ISBN0-321-23386-7

THis text is the annotated instructors edition, which is great. (Unless of course you are trying to learn)
I am glad it was half of the price.

first off, i'm not rebecca stack, but we use the same account. i am self-studying at home using this book. addison wesley were completely and utterly unhelpful when i asked for assistance when i first purchased the book and solutions manual. as for the book itself, i'm very happy with my purchase, although if you have no normal class/teacher resources, i would say it's essential to buy the solutions manual.

since i am wading through every single problem, i'm simply amazed that a 9th edition of any textbook can have so many wrong answers. anyone who has actually worked through a quarter of the problems deserves a case of champagne from addison wesley, in my opinion, and free textbooks for life.....

on the whole, though, i'm highly recommending this book as it is very suitable for anyone wanting to self study this topic with a view to going on to calculus. it's a monumental amount of work, if you're going to attempt all the problems, but even taking the errors into account, i feel more confident with mathematics now than i have ever before. even with my reservations, i look forward to tackling marv's calculus textbook (although i've now learned my lesson and will be buying other texts).

I am currently taking Algebra 2, cannot find anyone in the class that likes the book. The author gives very few examples, too brief on discussing topics. This book would be great for someone who has already had Algebra 2 and wants to do a review. I am now reading other material to understand what this book is talking about.

I have always had trouble with math. I have also been out of HS for many years, therefore, I started with the edition before this one, just finished a class using this book and will be trying to pass college algebra next semester. I agree with other posters about there not being adequate examples. When you are doing the exercises (homework), there are no problems for the student to reference that are close to many of the problems you are required to answer. And the book is loaded with word problems. My biggest problems with math are when instructors/books leave out steps. I just wasn't gifted in the area of memorization of math facts and formulas so I struggle and this book was not helpful. The internet was more helpful than this book with homework assignments.

If you do struggle, I would look into the student solutions manual. Also, I took intermediate algebra as an online class and the MathXL software package required was way more helpful to me than this book. I give two stars only because I wouldn't have a clue as to what book to recommend as a better resource.

There are 11 chapters:
1 - Algebra and Problem Solving
2 - Graphs, Functions, Linear Equations
3 - Systems of Equations and Problem Solving
4 - Inequalities & Problem Solving
5 - Polynomials and Polynomial Functions
6 - Rational Expressions, Equations, Functions
7 - Exponents & Radicals
8 - Quadratic Functions & Equations
9 - Exponential & Logarithmic Functions
10 - Conic Sections
11 - Sequences, Series, & Binomial Theorem

Good luck!

I'll have to agree. This text is the definition of vague. The examples given just don't explain anything in great detail, or even in detail at all. Just awful.