The phrase "beer for dummies" may ring redundant in a world where wine snobbery has made "beer education" sound more like an oxymoron than a worthwhile endeavor. Yet the mass-produced fizz-water that commonly passes for beer is really an unrepresentative descendent of the classic European pilsner style--just one of more than 20 categories of beer recognized by modern brewers. Beer for Dummies is a terrific reference for those beer lovers who might be surprised or enticed by beer's oft-forgotten diversity. In the down-to-earth, light-hearted tone typical of the For Dummies series, Marty Nachel covers most--if not all--of the beer lover's terrain. Sections on defining, enjoying, buying, making, and "going nuts over" beer comprise the balance of the book, but even more information follows by way of reference: you'll learn about beer and brewing clubs, beer history, collector's info, and more. The advanced topics may be spread a bit thin by the book's breadth, but the neophyte beer enthusiast has much to glean from such a broad overview. Those to whom "hops" and "mashing" still sound like terms for teen revelry should give Beer for Dummies a chance to redefine their idea of beer. --Todd Gehman