[.ca] Biochemistry, Update (with ThomsonNOW 2-Semester, (ISBN 0495119121)

Obnoxious Clown Man writes book!:
This man likes to laugh at his own jokes! Do you want to be TAUGHT by a BOOK by a man that laughs at his own JOKES! He plays the banjo! There was a picture of him playing banjo, which happened to be the most interesting thing in the book, but he removed it, so be sure to get an old version.

All in all, most suitable for a general audience:
Undergraduate biochem at my school is taught by the biochem department (not surprising). However, as a result, we have all sorts of people taking the course from prospective chemists (me) to premeds and general bio sci majors. So the dept. uses this book and it's probably the best compromise out there. Voet and Voet would be perfect if the course was taught exclusively for chemists, Stryer if the course was loaded up with premeds (horrifying thought, I know :) ) But Garrett and Grisham have managed to write a rather well balanced text (one is in UVA's bio dept., the other UVA's chem dept) with plenty of both chemical insight and medical relevance. Based on (I'm sure) similar experiences they've had teaching biochem to a mixed audience, and knowing that most undergrad biochem courses tend to be taught to similar groups of students nationwide, this is the best book for a case like that. (However, I'm getting Voet and Voet as a reference for me personally one of these days.)

A Well Written Reference:
This book provided invaluable reference information to me for a one year course in biochemistry. It was designed in a manner so that the class or student can learn topics in depth or get a broad overview of the subject. It also has lots of interesting historical perspectives and useful graphics. I am definately keeping this book for a reference as I continue my studies.