Has anyone had the time to muddle through this tome of travesty?  While the runes contained in the set are ok (I personally like the feel and the look of them), the book itself is virtually useless to a true runecaster.  And what's up with the blank tile WYRD?

A friend was given the book, with mini-runes (really, they're sooo small!) and I read the book just for the hell of it (although it didn't last for more than five minutes in my hands). It has a lot of Christian overtones and watered down meanings (especially thurisaz and ansuz IMHO) and the runes are not even shown in their proper order.

Try also checking out Maria Letizia Renzulli's "Zen Runes." Aside from the "Master" rune (her name for Blum's "Wyrd"), she added a Koan and a Smiley (Laughter) Rune! Where she got that weird idea I have no clue. I since removed the three weird additions from my set and have been effectively using just the original 24 runes. Also, Renzulli's runes are made of some black plastic material with gold "engraving" (actually, the "gold" was just pasted on the engraved area). I don't have any problem with using them though. They're still quite accurate (even to those people I'm reading for) even though they're "unnatural." Her book completely "Zen-ized" the runes, so it's been sitting somewhere in my room, ready for some future archaeologist to discover.

Ah, be gentle, Sir. Many of us had the experience of Blum's being our first book on the runes, our first rune set, our base of runic wisdom.

Personally, I found it a satisfactory intro. The mythology at the beginning gave context whilst remaining readable; the rune interpretations are distinct enough to give a reasonable base understanding of each.

And the whole package, the little blue book and the pleasantly-heavy ceramic runes and the mystical blue velvet bag... I found it very appealing.

Appealing enough, indeed, to keep working with the runes, and researching them, and discovering that Blum's definitions are more than a bit fuzzed-over, so that yes, today, I agree with your point that it is practically useless to a skilled runecaster.

I'd answer: it wasn't created for us. And let me ask you this: what single book or source would you recommend instead, as a beginning point for a beginner? Something similarly short, non-academic and readable.

I completely agree with mrkiii on this matter, as it was also my introduction to runes and provided enough of a positive experience that I continue to work with runes today.  Appealing is the word I would use for the set, as well, although not a professional read.