when i decided to throw myself into poser a few weeks ago, i was getting frustrated by not having a good syllabus along with all the tutorial links i had collected, and i spent some time with two of those books in a local bookstore. IMO: practical poser 6 is everything an application guide should be, useful for complete beginners through advanced users. it's well organized, clearly written, and it goes into plenty of detail for the many options in poser, including some of the more esoteric ones. i bought it. the first character i put together with its help is in my gallery; i think it's pretty decent for a first effort -- without this book it would have been nowhere as good. both thumbs up. poser 6 revealed on the other hand isn't worth the paper it's printed on. it doesn't reveal much of poser that the included manual hasn't already explained. i don't know who the target audience is supposed to be, maybe completely computer-illiterate and somewhat intellectually stunted people. both thumbs and big toes down.