TeXbook, The

If you really want to know TeX, this is the book to have. However, if you are a complete beginner, I'd recommend you first look at Michael Doob's A Gentle Introduction to Tex. It will get you off to a running start and prepare you to profitably read Knuth's book. If you are fairly sophisticated, you can learn TeX from scratch reading this book. I managed this, whilst at the same time mastering the vagaries of UNIX running on a vax and taking the (old version) of the vi bull by the horns. It was difficult. But you won't likely be facing the daunting technological obstacles I described today. Dump that hapless Word equation editor and become a TeXpert. Happy TeXing!

I'm feeling kind of stupid that I spent time reading other books about TeX. I assumed that this one would be incomprehensible, but nothing is further from the truth. It's readable, yet precise. The exercises are helpful. The jokes really are funny, and not distracting. It's amazing that computer science's most brilliant mind is also it's most brilliant writer (that I have run across, anyway). I agree with the one reviewer that the organzation is imperfect. But, I can't say I've found a book about TeX that does a better job.

LaTeX that most peoples prefer to TeX is useful for reams of technical paper where quality doesn't matter (reports, notes, thesis), but without turning to a professional typesetter, you cannot attain good results without a serious commitment to the study of TeX.The TeXbook is what you need for this purpose. If you do not intend to go beyond the dangerous bend, you may find LaTeX more suited to your needs.Secondary, it can serves as a model for writers of technical books, with its index, clarity and organization (Knuth's style put apart, of course--for this one being sometime excessive, I would rate this book only 4.9/5)

Whatever you might think of TeX (work of genius to heinous hack seems to be roughly the range of common views), this is the definitive work by the designer of the system. It also contains jokes, which is good.It is also a good expose of the warped and perfectionist mind of Don Knuth, but that's a separate matter.

While I have to give this book a 10, it is only fair to mention that there are many who find it impossible to read. Knuth wrote three books simultaneously: a guide to TeX for the nontechnical (typesetters, academic department secretaries), for the technical (computer scientists, mathematicians), and for the expert (Knuth himself). II you are coming to this book for the first time, follow Knuth's advice and ignore the "dangerous bends." Knuth is one of the world's leading computer scientists and TeX is his most famous program. It is extremely rare for a programmer at Knuth's level to write the documentation -- and rarer still for him to succeed. However, after you've read this book, and before you decide that you know everything there is to know about design and typography, please read "The Elements of Typographic Style" by Robert Bringhurst