Rating: 
Summary: Loaded with wisdom.
Review: If you liked Niederhoffer's "The Education of a Speculator", then you will probably enjoy Greenspun's book, and vice versa. Greenspun's book could have been subtitled "The Education of a Webmaster".
Rating:
Summary: practical, ironic, utopian, and fun
Review: I read this book because my dog made friends with Alex (the furry half of the title duo). As someone largely lacking a technical background (I'm a history prof), I expected to be overwhelmed, but found the book quite accessible. Weaving together a vision of the future, a philosphy of design, practical advice, cool photos, and autobiography, the book is at once useful and witty.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book even if you've read it on the Web
Review: Given all the other glowing reviews, I don't have to tell you exactly how remarkably well-written or technically useful or amusing or thought-provoking or money-saving or time-saving this book is. What you may not realize, as I didn't realize until my copy arrived in the mail, is that while the book's CONTENT tells you how great Web publishing can be, the book's FORM shows you how great "dead-trees" publishing can be! This is the best-produced computer book in history, and also serves as a coffee-table book of the work of Greenspun the photographer. The photographs (and there are at least four or five hundred, covering almost every imaginable subject) are 1) artistically and technically impressive 2) better looking in print than on a computer screen because of the higher resolution 3) often subtly and amusingly related to the themes being treated in the accompanying chapter. The 100 best photographs in the book would make a great exhibition in a gallery or museum. So would the next 100. "Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing" is a unique book that ought to win all sorts of awards. Who should buy it? Anyone who uses the Internet (there's a lot of wisdom here even for people who do nothing but surf the Web) or likes good photography. (That ought to be enough to make the book profitable....)
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This book is a weird chimera between an insightful and illuminating analysis of the state of the art of web development (1999 style), and coffee-table picture album. It doesn't seem like a combination that could possibly work, but in some odd way I can't quite wrap my head around, it does, and the only design compromise to offend my tidy mind is that 600 pages of glossy paper is astoundingly heavy. Enough people have praised this book that I don't see what else I can possibly add. Greenspun is forthright, opinionated, and entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Must read, or how you can save millions of dollars ...
Review: As many others, I found Philip's website purely accidentally. I went there looking for a recommendation for a camera to buy. And, I became a frequent reader of the website. Reading this book not only taught me about the web, but also about various other things. If only people read this book before launching their websites, or paying oodles of money for some company to build their website! Above all, this book teaches us to question. And, shows the value of questioning. That is why this is the only book other than SICP that I read it half a dozen times!!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic insights and essential tools
Review: Greenspun brings a refreshing logic and clarity to the world of web publishing. Even without a technical background, I found this book to be tremendously useful. Now when I interact with our technical staff, I can present them with a unifying philosophy that all of us can understand and work with. Equally importantly, I can quickly see when "misguided" web publishers are either wasting my time or wasting my money on useless elements or features. I tell them, "Read Greenspun's book before you lose your job."
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book
Review: More than just another scratch the surface Web design book, this book goes much more in depth to give us info we can actually use when creating high end Web sites run by databases. Philip's an accomplished webmaster and photographer, and his book reflects his talents. I really enjoyed this book. See full review at: http://www.webreference.com/new/990405.html
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this one!
Review: Usually you find two kinds of web-books in bookstores around the world: 1. Books for technical experts, which are very hard to read for "the average person" and 2. Books for "the travelling manager" who likes to get a quick overview of a subject. Mostly this type of books just gives you the buzz words and nothing more. Phil's book satisfies both audiences and it goes beyond this point. It provides the reader with easy-to-understand insights on the power and the actual doing of webpublishing. It's fun to read and it also serves as an excellent reference guide. By the way, it has also got brilliant photographs from the author and helpful illustrations from Mina Reimer. Buy this book before it's sold out . . .
Rating:
Summary: Love the Pictures
Review: The other reviews say about all there is to say, except for the fact that it's worth owning simply for the photographs. If this were positioned as an art book, it'd run over $100 a copy. Leave it to Phil to figure out how to make it up with volume.
Rating:
Summary: If you read one book about the Web, this is the one.
Review: The other day my wife and I were discussing how she should advise her client about their web fire-wall setup. I had some ideas, but wasn't sure about the right way as I don't have that much experience with firewall setup. The same night, while browsing Philip and Alex's Guide casually, I found a good run-down of different options. You may call this serendipity. Yes, it certainly was--which brings me to why you should get your own copy. Philip and Alex cover the entire spectrum of web publishing in both breadth and depth. And they try not to bore you with technobable. So, if you do anything with the Web, you will increase your "luck" in finding sound advice and seasoned opinion by keeping the Guide handy. Don't worry. This book won't embarass you in front of your "normal" friends. With its beautiful design and sideline photos, Philip and Alex's Guide can easily cloak on your coffee table next to that design book you bought in NYC.
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