I have been a professional C programmer for over ten years and I own over a dozen C books. This is my favorite. It is not designed to babysit or spoonfeed the lazy, but if you want practical advice on how to write good C programs \ - which is what the title implies, is it not? - this is the book you need. It is fairly complete, discussing not just syntax but also a development approach and the most common errors you'll see as a professional programmer. If you are an absolute beginner and know nothing of programming, you probably shouldn't be reading this book, but frankly, why would a beginner start with C anyway? If you have some programming knowledge or know some C and want to be a better programmer, buy this book. Although there are areas it does not cover well, I think it's the best all-around C book I own. I highly recommend it.