I've read through many of the reviews on this site, both positive and negative. The main point is that if you are a beginner to ASP.NET, C#, or both then this book is NOT for you. However, if you have some experience with ASP.NET and C#.NET and would like to learn more about an N-Tier approach (essentially programming in .NET the RIGHT way) then this book is a MUST. I can't understand why anyone would give this book less than a 5 star rating that meet the authors' intended audience criteria (which, by the way, is stated in the book). I have read the book cover to cover several times and constantly use it as a resource. The book is a series of examples leading up to one project, but I don't think the authors' main intentions were for us to try and build ThePhile.com. From this book I took away the understanding of how to build a scalable, portable, professional Web site having 100% control over it.
If you build web sites with ASP.NET as a novice or hobbyist and want to get to the next level, this book is for you! I own both the VB.NET and C#.NET versions and I highly recommend either one.