Old Testament Textual Criticism by Ellis R. Brotzman (1993, Paperback)

Brotzman's book Old Testament Textual Criticism is an informative introduction to its field of study. The author walks the reader through a definition of the field, what comprises the field, what manuscripts weigh into the field, guidelines for the discipline, how to read the critical apparatus of the BHS (the critical, scholarly Hebrew Bible), and how to decide on the best reading of a given text.
Here's the best part: at the end of the book, Brotzman walks the reader through the Book of Ruth while applying everything studied in the book. You the reader get to see everything studied put into action. You get to examine the textual difficulties and variants in the Book of Ruth and see how Brotzman makes informed, educated, logical decisions about interpretation from the field of Textual Criticism.
If the book was intended to be an exhaustive, final word on textual criticism that thoroughly examines every angle of possible study, I would only give it 2 out of 5 starts. The book, however, is only intended to be a primer and introduction. Yet, having gone through the book, I have personally found it to be the most helpful book in its field & it has its own place on my shelf of "necessary" books. It gets 5 stars for being the best book of its kind.

I bought the book 5 weeks ago and was immediately impressed with the number of features available on this book. It has a great textual criticisms. The book's size is perfect for carrying in a bag. Overall, I'd recommend the book if you're on a budget.