Rating: 
Summary: The thicker, the better? Not!
Review: I find this book very useful. It is a thin book for a technical book, but what's good about being thick when there are too much unnecessary information is in the book?This book is thin and to the point. It may not standout in your bookshelf, but it surely does the job of being a reference book.
Rating:
Summary: Over the top!
Review: I often hestitate to review books because I'm an author and because most of the books I really like are written by my friends. Still, C# Essentials was so over the top that I had to say something. Disclaimer: Peter and I both work for DevelopMentor, so I may be biased. This book is *not* an in depth look into every nook and cranny of .NET, which is why I can recommend it so highly. It's a great overview of C#, touching on more than just the essentials, as well as a great overview of .NET with just a little about the .NET Framework thrown in for good measure. I would absolutely use this book as a way to get started in any of the important technologies in .NET and then branch out using the docs, the samples and the mailing list [1]. The shear approachability of this book, coupled with no errors that I noticed, made this book a joy to read. Well done! [1] http://discuss.develop.com/dotnet.html
Rating: 
Summary: Get into C# quickly.
Review: If you are interested in programming in C#, just curious or want a reference text then this is a very good book. Being at around 185 pages this book gets right to the point, so it is for programmers familiar with languages like Java, C/C++ or those that are experienced. It contains a language reference and introduction into the .NET framework and class library. It does not cover using Visual Studio .NET and RAD application development. Topics pertaining to the .NET framework are restricted to a few areas, with a few small examples, with pointers given to where to look in the framework SDK online help. If you want to pursue your interest in C# then you can get a more thorough book to follow C# Essentials, but this is still useful as a small quick reference to the language.
Rating:
Summary: C# distilled
Review: If you want to learn C#, I'd recommend this book as your first reference. It's clean, clear, and to the point.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: The book is concise but complete. I think it's targeted to people who already know Java or C++, or at least the basics of object oriented programming. It also covers some concepts of the .NET framework.
Rating:
Summary: Short and to the point
Review: The joy of O'Reilly books is that are concise. You can pick up this book and read it in two days and start writing C# code immediately. This book covers all of the major elements of C#, but without lots of handholding. If you're a beginning developer, this will be a poor choice. However, if you you're a fairly experienced C++ developer, I would strongly recommend this book. I've printed out the C# Language Reference. I know all the answers are in it somewhere, but it's nearly 300 pages of dense writing. Rather than wading through it, I paid $15 for this book and I'm now writing C# code steadily and easily. I refer back to this book for quick reference questions (what's the format for setting a property, what does a COM interop call look like etc.) and then go online or to the language spec for deeper questions. If you want to get up to speed on C# quickly, this book should meet your needs well.
Rating: 
Summary: Too short to be useful
Review: This book is too short for even a reference guide. It looks like a customized overview of the language and definitely cannot be put in the "... in a nutshell" category. The book is practically useless for anything. Don't even consider using it to learn C#. I couldn't imagine that O'Reilly might come up with such a weak publication.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Concise Book
Review: This is an excellent introduction to C#. I bought this book to start learning C# and begin the process of understanding .NET. The authors take you through C# step by step, so that you can get up to speed very quickly. In shopping around for C# books, I was a bit taken back by the sheer size (number of pages) of some C# books. I turned to the Essentials book, because I wanted to get a quick grasp of the material without wading through hundreds of pages. In the end, it only takes about a week to get through this book, and you can start writing your very own C# programs very quickly. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Distilled, elegant
Review: This is perhaps not the best FIRST book on C#, but it is a great small reference. Its style is terse and elegant, with a minimum of examples. If you liked books like "The C Programming Language" and Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language" then I'll bet you'll appreciate this one.
Rating:
Summary: My go-to book
Review: When I first got into C# programming, I bought about $...worth of books on the subject. This has become my "Go-to" book - I go to it first, and usually don't have to bother with the other books.
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