Despite being petrified by spiders, I've always been fascinated by them too. A friend of mine has a pet tarantula and keeps wanting to put it on my arm but I always break out in a sweat at the thought. This is a good introduction, though Savory was a bit on the academic side and also drops in the odd sneer about people who prefer to watch TV than stare at pedipalps under a microscope. But he was an enthusiast and it comes through in the writing. I suspect he was a bore to be with however.