Rating: 
Summary: Meant almost exclusively for New Age folks
Review:
The book is fun to read but is very ordinary otherwise.
Since it was never meant to be spiritually engaging anyway, the text is quite weak in terms of several other ways that it could have introduced Buddhism in a more concrete style.
For instance, it fails the reader miserably while giving the historical context of Buddhism, which is anyway of less interest than the Buddha's Dharma per se, but is easier to introduce the subject with. E.g. the Indian part of history (the Sakyamuni Buddha never left India, nor did Buddhism for centuries after his parinirvana) is very wishy-washy.
An absolute minimum knowledge of Buddhist history could prevent hilarious shocks like the "enlightened patronage of Ashoka (236 BC) and his son Kanishka (123 CE)" (p.22) unless the gestation period of Asoka's queen spanned over several centuries, dynasties, and ethnicities.
The absolutely fascinating history of the great effort made by several hundreds of Indian scholars visiting distant, cold and foreign lands to teach in China and Tibet and to translate the texts into the local languages is almost missing. Equally conspicuous is the absence of the great efforts of the Chinese and Tibetan scholars, like Xuanzang, who visited India to learn Buddhism.
This history of Buddhism becoming a world-religion is much too fascinating to be blind about (as the communists in China tend to do). For instance, tracking of the spread of the Indian Dhyana meditation over various lands - Cha'an in China to Son in Korea to Zen in Japan. Or the export of the Indian Kalari texts and arts by Bodhidharma to Shaolin and forming Kung fu based on the same. Fabulous historical accounts, since the author is touching upon these anyway.
For example, the foremost and sacred of the pilgrimage spots in India are plain mis-spelt, which goes on to speak about the seriousness of the author's homework. These are the authentic places where the Buddha actually lived, and must be respected even if these are not in the US.
Suffixes likes like 'nagar' or 'griha' are proper Sanskrit words which become meaningless if spelt otherwise. If even looking up a tourist brochure was enough to correct Kushingar (Kushinagar), Shravastri (Shravasthi), or Rajgriya (Rajgriha), why be lazy?
Rating: 
Summary: "Taste & see."
Review: Baffled by Buddhism? Well, here you are! Don't let the flippant title deter you. This marvelously complete guide is a bountiful resource not only for the many who are new to the path, but also for those who have made a bit of the journey already. I've identified myself as a Buddhist for almost ten years; yet, not willing to pursue scholarly discourse, my actual knowledge has been sorely lacking. Gach has now provided me with answers to all I wondered about, or didn't even know I wondered about. There is seemingly enough information here to keep my monkey mind chattering away for a good long time. And while swinging around in the pages, I just may learn how to quiet that noisy creature. Gach's extensive work has been amazingly organized into an easy-to-read format. Twenty chapters and 400-plus pages traverse the historical Buddha and his time under the Bodhi tree, how to meditate, food issues, Dharma, Sangha, the different schools, and how to engage the world. I simply don't know why another Buddhist guidebook ever needs to be written! Perhaps The Complete Idiot's Guid is the best format after all; in true Buddhist manner, it is as a complete idiot that one should begin anything new
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad at all
Review: Being a very new follower of Buddhism, I can only review this from a the approach of a novice. Having said that - it left me feeling a little...empty. Although Gach really does bring together some of the key concepts of Buddhism, he never seems to take the time or effort to explain the more indepth ideas and concepts that are so vital, even to a novice reader.
Topics (somewhat lightly) discussed include:Vipassana, Tibetan, Pure Land and Zen Buddhism
Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path Buddhism in America today
Compassion and overcoming anger Obviously this doesn't give a concise list of the material covered, but quite honestly, the book doesn't really touch on much else. It's not all bad - to a complete beginner, it would at least bring forth some of the key concepts of Buddhism - but even new readers are well advised to pick up other books, such as Thich Nhat Hanh's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, or perhaps one of The Dalai Lama's many texts.
Rating: 
Summary: An good overview and a start on the White Path
Review: First, one has to accept what this book's (almost all of the series)
purpose is: overview and a guide/introduction. Also you have to
consider the style of these Idiot books (informal; light; humorous) as well. Yeah, that's Right View :-) In that light, this book is a very good (and most of the time funny)
introduction to Buddhism. It covers the basics: 4 Noble Truths,
8fold Noble Path and covers the basics of the major sects. All in
a relatively easy to understand manner in a conversational tone. Of course, one can quibble about the depth of detail (and I do),
but again, I don't think that was the purpose of the book. Yes, the books does slow down and gets less
cohesive once the author gets into the impact on other disciplines
(and that's what makes me take one star off), but overall, I would recommend this to anyone curious about Buddhism overall. My only major quibbles are that it would have been nice if the
author mentioned where to go for more information about the sect in the text. In Gassho,
Rating:
Summary: Started off well, but lost momentum
Review: Gary Gach does a good job of discussing the basics of Buddhism - the Three Jewels, the Eightfold Path, etc., but once he delves into the various branches of Buddhism and the different ways of meditating, he gets pretty vague and gets very annoying with the silly jokes. A much better book is "Buddhism for Beginners", written by a Tibetan Buddhist nun. It's clear, consise, and doesn't get bogged down in a lot of Sanskrit or Pali terminology that only confuses the beginner. The question and answer format is full of excellent analogies. As for the other books in the Complete Idiot's series, I read the one on Islam and it is EXCELLENT. Reading this volume after the Islamic book was a big disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time On This Book !
Review: I can't comment on the whole book, because I only got a few chapters into it. I have read a few other books on Buddhism, so I know a little about the subject. This book is hard to follow, the stupid remarks are annoying, and I think I found some grammer errors.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time On This Book !
Review: I can't comment on the whole book, because I only got a few chapters into it. I have read a few other books on Buddhism, so I know a little about the subject. This book is hard to follow, the stupid remarks are annoying, and I think I found some grammer errors.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent overview for the beginner, or for a refresher
Review: Initially, I had great skepticism - c'mon a "Complete Idiots" book to get me started down the Buddhist path? Really? It just seemed so...so...*American*. But, I had to start somewhere, and my good friend Ben recommended it to me, so I gave it a shot. Now, having finished the book, I realize I owe both my friend and Gary Gach an immense debt of gratitude - this book is really amazing. One problem I (and many others) have had with other beginning Buddhism books is that the format isn't one that's easy to soak up; the flow isn't as logical as this one's, or not enough detail or context is given to drive points home to a more understandable place. Gach has done a phenomenal job of keeping things simple enough not to overwhelm a newcomer, yet goes into enough detail to keep things interesting and real. Gach goes beyond teaching the basic belief system into giving examples of how to apply what we've learned in real life, and where else to look for more information. He offers dozens of anecdotes, many koans, a plethora of historical tales and data points, a glossary, and a multitude of other items. One small criticism I have of this book is that he very often doesn't cite his sources when giving statistics. Throughout the book, Gach returns to important concepts, but not in a manner which I found to be condescending at all - it was merely helpful to be reminded of X, Y, and Z at certain points throughout the book, because they were important to the current subject. The author gives the reader a very solid foundation to build his or her beliefs upon, should the reader desire, including a rich and detailed historical background of Buddhism throughout the world. I will be unreservedly suggesting this book to anyone who expresses an interest in this spiritual path.
Rating:
Summary: AN excellent overview for the beginner, or for a refresher
Review: Initially, I had great skepticism - c'mon a "Complete Idiots" book to get me started down the Buddhist path? Really? It just seemed so...so...<b>American</b>. But, I had to start somewhere, and my good friend Ben recommended it to me, so I gave it a shot. Now, having finished the book, I realize I owe both my friend and Gary Gach an immense debt of gratitude - this book is really amazing. One problem I (and many others) have had with other beginning Buddhism books is that the format isn't one that's easy to soak up; the flow isn't as logical as this one's, or not enough detail or context is given to drive points home to a more understandable place. Gach has done a phenomenal job of keeping things simple enough not to overwhelm a newcomer, yet goes into enough detail to keep things interesting and real. Gach goes beyond teaching the basic belief system into giving examples of how to apply what we've learned in real life, and where else to look for more information. He offers dozens of anecdotes, many koans, a plethora of historical tales and data points, a glossary, and a multitude of other items. One small criticism I have of this book is that he very often doesn't cite his sources when giving statistics. Throughout the book, Gach returns to important concepts, but not in a manner which I found to be condescending at all - it was merely helpful to be reminded of X, Y, and Z at certain points throughout the book, because they were important to the current subject. The author gives the reader a very solid foundation to build his or her beliefs upon, should the reader desire, including a rich and detailed historical background of Buddhism throughout the world. I will be unreservedly suggesting this book to anyone who expresses an interest in this spiritual path.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent overview for the beginner, or for a refresher
Review: Initially, I had great skepticism - c'mon a "Complete Idiots" book to get me started down the Buddhist path? Really? It just seemed so...so...*American*. But, I had to start somewhere, and my good friend Ben recommended it to me, so I gave it a shot. Now, having finished the book, I realize I owe both my friend and Gary Gach an immense debt of gratitude - this book is really amazing. One problem I (and many others) have had with other beginning Buddhism books is that the format isn't one that's easy to soak up; the flow isn't as logical as this one's, or not enough detail or context is given to drive points home to a more understandable place. Gach has done a phenomenal job of keeping things simple enough not to overwhelm a newcomer, yet goes into enough detail to keep things interesting and real. Gach goes beyond teaching the basic belief system into giving examples of how to apply what we've learned in real life, and where else to look for more information. He offers dozens of anecdotes, many koans, a plethora of historical tales and data points, a glossary, and a multitude of other items. One small criticism I have of this book is that he very often doesn't cite his sources when giving statistics. Throughout the book, Gach returns to important concepts, but not in a manner which I found to be condescending at all - it was merely helpful to be reminded of X, Y, and Z at certain points throughout the book, because they were important to the current subject. The author gives the reader a very solid foundation to build his or her beliefs upon, should the reader desire, including a rich and detailed historical background of Buddhism throughout the world. I will be unreservedly suggesting this book to anyone who expresses an interest in this spiritual path.
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