I know that this is an old thread, but I started smoking with this book, and found it to be pretty beneficial.
Granted, I found his writing style to be a little off-putting, but he spells it out for a beginner. He makes way too many absolutes....such as lump is the only way, he says that you absolutely cannot smoke on an electric or gas smoker, among with other things. There were portions of his book that I took with a grain of salt, for sure.
I'm using a Napoleon Apollo, which is nearly identical to the
WSM, and his methods on the
WSM translated perfectly to my Apollo.
I also like how his recipes are generally simple. Aimed at beginners. He basically eliminates unnecessary portions and focuses on the fundamentals, but still gives you a great tasting recipe. His Mojo Chicken and Brined Chicken were delicious. And he starts with these recipes because chicken is not a real demanding cook. Maybe 2-3 hours of temp monitoring, instead of 10-14 with a pork butt. But he does get to Babybacks, Spares, and then Pork Butt last. By the time I got to the pork butt recipe, I really felt like I was ready for a 12 hour cook, and I was....and it turned out awesome!
I will confess that I didn't follow the "program" to a T. I did use my Maverick to monitor the cooker and meat temps even when he told me not to. I prefer briquettes over lump (only because I have a very cheap source for briquettes, but not for lump). However, keep in mind that I was using a different cooker, not a
WSM, so I was not sure at all if the methods would have translated to this cooker. It turned out that they did just fine.
So yes, if you are new and are wanting to get the fundamentals down, or if you want to refresh your fundamentals, I found this to be a pretty darn good book. And when it comes to a
WSM, or Apollo like mine, I haven't found a better book on cooking methods, maintaining temp, etc, than this book, which is not easy for someone with zero skills.