I suggest buying 3 copies of this book... not 1...
First, because its a great coffee table book... hey, Chelcy (the author's dog) is a Weimeraner - - and both are very photogenic - - on top of it, the graphic design and lay-out of the book are not only sensitive and informative, but very visually appealing... You can feel the excitement and enthuisiasm
Second - - its a fantastic reference book... and the idea of thinking "tricks" instead of cut and dry obedience I think is great for both the trainer and the dog. Though most of the tricks do have elements of obedience to them, they are presented in a way that makes training your dog more fun and lightharded and you're not thinking, "good dog"/"bad dog"/"leash correction" - - In fact, I like the way the author not only has troubleshooting tips for each tricks, but will even give some ideas how difficult the trick is, what tricks need to be learned first, and how long it takes some dogs to learn. - - Also, all descriptions use simple, practical and effective language... The descriptions match up with the photos and the points are gotten across in a way that communicates the ideas to you and teaches you to teach them to your dog.
Finally... buy a third copy because... some dogs *cough* have tendencies to nibble on certain people's reading material, especially when allowed in the bed. (o.k. that's an obedience issue.)
As for the tricks, they range from basic sit/stay/rollover agility type tricks - - to classics like "bring me a beer"/"bring the newspaper" as well as a few parlor tricks/routines. The book also explains standard hand signals as well as commands.
Incidentally - - there I would like a refund for 2 of the tricks. One involves the human doing a handstand, the other a cartwheel... Trust me, if you're the "bring me my beer" trick type, you won't be doing those two...
All in all, this is one book that lives up to its own hype! Highly recommended!