Sebastopol, CA--You've probably seen it a hundred times by now: actor Jeff Goldblum dancing and twirling before the plain white background-at times in slow motion, at others accompanied by a perky musical tune, but always talking a mile a minute. It's the latest prime-time TV commercial from Apple, and Jeff is pitching the niftiness of the new iMovie 2 software for the iMac-a beefed up version of iMovie, formerly downloadable free from the Apple website. But you want the new version, so you rush out and buy the software (or download it from the Apple site for $49), dreaming about the moment when you'll unveil the holiday-video-turned-feature-motion-picture to the thundering applause of your loved ones.

But wait a minute. There was no manual included. Only minimal online instructions. Now what? Well, you can either sit down and spend your precious time figuring out all the different features-or you can get the latest O'Reilly book iMovie 2: The Missing Manual (Pogue, US $19.95).

You sigh. You don't want to read a dry, technical manual to learn your fun, creative video-editing software. Well, you don't have to. David Pogue wrote it. And as always, he has combined his keen sense of humor and considerable brains to pack all the necessary information onto each page while at the same time making the book a witty and entertaining read.

iMovie: The Missing Manual-the companion book to the free version of iMovie-released in May 2000 and became an instant bestseller, requiring two reprints in three months and earning rave five-star reviews on Amazon.com. The book's philosophy: giving someone iMovie without teaching basic film technique is like giving a map to a teenager without teaching him to drive.

David Pogue says: "iMovie 2 has been dramatically improved-it's really a wonderful program now. By making it possible to perform J-edits, L-edits, video overlays, slow-, fast-, and reverse-motion, and so on, anyone can create extremely professional results.

Yet there are also several features in iMovie 2 that make you scratch your head, wondering what the point is. As it turns out, each of these features was designed in response to a very specific situation or video-editing problem-but unfortunately, the paltry online help doesn't give you a clue."

That's where iMovie 2: The Missing Manual steps in. Far deeper and more detailed than the meager set of online help screens, the book helps iMovie users realize the software's true potential. It covers every step of iMovie video production, from choosing and using a digital camcorder, to burning the finished work onto CDs. It excels in guiding the user through all the new features: the option of inserting new video over a continuous audio track; the elimination of the cap on the number of raw clips from which to choose scenes; nifty special effects; brightness and contrast adjustments; greater typographical flexibility; and a far more useful and complete audio-track editor.

David Pogue's new iMovie 2: The Missing Manual will take you from Steven Spielberg wannabe to producer extraordinaire in just under 400 pages.

About David Pogue:

David Pogue, creator of the Missing Manual Series, is the world's best-selling Macintosh author. His 15 books include Mac OS 9:The Missing Manual, The iMac for Dummies, and PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide. He writes the "State of the Art" column for the New York Times, and the Computer Press Association award-winning "Desktop Critic" column for Macworld magazine. His computer students include Mia Farrow, Carly Simon, and Harry Connick, Jr.

Online Resource:

• Chapter 8, Narration, Music, and Sound, is available free online.

• More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, Author bio, and samples.

• A cover graphic in jpeg format.

• Watch the iMovie commercial.