I've now gone through the whole book once and am now doing it for a second time.It really has helped me a lot. It won't turn you into Eric Clapton in 56 days, but it does give you a great foundation to build on. I've picked up most of the basics and learned to read tablature which I'm very pleased with. He doesn't spend much time teaching you to read music but the tablature and the accompanying CD should help you to understand enough to follow the exercises accurately.You'll need a couple of accessories like a tuner and a metronome - or a drum machine - but apart from that this book is pretty much all you need to get you started playing guitar.Well worth the money.