Review of The Internet Companion: A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking, by Tracy LaQuey (with Jeanne C. Ryer)

LaQuey and Ryer and have put together a guide to networking that almost reads like a novel. The text, written in nontechnical language, is organized to create and sustain interest in networking on the part of the user. Included are simple, somewhat comical diagrams that clarify concepts and systems while making a neophyte feel comfortable with terms like "Serial Line Internet Protocol." Helping to convey the authors' own excitement over networking are numerous sidebars with text taken from various sources that provide anecdotal evidence of the richness and power of the virtual culture.