We have multiple sites using the same domain eg

site1: ebooks/book1
site2: ebooks/book2
etc

Is this configuration possible in Joomla Multi Sites?

YES with JMS 1.1.x, it is possible to recognize the sub-directories.

JMS recognize, the domain, sub-domain and sub-directories.

I have been studying your documentation to understand how one would setup this sort of configuration. What I can't figure out is:
1. How I would be able to point these different paths over the multi site folder
2. How to setup slave sites with the same domain (but different path)?

I have been reading the user's manual and the examples use different domains so I am wondering - are symbolic links required?

The reason I ask is I don't know if I will be permitted to use symbolic links.

Thank you

YES to recognize the sub-directories into an URL, you need :
- On unix platform to have the Symbolic Link available
- On Windows platform, create a Virtual Folder that will be assigned to the master website directory.

For Symbolic Links, you can use the "Hello World" procedure to check if your Hosting Provider or your own server is configured to accept the Symbolic Links.
This procedure does not require JMS and can be tested independently.
See tutorial step 4 to 7 that explain the Symbolic Link concept and how to check them www.jms2win.com/tutorial/
or go directly to the "Hello word" procedure to test it www.jms2win.com/tutorial/75

To setup a slave with a sub-directory, see an example in the video present in the tutorial step 9.

Thank you for you prompt replies.

I am now installing JMS and have been successful in creating a link
ebooks/multisites/book1

I found that when I enter a deployed directory that is not under multisites I get
"The deployed directory [/usr/local/apache/products/usemambo/htdocs/ebooks/book1] does not exists."

I am now going to have to do some work to ensure the URL
ebooks/book1 works by creating a symbolic link to multisites/book1

Is there any easier way to do it?

As JMS does not create the directories but use existing directories.
This explain why JMS tells you that the directory Book1 does not exists.
You just have to create the directory manually and retry deploying it in this directory.