Not everyone has the luxury of private lessons when they first begin playing pool and billiards. I didn't, but I was fortunate enough to have Matt Sherman (the author of this book) as an instructor/lecturer for the 8-ball league I had joined. Once a week everyone would meet and he would give a brief demonstration and lesson a particular aspect of billiards. He offered new concepts and different points of view on how the game should be played. If I didn't participate in this league with Matt as an instructor, my pool development would have taken significantly longer than it did.
If you can't have private lessons, this book is definitely the next best thing. The title says it all, picture yourself shooting pool. But thats not all, this book additionaly comes with a dvd, that will further outline and present concepts brought forth in the book.