What is Meaning? Fundamentals of Formal Semantics. Paul Portner. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. Pp. x + 235. $29.95 paper.

Another textbook on formal semantics? Before you reach for the Tylenol, relax; this is a textbook with a twist: It is an informal textbook on formal semantics. Portner's book is actually a very ambitious endeavor because it sets out to teach the basics of the scientific study of meaning in an accessible and user-friendly way. Readers of SSLA who have struggled with formal semantics as undergraduates, in graduate school, or both will appreciate the challenge. I believe that Portner is mostly successful in his endeavor. As I will explain, he is almost too successful; as a result, the apparent raison d'être of the book is defeated, to an extent. In what follows, I will qualify this claim.