A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English

The dictionary helps in areas that a standard dictionary cannot in reference to pronouncing words. I highly recommend this product.

As a few others have pointed out, this is a 1990s reprint of a book written in 1943. Accepted pronunciation has changed in small but significant ways since then. We can easily understand movies like The Philadelphia Story, with Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant, but we don't expect people to talk like that anymore.

This dictionary is ok if you want a dated pronunciation (which may indeed sound "cultured"), or if you are willing to figure out a few rules for updating these pronunciations. But I prefer the Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English, by Upton, Kretzschmar, and Konopka. It has American (and British) IPA transcriptions and was brand new in 2001. It's more expensive but is reliable and up-to-date.

it is the most important book to learn how to speak good
English

What nonsense. Very disappointed in this book and wasn't at all helpful in using it as a resource... which is what it's made for. Very hard to read and not set out well.

I needed a dictionary of current American pronunciation for ESL teaching and I made the mistake of purchasing this item due to its high rating. If you're in the market for a dictionary which reflects current pronunciation stay clear of this one since it was published in 1943. No language is stagnant and thus a 60-some-year-old dictionary is not doing current American pronunciation justice. It's also lacking with regards to actual words listed (you won't find 'pizza' for example or any IT expressions obviously) and it's obviously not reflective of modern day predominant pronunciation. Contrary to what this dictionary will tell you, words such as cod, caught, bother, father, rock, and coffee (to name a few) are all today predominantly pronounced with the back vowel /a:/ in American English.