...guess i bought the wrong book :learning perl -O'reilly...

Maybe not! Learning Perl is also a great book directed towards beginner in Perl. Maybe that is not the book you would have wanted since you have understanding in programming.
You might then look at Beginning Perl by Ovid and Modern Perl by Chromatic. Am those will get you the lift you are looking for... :).

Welcome to the realm of all possibilities, welcome to Perl Programming. Timtoday!!!

Let me also add that there is Intermediate Perl by the same Authors who wrote Learning Perl, that should be the one you wanted.