I was really expecting to enjoy this book, but I am now having trouble finishing it. The author seems to enjoy telling us how much he knows about CSS and not how we can apply the subject to our own web designs. I also think the book needed some kind of editor or proofreader. Take the following snippet:"The left (or right) outer edge of a floated element must be to the right (or left) of the right (left) outer edge of a left-floating (or right-floating) element that occurs earlier in the document's source, unless the top of the later element is below the bottom of the former."I wanted to tear my eyes out reading that....

I'm sorry to say that after getting halfway through this book, I got disgusted with it and am now shopping for another. What bothered me is that the author manages to make CSS look horribly complicated, when the fact is, the authors of CSS never intended it to be so. A book of this sort should start by trying to show how to use CSS in a practical, simple way, to gain the reader's trust that this technology is not off the deep end. Instead, Eric seems to spend most of his effort and time explaining "what can go wrong", which demonstrates his own knowledge of CSS but does little to transfer that knowledge to us.

I had to buy this book for an Intro to Web Design class and many of my classmates and I agreed that this is not an easy book to follow. It dives into details without laying out the most basics first. In general, the lack of structure and more complicated than necessary language was confusing and maybe one with previous CSS knowledge would know what he's talking about but for a beginner it was quite unhelpful.

Working my way through this book, I found that on almost every page I would be scribbling remarks about sloppy, useless, incomplete, redundant, sometimes even conflicting pieces of text.Admitted, there is a lot of information in this book, but there is a great deal missing as well. When describing some CSS feature, usually first a brief (incomplete) definition is given, and then the feature is further explained by giving examples. Working your way through the examples, and combining remarks spread out over several pages, you usually find that not all aspects of the feature are covered. You'll still need to consult the specification at www.w3.org . And that spec comes with better examples, as well.Save your money, buy some other book.

Note that there are at least 3 editions of this book. Check for the latest edition if you want the latest.

It's the last O'Reilly book I get!This "guide" does not mention what elements are supported by what browsers. Doesn't even mention what is part of the CSS1 or CSS2 standards! (it only mentions these items sometimes within the text, but nowhere else, not even in the pourly formatted reference at the end of the book).It does a good job detailing how to use the elements but that's about it.I think that Thomas Powell's "HTML & XHTML, The Complete Reference" does a excellent job explaining CSS and certainly has a better CSS reference in the 2 chapters dedicated to CSS (it's an XHTML book after all, so don't get it if all you need is CSS).I have not checked other books written by Meyer but this 2nd edition is not a "Definite Guide"!Check your bookstore and do a good comparison before spending money on this book!