syntax for key bindings in terminal -- os X

I'm currently reading "Learning the bash shell" by Newham and Rosenblatt. I've come to a section on key bindings, but am utterly lost when it comes to the syntax, and the man page doesn't help. Can anyone tell me what the syntax is for it, because I've tried to figure it out and can't.

on a related note, I just want to ask if I need to create an .inputrc file if I want to customize it? or is it in some hidden place that I can't find on my drive?

I'm using OS X 10.5.7 (the newest version) and this book was written in 2005, so it may be that some of the things in it are out of date.

Please help. This is utterly frustrating.

You might want to post this same question in this forum: Link The OS X Bash command line GURUs hang out there.

Regards.