ISBN0321227573

I just got done with taking my final in College Algebra using this textbook. I was extremely frustrated and stressed during the whole course because I just couldn't get it! This book did not explain enough and just quickly glossed over or assumed that you knew the info already. Definitely not written for students, but for professors already gifted in algebra!! Needless to say, I struggled through this whole course. I had to buy three other algebra books just to understand what this textbook left out. I would not recommend this textbook at all!

After reading the previous reviews for this book, I realized one question kept surfacing. Why? Why did my instructor choose this book?
A very likely answer is this book could have been chosen based on the margin of profit the school bookstore makes off of it. I don't know this for certain, but I have encountered similiar problems with texts chosen when I was in college. A useless, high-priced text book was often a sign of a greedy college bookstore. I would tend to suspect this when we were required to spend quite a bit for inferior texts--esp. ones that changed editions often (requiring you to buy the 'newest' book). The instructor may have had little to do with the choice.
I don't have much to say about this particular book, but when in this type of situation there are a few steps you can take. Attend every class and take good notes. If you notice most of the other students don't understand a particular concept, go to the instructor and ask that the lesson be repeated. Use the book only to work the assigned problems- use your notes for the methods.
Hope this helps!

I'm getting ready to take Intermediate Algebra using a text by this author. I will be required to take College Algebra next term and am hoping, after reading your reviews, that this is NOT the book that will be required for the class. Did anyone get value from "math help" websites? Thanks!

This text is a pathetic excuse for educational material. It gives meager examples and many are not even applicable to the chapter exercises. By far this is the poorest written text I have encountered in three years of college.

I am by no means a math wizard. I am, however, able to learn things on my own fairly well. This book makes that nearly impossible though. This book gives very few examples, and the few that they do give rarely give any clues to what needs to be done to solve the equations. It also fails to really teach anything. It's by no means for a student that is going to be going through an online course where they won't be interfacing with an instructor. I would not have enrolled into the course for online schooling if I had know this books was going to be this terrible. I strongly don't recommend this book!!!