I have devoted so much time on my blog to bashing textbooks I thought it was time to lavish one with praise.

While I cringed at the cash register when I paid for Miklós Bóna's "Introduction to Enumerative Combinatorics," I have few qualms with contents of the (overpriced) volume. Unlike most textbooks, which dumb down the material with colorful pictures and so-called "real-word applications" in cute colored boxes, this textbook dishes the concepts out straight. It is to most textbooks what a shot of espresso is to a double soy chai chocolate cinnamon lemon ginger latte with whipped cream.

The author also has a subtle sense of humor that permeates the explanations, examples and exercises. Take this gem from page 83:

It's not quite as entertaining as a performance by the local improv troupe. It is, however, far better than a dry example involving boxes and tokens of various colors, or an example that tries too hard by including gnomes, unicorns and other fanciful — but entirely unfunny — creatures and features.

As a relatively new text, the book does have a few typos here and there. But these do not outweigh the benefit provided by the clarity of writing, lack of superfluous fluff and colorful style. If the publisher knocked about $150 off the price tag, it would be perfect.