Buzz Kill is right... Starting Strength is an amazing book, it woulda saved me alot of frustration and heartache had I gotten it two or three years ago.

It basically says that "Big Five" (squats, deadlifts, bench, clean, and press) are the true, core strength building exercises; All the other exercises (and their goofy variations) are fine, but are only really necessary for advanced weightlifters, who wish to focus on a specific area. (i.e. you wanna be an MMA fighter? A rock climber? Grip training will be great) However, you still need that core strength...otherwise you'll have muscle imbalances that will make you more prone to injury. (ever seen those guys who's arms are bigger than their thighs? No supposed to happen, your thighs SHOULD be the strongest muscles in your body)

According to the book, the reason isolation exercises are crap is because your muscles aren't designed to work in isolation! Every movement you do involves not one, but dozens of different muscles working in unison. Therefore, you should train these muscles in unison. For instance, there is no natural movement you can make that will isolate quads or hamstrings. They always work together. So why train them separately?

The book also goes in-depth on the correct way to perform the movements. You think you're doing the benchpress correctly? You'll be surprised. Remember when dad showed you how to do a press? He was flat out wrong.