Rating: 

Cascading Style Sheets - the Definitive Guide -- sets out to fulfill a very important function: to explain the W3C specifications for CSS -- that is, to explain how Cascading Style Sheets works, in minute detail.

However, while the author's conceptions and language are up to the task, the book isn't. It has serious flaws: the absence of any warning that a good deal of its contents just don't work in Internet Explorer; the frequent introduction of terms prior to their definition; and some really abysmal illustrations (O'Reilly's trademark minimalist graphics, which may work well in some contexts, but which frequently misinform or just plain fail in this book). These flaws create endlessly frustrating obstructions, so that the reader who cares has to expend twice the time and energy pursuing alternative sources, while he or she who doesn't will just abandon the task.

This is a real shame, for - as far as I know - there are no other texts out there that try to cover the same territory. Were O'Reilly and the author to tackle these flaws in earnest, this could be an amazing book. But my own experience was very frustrating -- so much so that I was left feeling resentful at such an abuse of my good intentions, time and energy.