Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Algebra

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I am a Ph.D student from Sweden that was looking for a book that I could use to brush up om my mathskills. Believe it or not but math was not my favorite subject when I studied because I always found the subject a bit boring and blurry. This book is a splendid book since it deals with the subject in a easy way. This doesn't mean that the author ignores the difficulties of algebra but instead he explains them very well.

There are not a lot of excercises in the book but the explanations of the subject makes this book a best buy.

Michael Kelley's books', that is the ones that pertain to both algebra and calculus, are written so well it's nearly to good to be true. If you're like me, you've been looking and nearly afraid to actually buy a book about algebra or calculus because you've also probably spent a ton of money on that so called "teach yourself" series or style only to slam the cover shut and toss it up on a bookshelf.

Not with Michael's books you wont!

Michael really did a fantastic job with his books and breaks everything down to a very simple step-by-step approach. For example; with Fractions, I'd be able to do fractions with a calculator and even then it was sketchy and adding fractions with a ruler could work for me as well, sometimes. Now I can pretty much look at a fraction and tell you what the answer is going to be and I'm talking about them in addition, subtraction, multiplication and even division of fractions. Its all so simple its almost stupid guys and gals.

It truly is in the Method of Instruction.


If you were also like me with wanting to learn algebra but those pesky X's and Y's got in the way and didn't make sense? Forget about that too partner, its actually small stuff. Again, Michael breaks it down to a very easy to follow format.

I think the hardest part for people with Michael's books is to memorize the power rules. Math has specific rules, and that's really all it is that you're doing, is learning a new language with its own rules on how to do things. For me, I simply re wrote the first few chapters in MS Word and printed it out, I then simply looked at the power rules while I was reading forward and looking at the equations I was able to see every little change and detail taking place. Sure Michael explains it as he goes, that's just a funky way that I learned, for you it might be something else. Besides writing it down in my own words helps me retain it as well.

If you learn like me, simply having someone tell you, "we'll just do it this way and you'll get the right answer" will never ever work! You probably need to know why you're getting the answer right and you probably need to know why you have to do it a specific way!

Michael lays out all these so that there is no confusion, no frustration, and nothing is left in doubt. You will learn algebra, and you will learn calculus if you put in the small amount of time and effort to do so.


Get Michael's books, They're money well spent & you'll not regret it. And unlike most other books on math, Michael has little jokes in the book to break up the "serious" stuff. I was NOT disappointed in the least bit when I got his books!

I just finished this book and plan on continuing by finishing the others. However, I feel it's best used after having a little background knowledge first. I found this book much easier to follow after working problems beforehand. I use these books not really for solving problems, but for learning math methods and math terminology.

If home studying, an excellent addition to this book is the "Math Tutor" dvd series. Algebra 1 and 2 of that series cover topics in this book. Plus, you get practice solving actual problems in a "step-by-step" way.

This book includes a nice bonus: it not only covers Algebra 1, but also covers functions and other topics from Algebra 2.

If you're into flakey comedy, you might also want to give "Standard Deviants: The Series" a whirl. They're fun to watch one or twice for picking up tidbits and study tips (even one very powerful mnemonic on the Trig. set). "Youtube" also has some excellent materials and lessons.

I personally find that I best learn Math syntopically. Basically, do problems from a variety of sources and read from a variety of sources. Things you didn't pick up from one source you will from the others. It's like a puzzle and starts to piece itself together. It's good practice for picking up different teaching styles too! It sounds like a lot of work, but I notice it actually cuts my time down compared to reading from only one source.

Some of the "Demystified" books are suppose to be very good. I haven't tried them yet. However, read reviews because there are a few clunkers (different authors).

I love this method of learning math; for me, it works so much better than the average textbook -- and it's more fun.

Caution: You really should have a strong fraction-solving knowledge base before entering Algebra. Having that will save you tons of time later. Kelley's book includes a chapter on it, but if you need practice, "Painless Fractions" is an excellent source.

Excellent book for someone who has either forgotten most of
the salient ideas or just starting their math experience.
The author is very empathic about the perceived "hatred" and
"fear" of math. He disspells these concerns thru humor and
common sense. He gives you confidence that you can do it.

A fourth-year college student, I stumbled across Mike Kelley's work a few years back after typing the phrase 'calculus help' into a search engine. Back then, I found Mike's animated tutorials to be understandable even to the math layman. Now, a future math educator myself, I still find Mike's work accessible, understandable, and undoubtedly the most humorous material out there- even more so than the few samples available on his website, calculus-help.com.
It should be noted that this book should not be approached as a textbook(it is obviously not intended as such), but rather as a supplement to whatever textbook the student is using. The beauty of Mike's writing lies in his ability to cover nearly all relevant topics while avoiding all the proofs and pompous formal language (or 'gobbledy-gook', as he affectionately refers to it) present in most textbooks, all the while creating an enjoyable read whether you're new to algebra or not. The other great thing about this and Mike's other books is the exercises (cleverly entitled 'You've Got Problems') he provides and then proceeds to explain in a clear and understandable manner in a latter section of the book. Appropriately, the problems mirror his most recent discussions throughout the book as well as problems typical of most textbooks (though one is unlikely to find references to Frodo Baggins or the author's cat in the more 'scholarly' textbooks).
The bottom line is that I recommend this and Mike's other books not only to fellow students but also to all current and future math educators. There should be no reason any student should not be able to earn an 'A' after reading this book and the state of math education in this country would be undoubtedly better if teaching methods effectively mirrored those of Kelley's.

I am 30 and decided to return to college. I had to take the college placement exam and so I needed to brush up on my Algebra. This book is great for that. The book started with the basics and moved up with each chapter. I was fun to read and not at all like the boring old textbooks. The only fault I could find in the book is that there were not enough review problems to do. Each chapter was broken down into sections and each section had about 2 algebra problems to complete, with the answers provided in the back of the book. I wish the author would have expanded this section to a minimum of 5 exercises per section so I truly would grasp each section.

The book was a great help with my exam and I placed better than expected on the Algebra section of the exam.

Mr. Kelley has written yet another fantastic math book. As a student, his books have helped me through all of my math classes. Kelley's name on a math book is like a seal of quality. Keep them books comin' Kelley!

From my perspective as a full time graduate student also working part-time, the most significant achievement of Kelley's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Algebra is its ability to be digested in a matter of weeks. One can realistically work through, and master, this book in three-four weeks.

Each chapter in the book is short and succinct. General topics are explained first, and the chapters are rounded out with a practice set to reinforce the principles presented. Each chapter, including its practice set, can be worked through in an hour.

I recommend that those who purchase this book also purchase a Problem Solvers workbook with solutions. While the practice sets in Kelly's book are helpful, too few examples are given to truly solidify the principles.

Thus, if you spend, say, three-and-a-half weeks with Kelly's book, and another five days to a week on the Problem Solvers Guide, you can realistically knock out the basics of Algebra in one month. After one month, I'm now moving on to Kelly's Complete Idiot's Guide to Pre-Calculus in hopes of eventually tackling Calculus by the end of the year.

Happy reading.

I am studying to be a high school math teacher and have found this book to be very helpful. It assists me a great deal in preparing lesson plans because it offers clear explanations of many algebra topics. This allows me to create innovative lessons for students who are struggling as well as challenging ones for those students who are doing very well.

I'm glad I bought this book. It is working well for me. The author explains everything very clearly. It sure has tamed what, for me, was always a real demon. I absolutely hated math, especially algebra, but this book has changed my outlook, and I feel soooo proud of being able to finally understand at least the basics of algebra. This book is working where math class failed.