I have been trying to teach myself Final Cut Pro recently, and was making some progress. However, using lots of trial and error and referring to the voluminous Help guide was taking up a whack of my time, time I would rather have spent just getting stuck into the editing. I wanted a book that would lay down all the groundwork for me. This book fits that requirement perfectly.
It's really nicely designed - easy on the eyes, lots of screenshots and step-by-step instructions, and an intuitive structure. The writing style doesn't treat you like an idiot, but it is simply written, clear and concise. It also shows the shortest and simplest ways of achieving things. The shortcuts that I've learnt alone have saved me a lot of time.
Some important points about the approach the book takes: firstly, it isn't a 'project-based' approach. I bought another book which used a CD with files on it to walk you through the step-by-step process of achieving an exact final product. I hated this approach - it made the book very difficult to use as a general reference. With the Focal guide, I just use the index to find out information on what I want.
Secondly, it is far more functional than stylistic. By this I mean it shows you how the various tools work, not recommendations on the effects you can achieve. You're left to do the monkeying around with all the filters and things to figure that part out by yourself - but at least you should be comfortable at the controls.
Thirdly, it's not going to teach you how to edit, in terms of the types of shots to cut together, framing, and so on. Either learn this somewhere else, or use your own creative instincts.
All of which adds up to the book delivering exactly what it promises: a guide to the software, for beginner to intermediate users. More advanced users will want more detail. Good price, great book, will get you up and running fast. Buy it.