This book explains Oracle concepts very clearly and conversationally. But it doesn't actually tell you how to *do* much. It tells you what some of the steps of creating a database are (for example), but not what the commands to do them are. It reminds you what parameters you need to set to appropriate values, but doesn't tell you how to determine what an appropriate value might be. Examples are erratic -- sometimes it gives you a script and doesn't show you what the output will be, or shows you a table and doesn't explain what it means.This might be a useful companion to a syntax-oriented class, or for a junior DBA who's been performing steps by rote for a few months and wants to understand what's really going on. It's a pleasant read, very friendly, uses lots of analogies (some of which are not really useful enough). But it will *not* help you get started actually doing Oracle DBA work, nor would it make a good reference book in my opinion.