I am an adult planning to return to college, and I needed to brush up on my math skills which were never very strong to begin with. I read the title and thought this book would be perfect.

Boy, was I wrong.

Chapter 1 launches into complex descriptions of mathematical terms, written in language only those with strong math abilty will understand, and then follows with a string of mathematic principles with the directions "go ahead and memorize these if you want". I counted 3 different examples where the reader is advised to use a calculator to get the required answer.

Isn't the point of a mathmetics book to get the reader to work their own little gray cells, and not to rely on cold silicon?

The quizzes this book offers are terrible. The answer key for each gives only the appropriate answer letter, not a reference to where the reader can look if he/she got it wrong. Simply re-reading the chapters is not sufficient, because the language is so baffling that I find myself getting more confused, rather than finding enlightenment.

This book represents everything that made me hate mathematics in the far distant days of my high school youth. While I haven't yet checked any other books on the subject, I can wholeheartedly recommend that anyone who wishes to get caught up in basic math should LOOK ELSEWHERE!