I bought this book to help clarify some of the concepts my text book was muddy in explaining. This book is an excellent supplement to an over-complicated text book. It breaks concepts down into layman's terms and really brings the subject matter down to a level that most "normal" people are able to readily comprehend.

Considering Organic Chemistry is probably one of the toughest subjects to dumb down, this book does an awesome job at it! I really found it to be very helpful when I needed additional help over something my professor hadn't cleared up so well in lecture. I have recommended this book to many of my fellow classmates and will continue to do so.

This book does simplify some important concepts in Organic Chemistry, but it does not cover everything you may need. For example, when naming compounds, the book explains in detail how to name skeletal structures, but it left out some important rules for naming cyclic compounds. It will not clarify everything, but it should still help if you are lost.

I bought this book thinking it might be helpful over the course of my Orgo I class, however, this book turned out to be way tooooo Basic to be of any help at all. I also thought that the order and ways which the reactions and concepts were not done well at all. Poor coverage of electrophilic addition.

I bought this book thinking it might be helpful over the course of my Orgo I class, however, this book turned out to be way tooooo Basic to be of any help at all. I also thought that the order and ways which the reactions and concepts were not done well at all. Poor coverage of electrophilic addition.

This book is great if you are a pre-professional health science major and need to learn the inner workings of Organic Chemistry. It gives you some insight before you take the class on how to succeed in studying in it, so you can make that "A" that your admissions board will be proud to see on your transcript. I highly recommend it.

This book really helped me understand the course by simplifying a lot of the topics.

Had been a while siince i took general chemistry and so found organic a little hard. My professor suggested buying this book it was the best $19.99 that i ever spent. Too bad there was no guide for Organic 2!

Needing a supplement to my Organic Chemistry textbook I picked this up, which was more or less a waste. It simply doesn't provide enough to better understand college level Organic Chemistry, maybe High School. It read and felt like a dumbed down bad textbook, with bad attempts at humor thrown in; maybe to dull up the reading. Don't get me wrong there are helpful parts of the book... just few and far between. After my disappointment I picked up Organic Chemistry Demystified, a definite college/grad level supplement which was very good, and the quizzes helped immensly.

This book is an excellent way to begin to learn Organic Chemistry. The book covers most of what you will learn in Organic Chemistry I, and ends by covering the first few topics in Organic Chemistry II.

It expounds the material in such a way that almost any body can understand it. I personally struggle quite a bit with science, and often find textbooks (and even review books) convoluted and confusing. This book however, really lays some good foundations to begin to learn Organic Chemistry. It explains the basics in a clear, concise manner. The writing style is easy and conversational, so it is possible to read the chapters fairly quickly. I find that reading this book really saves me time in the long run. I read this book first, then I read through my textbook and attend lecture. Since I have already begun to understand the basic concepts, I can focus more on details. This really cuts down the amount of time I have to spend reading and re-reading my textbook. I develop an understanding for the material more quickly and more thoroughly than by just reading the textbook and going to lecture. It also includes lots of little tips on how to solve organic chemistry problems that also save you time in the long run.

However, make no mistake, this book is NOT intended to teach you everything you need to know in Organic Chemistry. I believe it is best used as an introduction or supplement to lay the foundations for more detailed material covered in textbooks and in lectures. In other words, this book could be the skeleton, and your textbook and lecture would be the muscles, ligaments, etc. that flesh out the skeleton. That said, I have found this book to be extremely helpful. I wish that they have an Organic Chemistry II for Dummies!

I found the book extremely helpful. I used it as a supplemental review to help me study for my Organic Chemistry Final and for the Medical College Admission Test. The book covers the foundational concepts thoroughly and in an easy to read, easy to understand, format. It is no susbstitute for a real Organic Chemistry class, but it is a close second and if you read it alongside of your textbook you'll be amazed at how much easier the class becomes. After reading it, I found that I was actually able to predict the direction of many reactions, even though I had never seen that particular reaction before. I was using the authors website, [...] All in All a great buy.

The book is helpful, but like most in the "for dummies" series, it just doesn't present ENOUGH. I'd been out of school for a few years, and was really looking for something supplemental outside of class. This book, what there is of it, does help, but there isn't nearly enough of it. In their effort to shorten it to make it seem less of a textbook, it left me feeling rushed, and lacking something; especially at test time. More examples, problems and solutions, and descriptions would have been great.

Very good explanation of the BASICS in Orgo I. It will not go into detail and you will need the book and not all will be there. A better book for more information would be Organic Chemistry as a Second Language. It has the second semester in another book if you need a continuation. These are expensive, but worth it. This book has better explanations though, in what it does have.

The author's numerous attempts to be 'witty', 'funny', and 'entertaining' range between mildly distracting and vomit inducing. The worst example, which caused me to stop reading, is on pg 139. "The selectivity of chlorination and bromination".

"What do I mean by selectivity? Consider the politcally incorrect analogy of the selectivity of a mass murderer versus the selectivity of a wife who just found out her husband had been cheating on her. A mass murderer has little selectivity, - - he kills virtually everyone he meets. The angry wife, however is much more selective. She may bump into many people but she only bumps off her husband"

Leave the comedy to comedians. Please. For the love of god. The author appears to be about 10 years old, emotionally. The book is full of idiotic 'analogies' like this. I can see it now, though, a gaggle of science types screaming about how oppressed they are by the 'politically correct'. No, you aren't being oppresed by the politically correct, you are being asked to grow the @#$@#$ up and act like an adult and try to relate to other people.

It also has a nice mention of the poor oppressed german scientists Alder and Diels, who labored in poor, oppressed germany in WWII, where "synthetic chemistry took a hit". (Don't say Nazi! No! No just keept it at 'German' please!) Gosh, I wonder why? Of course Alder worked at IG Farben (Zylkon B! better fascism through chemistry) on synthetic rubber... I guess its just a coincidence that Auschwitz manufactured synthetic rubber in slave labor camps. Why discuss that? Thats 'politically incorrect' too I guess - I wouldn't want to distract these big important scientists with the petty concerns of 'normal people' who are concerned about 'politics' and other worthless artefacts of history. But I wonder how Einstein would feel about that? (if you have to ask... go read a book about him)

Another example is the Thalidomide box. He paints it as a failure of 'not enough animal testing'. Forget about corporate greed, rushing products to market, hubris, arrogance, etc. For him it's just a need for more animal testing.

This attitude is why science is so divorced from mainstream culture and this book is a perfect example of the problem endemic to science, that it is somehow 'above' considerations of humanity, ethics, history, and the relevance thereof.

The author's numerous attempts to be 'witty', 'funny', and 'entertaining' range between mildly distracting and vomit inducing. The worst example, which caused me to stop reading, is on pg 139. "The selectivity of chlorination and bromination".

"What do I mean by selectivity? Consider the politcally incorrect analogy of the selectivity of a mass murderer versus the selectivity of a wife who just found out her husband had been cheating on her. A mass murderer has little selectivity, - - he kills virtually everyone he meets. The angry wife, however is much more selective. She may bump into many people but she only bumps off her husband"

Leave the comedy to comedians. Please. For the love of god. The author appears to be about 10 years old, emotionally. The book is full of idiotic 'analogies' like this. I can see it now, though, a gaggle of science types screaming about how oppressed they are by the 'politically correct'. No, you aren't being oppresed by the politically correct, you are being asked to grow the @#$@#$ up and act like an adult and try to relate to other people.

It also has a nice mention of the poor oppressed german scientists Alder and Diels, who labored in poor, oppressed germany in WWII, where "synthetic chemistry took a hit". (Don't say Nazi! No! No just keept it at 'German' please!) Gosh, I wonder why? Of course Alder worked at IG Farben (Zylkon B! better fascism through chemistry) on synthetic rubber... I guess its just a coincidence that Auschwitz manufactured synthetic rubber in slave labor camps. Why discuss that? Thats 'politically incorrect' too I guess - I wouldn't want to distract these big important scientists with the petty concerns of 'normal people' who are concerned about 'politics' and other worthless artefacts of history. But I wonder how Einstein would feel about that? (if you have to ask... go read a book about him)

Another example is the Thalidomide box. He paints it as a failure of 'not enough animal testing'. Forget about corporate greed, rushing products to market, hubris, arrogance, etc. For him it's just a need for more animal testing.

This attitude is why science is so divorced from mainstream culture and this book is a perfect example of the problem endemic to science, that it is somehow 'above' considerations of humanity, ethics, history, and the relevance thereof.

This book is FANTASTIC. I taught myself organic chemistry from this book. And you must understand...I am chemistry-challenged. I had general chemistry in high school, and I did not recall a thing. I vaguely knew what an atom was, that it has protons and neutrons and electrons. That was it. Nothing about resonance structures, valence electrons, eloectronegativity, how to calculate a formal charge....

Then I picked up this book for fun. Suddenly, I was smart! I knew everything! It was amazing! There is no math in this book, and no problem sets. But after reading just a few chapters, I picked up my best friend's college-level textbook in o-chem, and I was able to read it, understand it, and do the problem sets! No problem! It was amazing!

I! LOVE! THIS! BOOK!

PS. If it has been 20 years or never since you've had General Chem, some parts of the book might throw you a bit. Luckily my best friend was taking her final in o-chem, and my college roommate is now a PhD in chemistry [and a professor], so I was able to email them stupid questions like, why does the Nitrogen have an extra electron here??? and get some answers.

I have always been wary of chemistry, regarding it as a foreign language I could never learn. I am not fluent in it, but I know it well enough to explain it to others now, and my Chem-geek friends are all tickled to death by what I have learned. This book truly is for "Dummies" and it really works GREAT.

The explanation of hybrid orbitals was flatout excellent. I don't think I have seen a better explanation written anywhere. I just wish the rest of the book was written as clearly.

I do not expect the 'for Dummies' series of books to provide indepth coverage of a subject or to provide me with quizes at the end of the chapters to make sure I understand the material. What I do expect is a decent overview of the subject written in language that is easy to understand (maybe with a little humor). This book did not achieve that goal.

After reading this book I still don't know 'WHY' different aspects of organic chemistry are being explained to me. Nor do I know 'HOW' all these different aspects of organic chemistry fit together. Worst of all is that I don't have a clue how the things I have learned apply to the physical world (i.e. in the lab). Everything is still very abstract. Parts of this book can get so abstract that it becomes difficult to determine the point the author is trying to make. Other areas of the book leave you with a feeling that large sections of material concerning a topic have been omitted.

If you read the 'for Dummies' series of books to get a basic understanding of a subject then do not buy this book. I suspect this book is a paired down version of a college textbook, but if that is what you are after then I recommend something like a Schaum's Outline.

This book helped me when I had no idea what my book or teacher was saying. It also contained a shortcut formula for dealing with units of saturation that was not found in my textbook. I would recommend buying this text for anyone who finds that their book is hard to understand, but I would NOT use it as a substitute for going to class and reading the text.

This book is FANTASTIC. I taught myself organic chemistry from this book. And you must understand...I am chemistry-challenged. I had general chemistry in high school, and I did not recall a thing. I vaguely knew what an atom was, that it has protons and neutrons and electrons. That was it. Nothing about resonance structures, valence electrons, eloectronegativity, how to calculate a formal charge....

Then I picked up this book for fun. Suddenly, I was smart! I knew everything! It was amazing! There is no math in this book, and no problem sets. But after reading just a few chapters, I picked up my best friend's college-level textbook in o-chem, and I was able to read it, understand it, and do the problem sets! No problem! It was amazing!

I! LOVE! THIS! BOOK!

PS. If it has been 20 years or never since you've had General Chem, some parts of the book might throw you a bit. Luckily my best friend was taking her final in o-chem, and my college roommate is now a PhD in chemistry [and a professor], so I was able to email them stupid questions like, why does the Nitrogen have an extra electron here??? and get some answers.

I have always been wary of chemistry, regarding it as a foreign language I could never learn. I am not fluent in it, but I know it well enough to explain it to others now, and my Chem-geek friends are all tickled to death by what I have learned. This book truly is for "Dummies" and it really works GREAT.

The explanation of hybrid orbitals was flatout excellent. I don't think I have seen a better explanation written anywhere. I just wish the rest of the book was written as clearly.

I do not expect the 'for Dummies' series of books to provide indepth coverage of a subject or to provide me with quizes at the end of the chapters to make sure I understand the material. What I do expect is a decent overview of the subject written in language that is easy to understand (maybe with a little humor). This book did not achieve that goal.

After reading this book I still don't know 'WHY' different aspects of organic chemistry are being explained to me. Nor do I know 'HOW' all these different aspects of organic chemistry fit together. Worst of all is that I don't have a clue how the things I have learned apply to the physical world (i.e. in the lab). Everything is still very abstract. Parts of this book can get so abstract that it becomes difficult to determine the point the author is trying to make. Other areas of the book leave you with a feeling that large sections of material concerning a topic have been omitted.

If you read the 'for Dummies' series of books to get a basic understanding of a subject then do not buy this book. I suspect this book is a paired down version of a college textbook, but if that is what you are after then I recommend something like a Schaum's Outline.

This book helped me when I had no idea what my book or teacher was saying. It also contained a shortcut formula for dealing with units of saturation that was not found in my textbook. I would recommend buying this text for anyone who finds that their book is hard to understand, but I would NOT use it as a substitute for going to class and reading the text.

this was really helpful for organic 1, but the words they uses aren't technical, they are goofy so sometimes i got lost. Like the used the "the smelly things" as a name for a keytone....it made it confusing

I purchased this book for my daughter who was taking Organic Chemistry in college. Recently I asked her if the book helped. She affirmed this as she expressed that basic concepts were explained well. Her only criticism was that the book lacked enough problems and solutions to be more useful.
In spite of this complaint, she recommended this as a useful tool.

This book is a great tool to supplement any Organic Chemistry class. It really helps explain in dummy terms very difficult concepts. I would recomment this as an adjunct to anyone in Freshman Organic.

This book is very helpful in breaking the big things down and explaining it in a way that the textbook has a hard time with or skips over. This book has definately helped me through OChem so far this semester and hopefully will get me through to the end. Definately a supplement though, don't depend on it exclusively as it is more of an overview than indepth.

Perfect text for those who do not have an organic chemistry background and need a quick run down of the basics of oranic chemistry.

I didn't read the book but knowing the person, I know that the book should be great.

This is an EXCELLENT book that I think should be a MUST for anyone considering taking Organic Chemistry. It is written by a fellow student, who knows what people struggle with. He even gives some background review on concepts from Inorganic Chemistry which is very helpful. Organic Chemistry is a demanding, fast faced, often confusing and frustrating subject, even for the most intelligent. The author states that clearly, that it is a hard topic, but it is also one that the average person can succeed in if they put in the time and effort. I found this book to be inspirational, and gives you a clear idea of what you will be heading into when you walk into Organic chemistry the first day, and it is alright to be nervous about it, as almost everyone is.

This book is indeed an easy-to-follow book. It's language is simple and clear. Terms or concepts that seemed to be confusing before, are explained in simple terms here making it well understandable.

I have no regrets from buying this book. This book is useful if you want to be good in your orgo-fundamentals/basics.

This book by no means teaches Orgo. You have to go to class for that. It does reinforce concepts, explains confusing ideas, and gives tons of tips on how to keep all the different reagents straight. The charts explaining SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 reactions were better than my textbook. The night before the final I didn't even read my actual textbook, I reviewed this. If you follow along the class with this book many concepts will make SO much more sense. I don't think I would have survived orgo without it. If you are taking orgo, this is the book you need.

Just like Chemistry for Dummies, this text covers all of first semester Orgo 1, scratches the surface of the beginning of semester two, and thats it.

Of course, its not going to cover everything, or it would be a textbook, but it covers the 'need to know' topics, and explains them well.

This is a great adjunct to the text and course. To be honest, it really didn't make any sense until I had taken the course and learned what I was reading.

This has great information that your prof. may have left out, And/Or it usually has a different way of explaining something, which may help or enforce what you've already learned.

For example: The Diels Alder reactions... in my Orgo class, we had a 1/2 page section on it in our notes, did 1 'practice problem', and were told to, "make sure you know this for the test". This book definately saved me here, with a thourough explanation of how, why, what to do, etc. I fully understood the reaction (I read it before class , but none of it made any sence, but going to class turns on the 'light bulb' and reading it before class is a great way to make learning orgo I much easier).

There are a few other adjuncts out there that may help, the standard deviants 3 vhs set, "the deep fried world of organic chemistry" may be helpful.

Have fun in class.

I discovered this book last week, and I only wish I had found it earlier in the term! The book is broken down into easy to understand sections and is written so that you can skip around to whatever chapter you need. The author explains the basic organic terms in the KISS method (keep it simple stupid) which is much less overwhelming than my textbook. He also approaches the subject matter with humor, and doesn't patronize.
I wouldn't say to use it instead of your textbook, but it's definitely a useful supplement. Too bad my instructor didn't have it on her 'recomended reading list' a few months ago when I was buying the necessary books for the class.
[...]

Generally I abhor the dummies series... typically poorly "written" in the "hardy boy" style I particularly revile (who would have thought the two young sleuths were on the same case as Fenton?). This book however is quite excellent. I would never purchase it of course, but I did peruse it whilst using the John in Barnes and Noble (a superior retailer to Amazon) and found it quite illustrative. The chapters on spectroscopy were most well done. I still remain a dummy, however, as to how impetuous blond haired Joe and more reserved dark complexioned Frank keep eliciting the smugglers (transparent and predictable) schemes. I look forward to the next installment for orgo 2, and I hope I am not disapointed as I was with the "New" Hardy boys books, where Iola gets killed, Callie Shaw has an abortion, and their chum Chet stops making racial slurs.
I highly recommend this as a basic orgo review!!

This book was a really nice step by step type of supplemant to my Ochem textbook. There is more information, while not always as deep, than other books I have used so its very helpful if you have a specific question and is also arranged to easily find what you need. Would definately not be doing as well as I am without it.

Believe me, this book is a must buy if you are thinking about or if you are taking Organic Chemistry!

its a good tool. a great companion to any organich chemistry textbook. dont expect to understand it, unless you are taking or have taken an organic chem. class in my opinion. breaks down the basics well, but i didnt think had enough examples to solidify the point.

I'm just entering into Organic Chemistry this fall. This book is a great review for the college student worried about organic chemistry. The author writes with a good sense Humor that keeps me interested in organic chemistry(I mean,would anyone take organic chemistry if they didn't have too?) and he also has a website that allows you to talk to other org students across the world (...) I can't say wheter or not this book is an over simplification of organic chemistry, but I will use this book as a reference to the "long and tedious" organic chem text books...In conclusion,I would recommend this book to anyone preparing for O.Chem I

This book is good to read with your textbook. Sometimes the textbooks are too broad, but this book explains things simpler. I enjoyed this book and it helped me get through my organic chemistry course.

An excellent book

I saved myself many hours by reading this book. This book cuts through all of the countless details that fill up my million-page organic chemistry book and gets right down to the stuff that you really need to know for a test. I learned more from this book than my $100 textbook. The writing is even very funny at times, but the humor never comes at the expense of providing information.

Thankfully, this book is very easy-to-read. The writer addresses the reader directly, and the language is both simple and clear. Our class had already covered a lot of the material before I bought this book, so reading through the whole thing took me only about a week. Still, after reading through this book, all the concepts that confused me initially really started to make sense. The concepts and the connections between the different reactions and ideas clicked. In any case, the problem-solving guides, particularly on nomenclature, resonance, and spectroscopy are worth the cost of this book alone. Once I had worked enough problems using them, I found myself miles ahead of the other students in class.

I think if you read the chapters in this book before going to your class, work a lot of problems in your textbook, you will do well.

Organic chemistry can be a very systematic and logical branch of chemistry, if you get from a good lecturer or text. Even with just a couple of terms in a freshman university class, you should be able to understand and draw pages of reaction pathways. Perhaps by using Winter's book?!

It explains the material pretty directly. No abstruse concepts. You learn enough to appreciate why alkynes have more energy than alkenes or alkanes. And indeed, how to go between these types.

The book also covers other kinds. Aldehydes, esters, ethers, carboxylic acids, phenols... All of which have a nomenclature that can seem terribly formidable at first. But the book explains the precise logic behind much of that nomenclature. If you follow the material, you can soon find yourself rattling off a 30 character name of a molecule, or being able to draw that molecule, given its name.

Hopefully, the book will help you appreciate the conceptual elegance of organic chemistry.