The book looks suspiciously skinny for a cell biology book but it really is so well written that the author made it comprehensive without being too wordy. Although lots of people swear by the Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th Edition (Bruce Alberts et al... and I own that one too), I found it too wordy and not as fun to read. This book however is lucidly written and has everything that a graduate student or senior undergrad would need to know in Cell Biology.

I used Cell and Molecular Biology (I just called it Gerald Karp after the author) extensively during my undergrad and am still using it in graduate school (I'm getting my Masters in Microbiology).

Cell and Molecular Biology by Gerald Karp is surpassed only in diagram clarity and simplicity by Cooper and Hausman's "The Cell: A Molecular Approach" which has the best diagrams of all cell biology textbooks but is slightly less comprehensive (I own that one too!). The book is neatly arranged and the continuity of topics within a chapter and from chapter to chapter is very good unlike Molecular Biology of the Cell, 4th Edition.

Although sold separately for something like $38.00, the book has an associated study workbook sort of thing with it that is pretty good for testing your knowledge in the important and tricky concepts. For every chapter in the textbook there is a section of multiple choice questions, a section of experimental-data interpretation questions, a section of thought questions, and explain the role of each of the following" type questions. All questions except the thought questions come with answers. And there is a review of the key topics in the textbook for every chapter. I would greatly recommend buying the text and the study book together, especially if you're gearing to take exams like the Subject GRE.

I've come to appreciate this book more and more over its succeeding editions. It has now replaced both the Alberts et al. and the Lodish et al. books (both nevertheless excellent) as my favorite textbook on cell and molecular biology.

It is concise, covers a very large range of subjects and has very clear graphics. I think it is better balanced than many of its competitors in the sense that the reader never gets the impression that the author sacrificed certain subjects to give more room to his favorite ones. On many occasions, I was surprised to find things in here that I couldn't find in the bigger (and more "fundamental") Alberts and Lodish.

It references papers and review articles that are very current, and is very up to date on its content.

I think Gerald Karp is doing a very good job with each new iteration of this book and I will recommend it to my students.