Yes, my book is geared for the beginner, and was specifically intended to be a springboard for the Pickaxe, which was already an excellent book. I was just trying to fill that gap.
And about my omission of parens in method definitions: that was the style 17 years ago when I first started working on this book. I am currently working on the 3rd Edition (I think this sentence is the first time I’ve said so publicly), and it includes parens for method definitions and most method calls (as well as numerous other changes, a totally new chapter, etc).