He has screwed over people over and over. It is amazing how many times he manages to get away with reselling the same slobber in new packaging too. I do have one of his books here, that I bought before I realized who I was dealing with. In it he writes a nice long diatribe on realistic texturing. Dirt. That is the key. Well hell, I know that. I did not need a 25,000 word article to tell me. Then that dirt article he has repackaged and sold over and over and over. The only person I can think of who does the exact same thing and gets away with it just as much, is in fact one of his 3d University Site/Creature Site co-horts, and it is a shame, since she is very good in her own way. Eni Oken. She too was involved in the scam, and seems to be a major contributor to his books, and if one looks at her products for sale one will find every few months she takes the same slobber and polishes it off and resells it. To a different mag, or a different book, etc. Most of the supposed book authors are in fact not that good. I CAN recommend three EXCELLENT books, aimed at Max users. Wonderful books. Not enough to be said for them. 3d Studio Max 3.0 Workshop by Duane Loose 3d Studio Max 3 Media Animation by John P. Chismar 3d Studio Max Professional Animation by Angie Jones. Now there is a third series, those put out by Bell. He also tends to repackaging a bit, but not as badly as the others, and the man has real talent and teaches things every 3d artist needs to know. He does the 3d Studio Max FX series. I also like the 3d Studio Max Effects Magic series too. When buying these books, go down to your bookstore, and sit a while. Open them up. Read a bit. Find one you can understand. Do NOT buy them based on the pretty color renderings in the center, cause chances are that is not the project you will be taught to make. Go by what they are really teaching. There are also tons of excellent tutorials on the net, it just takes hunting them down. Sometimes time costs us less than money, sometimes not. I like to read myself to sleep studying how to do better Boolean's, so a book comforts my hands in bed ;P Computers do not feel so great when held in the hand whilst prone ;P