I've read a lot about it and have 2 friends doing it. I just got the book, I'm starting today.

Yep, I've done it before and am doing a slight variation of it again. I've posted a bunch about it on these forums in the past, but in a nutshell it's helped me focus my workouts, get a LOT stronger and lose several inches.

In my experience, the only down side is that I did not see a lot of noticeable difference until the end of Stage 1/beginning of Stage 2 (that's about a month in) -- after that though, I got a lot stronger and leaner. I actually gained a little weight to begin with, but I treated the whole program as an experiment and tweaked nutrition, cardio and other factors to eventually get better results.

Also, if you haven't done much lifting before, be patient with yourself and don't try to progress too quickly. Get the form down so you're comfortable. I'd suggest using YouTube to get an idea of the proper form (opt for Rippetoe and other well known trainers over random folks posting vids) or get a trainer you can trust. You can also utilize the forums that the authors have created to suppliment the book(s). After you have the basics, you'll progress really fast.

Overall I highly recommend it! Best of luck to you!!