It is written in a very positive way and contains many beautiful pieces of artwork. I very much enjoyed the "four experiments toward a positive mind," these are great examples of introspection. Though I am far from an expert in budo, I have spent many years training and researching this topic, yet several of the explanations, provided for terms such as fudoshin, hara, and ki shed new light on these concepts, beyond just their relationship to Shodo.
Chapters three and four provide a very gentle introduction to the physical techniques while also providing an overview of the relationship between good posture and the proper state of mind. The importance of the coordination of mind, body, and spirit is presented in a way that should be easy for someone that is new to the Japanese cultural arts to grasp and understand.
I am again impressed with Davey sensei's ability to communicate a complex subject in an interesting and informative way that maintains the readers interest, while still capturing the subtleties of the topic.
From a beginner's perspective, this is an excellent reference, and I highly recommend it.
The book talks 'briefly' about the history of calligraphy, the Japanese aesthetics and principles (wabi and sabi), it's relation to the Zen philosophy, and it includes a chapter on how to make the first moves with the brush by practicing 'the enso' (a zen character).
However, the main theme of this book is the meditative aspects of shodo. How to get a perfect posture to practice, how to use the mind with full concentration, how to 'educate' our body, all this to become one with the brush and transcend in a spiritual way.
I do not know if this is the best book that deals with this aspect of shodo (I haven't seen more), but is a very good one, I can assure that.
Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony not only deals with using Japanese calligraphy as a device with which to meditate, it does so in a manner that even people with no understanding of Japanese will be able to get something out of trying the exercises discussed. It seems to me, that you could apply the ideas in this book to most forms of art, and even in school, business, or family life, to arrive at a true understanding of calmness and personal harmony.
It's a useful book. I only wish it were longer. I hope the author comes out with a second, perhaps intermediate level, volume soon.