book recommendation for Python newbie?

[Mike Driscoll]

On Oct 9, 3:00 pm, Joe Strout <j... at strout.net> wrote:
> I'm trying to (gently) convince my business partner that we should be  
> adding Python to our core toolset.  He's never used it before, apart  
> from poking around in the tutorial a bit at my urging.  But he's got a  
> birthday coming up, and I'd like to get him a book that will help him  
> make the transition more smoothly and enjoyably.
>
> In case it matters: his background is mainly in databases (originally  
> 4D, more recently MySQL), and his current primary tools are REALbasic  
> (which is a statically typed language with semantics similar to Java)  
> and PHP.  He's primarily a Mac user, but occasionally has to dabble in  
> Linux or Windows.  If we do make this change, he'll be using Python in  
> a professional capacity to develop commercial apps.
>
> There are a lot of Python books out there... which one would you  
> recommend in this case?
>
> Thanks,
> - Joe

A lot of people recommend Lutz's "Learning Python". While I haven't
read it, I have read his follow-up "Programming Python" and it was
good. You might also look at Hetland's "Beginning Python" or even the
"Python for Dummies" book.

Mike