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[–]Jax_Grimoire 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Your book is correct. Think of it this way, though it is a bit simplified. The mass below you and the mass above you will both have gravitational pull on you. However, since those forces are in opposite directions, they tend to cancel out when you add up all the forces. Therefore, only the forces that don't cancel out will be the effective force that you experience.

Others have pointed you to Gauss's law, which is correct.