The Minimalist Program (Current Studies in Linguistics)

If you are looking to learn about the minimalist program, this is not the best place to start. Even if you've had a semester or two of GB, you'll find it much more efficient to pick up a pedagogical book like Understanding Minimalism (Hornstein, et al 2005) first. Then, if you want to see how the MP got rolling (there are a few important earlier papers as well), by all means read this one. You'll find it far more rewarding and less maddening. As for the merits of the framework itself, there is no point debating it here. Professionals have been debating it for a long time in peer reviewed journals. So ignore the straw man arguments below; if you are interested in responses and alternatives to Chomskyan syntax, look up Lappin and Johnson, Geoff Pullum, Terrence Deacon, Simon Kirby, Michael Tomasello, Adele Goldberg, Martin Haspelmath, Joan Bybee etc. That should get you started. For arguments in its favor, almost any book with "minimalism" in the title should serve. They all put forward pretty much the same justifications.