As a language, Perl has many similarities with English. Its pretty easy to get going, and you can get rather impressive things done in the language quite quickly. But to really become a master, you need to know more than the syntax and grammar. "Programming Perl" does a fantastic job in conveying the spirit of Perl - and thus offers invaluable insight into how to use Perl to even greater effect. Its the last book I would eject from my Perl bookshelf.