material is clearly aimed at one who has no knowledge of the subject whatsoever (like yours truly). Thus the reader is 'spared' arguably unnecessary details such as who stole credit and back-stapped who after the Second World War, but also spared even a brief biographical sketch of Clauswitz (all the more baffling because he considers such information critical to the understanding of many other theorists).

Yet I still liked the book and thought I met my basic needs. Overall I think it presents a very balanced and necessary broad picture of the history of military theory, and I now feel completely comfortable diving into, The Art of War, On War, Strategy, etc. Knowing more or less what period of history they fit into, what those who followed thought of them, how those writings influenced actual conflicts an what conflicts they came from. In short, twenty dollars well spent to bypass a year of reading and cross-referencing just to get a good context for my studies. I really wish this book really delved into detailed explorations of the theories (with good examples and illustrations please!) in which case it would have been easily worth twice the price.

Certainly, for a more detailed introduction and for deeper explorations of military history, one would undoubtedly turn to other sources--preferably original works from Sun Tzu, Jomini, Mahan, and the rest. That said, however, Creveld's book provides a very decent, very solid introduction to and overview of military thought, and I do think that this was the purpose of the volume--to make the material accessible and enjoyable to a very broad audience.

The opening timeline, I thought, was extremely helpful, and the illustrations throughout were, contrary to what some others have said, quite useful and also very vivid. The maps, diagrams, paintings, and photos definitely enhanced the text. All the greats are here, and their ideas are seen in practice and also placed, if briefly, in their broader political and social perspectives.

For those already well versed in military history and strategy, you will probably want to look elsewhere (unless you're a Creveld devotee or like lots of illustrations peppered throughout your history). But if you're looking for a dependable, not-too dense overview of the history of warfare, I would certainly recommend this as a safe starting point.

This book by Van Creveld might disappoint his hard core followers. But not me, or the general public, to the broader audience for which it was intended.
So here we have a very good description of the evolution of military theory and strategy. The basic outline of chinese military thought, of Onasander, Frontinus, Asclepiodotus and others from antiquity util the middle ages, puts things in perspective. Then the author takes us on a excursion through the Middle ages,Machiavelli, Guibert, and some others until Clausewitz.
The importance of Jomini, Liddel Hart, Mahan, Ludendorff and many others is briefly outlined due to the nature and purpose of the book. At the end, for those that want to further explore, the author also has basic suggestions. Those that criticize this book for the brevity of the exploration of certain periods or authors, miss the point. Not everybody can read the direct sources and not everyone is involved in waging war.
For those who seek an understanding of how military thought evolved to the present stage, this is the right book to start with ( or to end, if you are not seriously committed to the matter at hand)

Although the book is interesting, the editing in this book is horrid, which makes me wonder about the validity of this book. For example, in one story, there's a person named Shawn. However, possibly in the next sentence the author spelled the name Sean. Just little things like that. And he had quotes from people who were no longer living. If it's a book based on true crime, there shouldn't be any embellishments. It's was okay, but certainly not the best true crime book.

When I was pregnant, I often wished for twins - just get it out of the way at once. Give each child a sibling.....what was I thinking of? This creepy tour through twins true crime and the irrevocable bonds of dual psychosis was not the usual real life crime book. I became increasingly uncomfortable as I read first the deed and then the personal history of the twins which led up to it. It was interesting and yet garishly tabloid-like and left me feeling even more disturbed than usual. Not for the squeamish.

I read this book in one sitting. I was mesmerized by the content and the depth of the various stories. It was amazing to me how similar a lot of the twins were in regards to the behavoir pattern. I'll definitely be reading it again. The author has a real way of sucking you into the lives of the twins. I just wanted more information. It was a very good book. I could not put it down!!!!!!

There are only a handful of Symbian books available yet, and this one is the best of them. It is not a tutorial but a fairly good reference. It does a good job of explaining concepts as well, for instance I really like the discussion of descriptors in chapter 5.

Those who have no Symbian background will find this book difficult (not because the book is badly written, but because Symbian is a very different platform). I recommend that beginners read documentation and whitepapers available at Symbian's website, take an introductory class and then buy this book for reference. Dont try to learn Symbian programming from this book. You'll be disappointed.

I also think that the authors should revisit and work on a new edition of this useful book. There has been an addition of many new topics since R5, that require good reference material - authors could do the Symbian community a favor by providing that much needed reference material.

This book deserves 3.5 stars now - and if the authors release a new edition, it will get 5 stars from me.

As an introduction to programming on the Symbian platform this book is excellent. If you require detailed information on C++ EPOC programming then it may appear a bit sparse. You can get the required information from Symbian/Psion directly. If you wish to start programming on this platform then this is a great introduction. After reading it you will be able to make the most of the detailed information from Symbian themselves.

First, I should state that I know the author. I better say that in case anyone believes my guilty of bias. However, it must be realised that this book is an official Symbian publication, and as such is the definitive reference book on programming for EPOC devices. Personally I think Martin has done a remarkable job putting all this together. As an ex-Symbian employee I have not done any coding since the early development days of the Psion Series 5.

Recently I have needed to get up to date and get coding again. On a brand new PC, with no EPOC utilities on it, with the help of this book and its accompanying CD (which contains ALL of the official Symbian Software Development Kits), I had genuine freshly-compiled programs running on my Psion Series 5mx PDA within MINUTES. Martins writing style is very accessible, and explains the advanced concepts behind EPOC in a manner in which anyone can quickly understand them.

As an aside, the book is deliberately written so that it does NOT have to be read sitting in front of a computer. As a result, this book makes a fantastic tutorial, as it can be read on the train, in the bath, anywhere when you might have a few minutes spare.

A "must buy" for any individual or company considering programming in C++ any EPOC devices (which will in the near future include both PDA's and mobile phones). Well done Martin!

Seeing the title of this book was a great joy for me. I've gotten a little weary of all the nutrition police screaming that anything other than steamed or boiled food will kill us all.

The author certainly knows his stuff and I was impressed at the variety of foods one can fry and how to fry them as well. Taylor is also telling the truth when he says that if cooked right, fried food is surprisingly not greasy.

I tried my hand at his recipe for Southern Fried Chicken. I followed the instructions to a T: using a deep-fry thermometer and keeping the temp between 365-375 degrees F. The result? The crispiest, most tender and delicious chicken I've fried. Fantastic!

Get this book if you want to re-live the joys of fried food. Recommended.

With today's health consciousness it was interesting to pick up a cookbook named The Fearless Frying Cookbook written by Hoppin' John Martin Taylor. This book contained over 125 recipes that are almost all fried in one fashion or another. Recipes have the ingredients fried in butter, olive oil, peanut oil, lard, sesame oil, and vegetable oil to name a few. The recipes obviously do not offer any nutritional information. Many of the recipes are poorly laid-out making the cook turn the pages to look at the balance of the recipe that may only be a few extra lines.

While many cookbooks keep the recipes to the same or approximate serving sizes, this book goes from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 and 8 to 10 with some recipes designed for 3 and other unusal serving sizes. Almost all of the recipes are quick and easy and contain ingredients readily available at all basic grocery stores. The book is designed with three different font sizes or styles which make it harder on the eyes of the cook, but easier to pull out the ingredients the directions and the prefaces to each recipe.

Recipes include such items as Sopaipillas, Chickpea Fritters with Sorrel, Fried Egg Salad, Fried Calzone, Fried Shark, Sesame Fried Fish, Pan-Fried Crab Cakes, Deep-Fried Turkey Breast, Pan-Fried Pork Chops, Fried Lamb Patties, Okra Fritters, Fried Bananas, and Fried Ice Cream.

Published by Workman publishing, The Fearless Frying Cookbook bills itself as a cookbook with recipes that are "surprisingly greaseless". I give Hoppin' Taylor credit for putting together an entire cookbook on today's most sensitive health topic - frying of foods, but I would have like to see the book contain a few more alternatives to each recipe and the courage to show the nutritional data on each recipe.

Taylor's technical information was extremely helpful; giving me the courage to fire up 16,000 BTU's under a big stockpot of 400 degree oil! His suggestion for using potatoes to clean used oil was a great insight. After cleaning the oil, we tried the "taters". Yummy! Recipes are a nice addition to the terrific informative sections.

AT LAST!!!, a reliable reference BOOK. A self-taught VBA programmer, I know well the frustration of relying on Microsoft's 'help' for Visual Basic in Excel. Not knowing what to ask makes Microsoft's search engines just about useless, and the use of generic names for objects and variables in examples only adds to the confusion. Microsoft's 'on-line' manual lacks detail, adequate exemples, and is cumbersum when trying to review a previous sections.

Green's Excel 2000 VBA Programmers Reference has opened an entire new world for me as a programmer. Green approaches Excel 2000 VBA assuming the reader knows nothing. He presents one simple block of information at a time in a logical, building-block outline and avoids overwhelming the reader. His examples use actual code that when typed in, provide an instant result.

Green does a fair job in the daunting task of providing a quick reference to code through logical grouping, Table of Contents, Index, and page headings. However, to achieve the best results from Green's book, the reader must 'read' the book from start to finish otherwise, you'll be just as lost, maybe not as confused, as using Microsoft's on-line help. Green's organization is such that once finished, the reader will at least know which chapter to start looking for the right information.

I have been an avid supporter of Microsoft Office suites and firmly believe their potential goes largely untapped by businesses costing them thousands, if not millions of dollars in lost production and through the purchase of software which can be done by MS Office. Green's book allowed me to compose a script which translated data from an old database management system to a new system - a process which was quite complex in some areas. This self-help endeavor saved my company several thousand dollars in paying for the vendor to perform the work.

Just getting started, then get Green's book and invest in a few Post-It's to mark the really useful sections. You win, your company wins.

Many programmers are not satisfied that their programs work, but they also want to know if the techniques they employ are the most efficient, or if there is a better means of doing something. For those readers who want to make use of Excels sophisticated object model this is a great book to learn how to do it best. Just about every programming technique I have needed has been covered, allowing me to develop Excel applications written with efficient code that is FAST.

John Green seems to stay one step ahead by pre-empting any questions the reader has, and all the points he covers are backed up with code. Often the author will give several alternative approaches to solving a particular task programmatically, and also explain which approach is more effective / efficient and why.

Although some explanation of basic programming techniques are covered in the "Primer in Excel VBA" chapter, this book is probably best suited to readers who have some programming background (although you don't have to be a pro either).

My one criticism is directed more at Wrox Press than John Green, and is the reason I have only given four stars not five. As has been already mentioned in other reviews, the index is very poor, and is little more than an extended Table Of Contents - a trait in common with other Wrox books I have read. Finding that "golden nugget" in this is a gold mine of information is very time consuming. For example, trying to find the section on the EVALUATE or CALLER methods from the index won't yield much success unless you already know that they are covered in "Chapter Three: The Application Object Model" - this is what you look up in the index - crazy! Finding other entries in the index is just impossible since they are not there.

My suggestion is buy this book, but as you read it through for the first time, use a highlighter on any points that you think may be of significant interest.

Those with no programming backround may find this a little advanced. I first read Walkenbach's Power Programming for Excel 2000 which was very good and then followed with this book so I had some familiarity of the subject matter. I found this book very helpful in teaching me some useful techniques dealing with range names, custom menus, error routines and the Excel 2000 Object Model. Most of the chapters require a solid effort in reading the material and experimenting to really understand it. They also have a website (Wrox.com) that allows you to download code so you don't have to key it in (although I found keying it in helpful toward learning).
Overall, it's not a book to be read casually but requires time, patience and focus. The best approach if you're trying to teach yourself is to read a couple of pages per day AND even if you are an experienced VBA programmer to start with Chapter 1, History of Spreadsheets followed by Chapter 2, Primer for Excel VBA. There's usually a trick or technique that you can pick up that you didn't know prior. Then continue with each chapter after that. Also it is helpful to go back and read the early chapters again as your skill level improves. I found this approach to be a good self teaching tool.

The index falls a little short so the idea of using it as a reference without reading it first will probably not work too well. I think it is better suited as a teaching book that flows logically so you have to be willing to devote the time necessary to each chapter. I usually put a check mark in the margin indicating that I read the material which was helpful if I was away from it for a few days.
I would highly recommend this book to those who are serious about improving their skill as an Excel VBA programer.