Organic Chemistry With Infotrac

Rating:
Summary: It's not that great!
Review: I have completed the full series of O'Chem courses, up to Chapter 30. I don't agree with previous reviewers. First, this book does not go over all the mechanisms for all the reactions. Some reactions have mechanism, and some do not. Thus, it is not complete. On your exam, you better pray your instructor is kind enough NOT to give you the mechanism that is missing. Second, sometime the mechanism illustrated is either shortened or plain wrong. Third, I wish the author just says straight out in the introduction section what he wanted to accomplish. I recommend that you should read through the whole chapter in one sitting. It is ok that you don't understand the first half of each chapter because the good stuffs are at the second half of each chapter. Smile, sometime you read through the whole chapter, and you still don't understand it. Again, don't blame yourself because the author had chosen not to tell you the whole story. Just lots of bits and pieces. That is why you can not put things together. I will tell you something important next, and I am sure I will get tons of flame. But for your benefit, here I go: Don't blame yourself that you are stupid because you don't understand this stuff. Why? because most O'Chem books are designed to weed you out of medical school. Each chapter, I can summarize in two or three important sentences. But, most book will write on and on until you are completely lost. O'chem courses are designed to weed you out. Remember that. Go ahead and flame me. I am just telling you something that most people know it is true, but they just don't tell you straight out.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Intro and Review!
Review: I love this book. I used it in my undergradute course in organic chemistry and found it to be extremely valuable. The explanations were virtually all easy to follow, good summaries at the end of the chapter, and an intelligent overall layout. This isn't one of those books where you need to read the chapters over and over to figure out what the author is trying to say. The problems were also well designed. When used in conjunction with the solutions manual I found studying for tests to be straighforward. I also used this as a stand alone review for the organic portion of the chemistry GRE subject test and found myself very prepared come test time. I've looked at many organic texts (I own 4!)and this is by far the best. Buy it if you are serious about learning your O-chem.

Rating:
Summary: Great Organic Textbook
Review: This is an excellent textbook for the ever-dreaded Organic Chemistry. Clear and well written, it made the two semesters spent grinding out carbon compounds slightly less painful than they would otherwise have been, and it still sits on my shelf as a very handy reference tool and was quite valuable while studying for the MCAT. It's a tad pricey, but if the class you're taking has a shaky text, seriously consider trading it in for this one.