Because they sometimes give you some of the inversions, voicings, and additional changes, this book isn't the best book. Fake books are supposed to give you just the basic progression and the melody, and they might sometimes have the feel and the form. This book might get too detailed, but it's a pretty good book. It's missing some of the classics, and it has a few more obscure tunes, but it really is a great book.
I think that the weaknesses might be good for beginners to have an understanding of chords, and it's also a pretty good book to use if you want to practice sight reading and improvisation. It also is a good book to look at if you're interested in being a songwriter or composer, or if you're at least doing some songwriting or composition.
I guess calling it the definitive fake book, which is what it is pretty much thought of in the musician community, is definitely an exaggeration, but because it's the book that almost every musician you'll meet when you're at a jam session will have, at least with them, it is important to get this book, even if this book was completely crappy.
Also, this is the first thing that I ordered off of Amazon.com, so it must be a good item.Buy The Real Book: Sixth Edition!
