I was assigned this book, oileanach, when I took a semester of Russian at college. I didn't need it, but I would indeed recommend it if the person is starting with little or no working knowledge of basic grammatical concepts, such as direct objects, indirect objects, possessives, verbs, transitive vs. intransitive. For me, the book was a cakewalk, but I can see its particular value for people with no previous exposure to these necessary concepts.