Let me say with all candor I knew I would like Dan Gookin's Web Wambooli was soon as I read the first page of Chapter 1. Sample:

   Q. Are you going to tell me all about the history of the Internet?

   A. No.

   The Web Wambooli is a fun book, but don't mistake it for being fluff. It isn't. In fact, it is probably the best book you will read about the 'net, solutions to common problems and how everything works. If you're mystified about the Internet, have been surfing around but wish you could do more, or are an experienced user who needs a good reference to many of the basics, this book is for you.
   I don't know Dan Gookin, but I wish I did. He'd be the kind of person I would want to have at brunch every Sunday morning. He'd cheer up my day. He'll cheer up yours, too.
   Gookin makes no bones about the fact that it is not necessarily easy to get hooked up to the 'net. "I'm not going to lie to you," he says in the introduction. "The web can be a . . . frustrating, intimidating place." But, I will add, not with the Web Wambooli by your side.
   And you'll know what you're getting into. Gookin, like Letterman, has his own Top 10 List of  "Things That Are Harder Than Setting Up the Internet." Among them? Read the book.
   In 333 pages plus an extensive index, Gookin starts you out with setting up your computer, modem and software and takes you through the Web, Email and Newsgroups. If you don't know your way around the Web by the time you've closed this book, you need a Level III Wambooli. And, yes, Gookin even explains what a Wambooli is.
   There are only three books I keep on the shelf right behind my desk in easy reach. Dan Gookin's Web Wambooli is one of them. You'll do the same.

Peachpit Press, 2414 Sixth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, (800) 283-9444, 350pp, $29.95