Rating: 
Summary: Easy to Read , easy to understand.
Review: 'Flash MX in 24 Hours' is a easy to read, easy to understand book to teach anyone -even those who have played in Flash before-a few new tricks. Serious Flash users will know all this stuff, but for a casual Flash user like me it was an eye opener. My moderate Flash knowledge was streamlined, enhanced and solidified by this book.
It is clearly and intelligently written, with a chatty flavour that makes it easy to get stuck into. Phillip Kerman's tips and hints are practical gold!
By simply reading this book on train to and from work I nailed the basics and at night followed the lessons in more detail.
There aren't many computer books you can study without sitting smack in front of your computer rereading every line over and over trying to unravel the oblique tech-talk of the writer who seems to think that you already know everything he does. This book bucks that trend, it is clear and informative.
Suffice to say my Flash site will soon be up and running.
Get this, it's one of the friendliest Teach Yourself Guides out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written and informative
Review: An excellent book for beginners to learn about Flash. I like how the author starts off with "how to make a Flash movie in 30 seconds" and gets the reader involved right away. I particularly like the way he explained animation in later chapters. I learned a lot and highly recommend it to others. It is well-written and informative. He explains the concepts of Flash clearly and concisely. Excellent for both learning and reference.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book, Highly reccommended
Review: Before reading this book, I thought I knew how to use Macromedia Flash 2004. Boy was I wrong! Mr. Kerman did an excellent job composing this book. Not only is it easy to understand, but the sequence he takes you through makes everything come together and actually make sense. I would highly recommend this book even to someone who already knows how to use Flash (or thinks they do). Thank you Mr. Kerman!
Rating:
Summary: Great beginner book
Review: Flash MX is a program where one cannot just poke around and expect results. If you have never come in contact with layers or symbols in other graphics or vector programs, Flash is perhaps very a diffucult program to get used to. This book guides you from a person who knows nothing about flash to a beginner. Trust me, this book only touches the surface in Flash simply becuase it offers almost nothing in the subject of ActionScripting. And that is why I would only recommend this book to absolute beginners. For instance the actionscripting chapters only detail on gotoAndPlay(), startDrag() and onClipEvent(enterFrame) handlers (or whatever you call them) If you want to learn about dynamic event handlers or functions or prototypes, look elsewhere. Putting that aside, this book is written and structured very well. The first few chapters offer an introduction to drawing while the middle of the book is devoted to animating. The last few chapters are about actionscripting and optimizing. Philip Kerman is offering a book that allows a serious Flash programmer to start a wonderful career/hobby.
Rating: 
Summary: Learn faster for free
Review: I am new to flash, but found nothing in the book that either the samples or online tutorials did not already show and teach you to do. I would recommend using those resources first, then buying another book that will show you what flash professional can really do.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Phillip Kerman
Review: I have always been horrified by the idea of venturing in the "Flash World"!... But thanks to this wonderful book, I can now make my own "movies" that are very much appreciated by my friends. I knew nothing before buying this book; and now, thanks to Mr. Kerman and his simple way of teaching, I can move around nicely and even love working with Flash MX!
Charles
Rating:
Summary: A Reference Text for Beginners to Experts
Review: I have recently read 'Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash MX in 24 Hours'and found it an extremely well written book. As a novice with Flash, I found Phillip Kerman's explanations very easy to understand and his tasks easy to follow. As a beginner's text I found the book exceptional, although that is not to say that the book is only for beginners. Potentially complex tasks such as using ActionScript to develop Flash movies are explained well. Phillip Kerman's writing style is open and informative. It is obvious that he has a broad understanding of how Flash MX works, both from a technical viewpoint as well as a user's viewpoint. He provides valuable insight into various aspects of Flash MX which are not available in other areas such as Help files etc. He provides alternatives to performing various tasks, as well as highlighting Flash MX's keyboard shortcuts to improve your efficiency. I highly recommend this book as both a way to learn how to use Flash MX and also as a very useful reference text when developing in Flash MX.
Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction to Flash MX
Review: I just finished reading this book and I definitely recommend it. This book gives you an intro to using Flash MX. If you don't have a lot of time (or patience) to read one of the thick books, this one will do the job to get you up and running in Flash MX. In the next edition (which is apparently coming up), I hope the author goes into a bit more detail on components. I was hoping that he would have the reader create an application utilizing ALL of the installed components (Microsoft calls them controls). But only a couple of the components are covered. I know this is an intro book, but if you're 40% there, why not go all the way? One thing about the book that NEEDS to be fixed is errors. It looks like some of the errors are simply text carried over from the previous edition of the book where Flash 5 is the topic, but doesn't apply to Flash MX. Luckily, most of the errors are self-evident. Now that I finished this book and being interested in Flash MX DEVELOPMENT rather than DESIGN, I have "Flash MX ActionScript Bible" (thick book) waiting to read next which I'm pretty excited about. If you want to focus on Flash MX development, the path is clear after reading this book: you need to buy an ActionScript book. If you're interested in DESIGN however, you have to determine if this book is all you need or if you need to buy another (advanced) Flash MX book (not ActionScript). Take one step at a time though and buy this book first and worry about further reading later. At least when you finish this book, you will have a good grounding in Flash MX so when you're ready for the advanced Flash MX book(s), you will be able to make an informed decision on which book is best for you. Meanwhile, browse in the bookstores for your next book while reading this one and buy at Amazon.com (of course) when ready...
Rating:
Summary: One of he best instructional tech books ever!
Review: I just finished reading this book cover-to-cover. Philip Kerman is the rare tech author who not only knows his subject inside-and-out, has genuine deep real-world experience in the subject, but also is a talented teacher, and writer. A rare combination indeed. He does an excellent job of teaching the program, and covering the tidbits that only someone with a great deal of experience would know. Like why although you can import eps's from illustrator, its better not to. (I was at a dead end on a flash project of my own, and this turned out to be the problem.) The chapter summaries (sorry, but I think summmaries are one of the most important parts of a book like this) are... EXCELLENT. Succinct, yet absolutely NOT just a table-of-contents in sentence form. The examples are realistic. The writing is personal and at times clever. None of the long winded nonsense either. (You know how some tech books go so far as to say "the little arrow is called the pointer. Move the pointer over the word 'File' at the top of the screen, then slide down to 'Print' Aaaaaargh!) Well, Teach Yourself Flash MX does NOT do this. If only Mr. Kerman also had written a book about C++ (the next subject I have to tackle).
Rating:
Summary: Follow the Great Lessons and You'll Learn Flash
Review: I love books that contain a series of lessons that the student must type in and execute, taking them from zero understanding to fairly knowledgable about a product. Flash is too difficult to learn by just "poking around", and you can't learn by reading a reference manual and then confronting the daunting user interface. THIS BOOK gently forces you to use almost every part of flash with those simple lessons. The book has been well proof-read, so I was always able to trust the instructions and get the desired results. Now that I'm done I can try all sorts of exotic things that I see in other books and on the web. Well worth the money!!! (But buy it used, of course...)
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