i can't agree enough rainee. i am a griller; food is cooked directly over coals. i would love to learn the art of the 'cue, but i never have enough time. over the years, an old friend and i have done whole pigs and lambs on a spit, low and slow, but it was over coals, so i'm not sure what you would call that.
i have recently started to use all hardwood charcoal for grilling. i think kingsford sells it now in bags. and i use the newspaper chimney method to get them started. you can't beat the taste over real coals, not briquettes or (gasp) propane, and there's no chemical taste from the lighter fluid. propane grilling has it's merits like temp control, but you might as well just move your stove outside. also, i hate when someone starts their charcoal with a whole bottle of lighter fluid. the food cooked on it taste's terrible, even after the coals are all ash.
charcoal briquettes are ok, but all hardwood is the way to go for flavor. the briquettes are especially susceptible to the bad taste of lighter fluid, but do burn longer. a mix of a few briquettes and hardwood charcoal would help the grill burn more evenly.