I haven't read this one in particular. However, I read a book about the craft of writing and it basically said the same thing. There are only so many plot types out there and as authors we have to come up with new ways of telling them. I don't know if I believe that but I think if you think of it on basis of theme there may only be about 20.

I have the book it pretty good, and in fact most of the books I can think of fall into one of those 20 plots.

The book itself breaks plots down in several different ways. You could say there are two: comedy or tragedy. The author notes also that (if I am recalling it correctly) other systems have named something over 40, but that many of those duplicate the 20 basic ones.

I have used the book, particularly when editing someone else's work; it was useful in explaining why something didn't work in terms of story advancement, and how it could be made better. I've attempted to use it in my early stages of composition, when I typically come up with a character or two, maybe a situation, but no idea of where to take him or her. I don't know if the book has helped or not.

Another one that I've used more is 45 Master Characters, also from Writers' Digest Books. Oddly, I haven't gotten much use from the part of the book that deals with characters, but the last quarter is devoted to a fantastically clear explanation of the hero's journey, both masculine and feminine type, how they progress through the nine stages, how the two types differ, how they can work outside of gender expectations, etc.

I don't take the magazine -- I'm a Poets & Writers devotee --but Writers' Digest does have some useful books.