Subject: Book Review: "Zen and the Art of the Internet" by Kehoe
From: Rob Slade <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 14 May 1994 15:24:03 MDT

BKZENINT.RVW  940216
 
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[email-masked] - Phyllis Eve Bregman
Beth Mullen-Hespe [email-masked]
Pat Carol 317-581-3743
"Zen and the Art of the Internet", Kehoe, 1994, 0-13-083033-X
[email-masked]
 
Kehoe starts out by quoting E.B. White's exhortation to students of
English usage from "The Elements of Style" with, "Get the *little*
book!  Get the *little* book!  Get the *little* book!"  Sound advice.
It applies equally to those just starting out on the Internet.  "Zen"
is a mere pocketbook in comparison to some of the other telephone
directory-sized guides, but a pocket guide is usually what is needed.
Kehoe has done a marvelous job of presenting the essentials, plus a
few interesting tidbits, while holding off from reproducing reams of
resources from those already available on the net, itself.
 
"Zen" is, itself, one of the very widely known and highly regarded
resources on the net.  It was also the first introductory guide to the
Internet published in popular book form.  Therefore, I am rather
shocked to note that this third edition, copyright 1994, proudly
boasts of over 50,000 copies sold.  I'd be delighted to do that well
as an author, but it indicates that the book is nowhere near as
well-known in the general populace as it deserves.
 
I should, having given these accolades, admit to a decided bias: this
is my type of book.  Those who are not happy with concepts and only
wish to know what button to press may find the book frustrating.
Mail, ftp, news, telnet and a number of other tools are covered, but
Kehoe does not reproduce, wholesale, help screens from elm and tin.
Since the specific programs you will use all have help features, Kehoe
evidently does not feel the need to waste paper explaining how to use
a program that you may not, indeed, need to use.  I agree, and it is
refreshing to see at least one Internet guide which gives clear
explanations of the essence of the Internet tools without having to
fill space with specifics which you will be able to get from the
programs themselves.  (In response to the first draft of this review,
Kehoe stated that Internet providers should be also providing
documentation for any system specific features.  He also mused on the
bewilderment newcomers must feel when confronted with a shelf full of
400 to 800 page guides for a system whose basics are supposedly fairly
simple.  Again I concur.)
 
Probably for the same reason, Kehoe does not reproduce an annotated,
or even expurgated, .newsrc file or "list of lists."  Some may say
that this is a lack on the part of the book and that it is less
interesting for not providing such a directory.  These resources are,
however, readily accessible on the net (Kehoe tells you where to find
them) and cannot, in book form, be anything more than an outdated and
possibly misleading first indicator.
 
There is, of course, nothing wrong with the large guides with all of
their lengthy references.  As the same time, most newcomers will want
a gentler, smaller introduction, rather than being dumped into a vat
of data.  For those to whom the sound of few pages flipping is as
music, this is definitely your book.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994   BKZENINT.RVW   940216. Permission is
granted to redistribute in TELECOM Digest and associated mailing lists/
news groups.
 
Postscriptum: sadly, Brendan Kehoe was recently involved in a major
traffic accident.  In one of the network ironies, the flood of email
condolences to his personal mailbox had created something of a problem
for friends trying to help out.  Mid-January, however, saw a dramatic
improvement, and when I sent him the draft review he was beginning to
work on the backlog of mail.  (He responded far faster than many
authors who have no such excuse :-) By the time you read this it is
possible he may be back at work.  (He still has a huge backlog,
though, so don't expect any immediate answers :-)

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