Rating: 
Summary: From a beginning programmer...
Review: I've been using LaTeX for over five years (cut my eyeteeth on TeX, though, thank you very much). I've just signed on to help typeset a calculus textbook, and knew that it was time to get serious about programming. I had a 3 inch stack of documentation from various corners of the internet in my office, but no book that I had paid for--my old LaTeX book from circa 1994 had been stolen.I was all set to buy two books--Lamport's original and The LaTeX Ccmpanion. After all, you wouldn't read another TeX book but Knuth's, would you? Then I saw this book. Though certainly not for the advanced programmer (like, on the .cls level), this book is great for the beginning programmer (creating .sty files) and intermediate user (hacking .sty files). The reference bits are very useful--"What's the syntax of that command again?" But the examples in the earlier part of the book are even better for programming-by-plaigiarism. There's even a bit on docstrip so you can be a real LaTeX programmer. I don't think I'll buy another book on LaTeX for another five years.
Rating:
Summary: A Convenience Item that I won't trade
Review: Information about LaTeX is abundant. Surfing the web or just visiting CTAN you could find everything in the book I suppose. However, it will take you time and effort. Something you probably don't have. In this book you will find lots and lots of information, more than many would need. To find information is extremely easy. I could quite honestly say that I've, in the 8 months or so that I own the book, never searched more than a minute or two for any information regarding LaTeX that I needed. Granted, I'm not a power user of LaTeX, but for the average LaTeX user it is excellent value for money. I think it all boils down to: It's so convenient that I won't trade it for double the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Publishing is never fun, but this makes it better.
Review: It's never fun doing the publishing aspects of technical documents, but this at least takes some of the annoyance out of it. I think the index and table of contents could be expanded to make it easier to pinpoint the section that will answer your specific question. Sometimes i have to look around too much to find my answer, but its a good starter book and one to keep handy for sure.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy it. There are better ones.
Review: Just try to understand how to make a table from this book. It gives you a very complicated example from the very beginning, without explaining some parts of it. Then it goes on about some other even more complicated examples without explaining completely the first one. At the end of the chapter they suggest you do some even more complicated exercise. Frankly appalling.
Rating:
Summary: Good reference but poorly organized.
Review: Kopka and Daly do an excellent job covering the breadth of features found in LaTeX. Unfortunately, they try too hard to satisfy users of both the old and new system. This effort unnecessarily complicates an already complicated topic. They should have separated features from the old system into a separate section or a separate text.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reference. **Not** for learning LaTeX
Review: See my review below (May 9,2000) where I commented how Word does a lot of things LaTeX does. It has got so many negative votes (3/26) that I decided to update the info. Here goes.. First and foremost, this book is not something you should start learning from. I started learning it in May and became fully comfortable using it for a lot of things by mid-october. So if you plan to write a thesis using it, don't jump in. Consider the following things before starting using it: a) Does your thesis/dissertation have a lot of formulas and mathematics? This is where Word is weak, but be sure to investigate alternatives like Scientific Word. b) Are you willing to put in a lot of effort learning the package? The rewards are well worth it, but it is also probable that you will be frustrated a lot. This book proved an invaluable reference for me once I knew the basics. But I can honestly say that I *did not* learn from it. My major source of learning was the internet (for basic info) and the comp.text.tex newsgroup where beginners' questions are answered very promptly by experts. By the way, I did finish writing my thesis using LaTeX and it looks beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Well organized and comprehensive
Review: This book has supplanted Lamport's publication on my reference shelf. It is an excellent resource on the LaTeX system.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific LaTeX book, could be better organized
Review: This book is a great introductory/intermediate text on the document processing system of the '80s that till today can beat Microsoft Word hands-down for any serious documentation. You will not need to buy another book for most of your LaTeXing. I wish the authors had followed a gradual slope from introductory to advanced use of LaTeX. Instead their work reads more like a reference. They tell you everything about a topic and then move on to the next one. Regardless, an excellent book. If you are in the minority that wants to produce excellent formatted documents, and are deeply annoyed with Microsoft Word (or don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for it) then you must read this book. ...
Rating:
Summary: Best LaTeX book I know of
Review: This book is the best LaTeX book I know of. Its breadth and depth of information is superior to any other book I know of and the book is easy to understand. I first reach for _A Guide to LaTeX_, my second choice is _The LaTeX Companion_, my last choice is _LaTeX: A Document Preparation System_. My advice: buy this book, if it doesn't answer all your questions buy _The LaTeX Companion_.
Rating:
Summary: Best reference around
Review: This book not only gives the user an excellent discussion of LaTeX -- taking the reader from first steps to more advanced topics -- but also provides an excellent overview of some of the more useful and popular packages. Highly recommended.
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