Stuart Hall Book

There are several problems with this book. As several others have stated, the book treats most topics just a shade too lightly. If you were originally good at math or have taken it somewhat recently it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but as a self-teaching course it's missing a little in the explanation department. This is mostly a problem, however due to the numerous errors in the book. You see, the practice problems are not worked out in the back of the book. The "example" problems are worked out in the chapter as you go along, and the "real" problems are worked out in the answer section at the back of the book. However, the "practice" problems contain the answers right next to the questions, but no step-by-step walk through to help you figure out where your mistake is in case you get the practice problem wrong. While that might be merely frustrating under normal circumstances, when you compare this to the fact that the book is still full of errors, it can be come infuriating. I kept getting answers "wrong" and it wasn't until I went to a friend of mine with my notebook and tears of anger in my eyes that I was finally told *I* was right--the book was wrong.

An easy solution to this is to include a corrections section on the publishers website. Based on the authors' semi-aggressive comments posted in the amazon.com review section of this book, one can imagine there might be some resistance to admitting to errors in the book.

Until Barron's or the author admits their mistakes and have a corrections section on their website, I say avoid the headache and get a different book.