Before you try to wrap your head around the mod_perl book (I think I've read through it twice, and still don't get all of the intimate details), you might want to try to determine where the bottleneck is, and tune that part.

<p. If the problem is your database, enter 'mysql tuning' into your favorite search engine, and you should hopefully find good advice, such as:

• MySQL Tuning and Optimisation: Some Consulting Tips
• MySQL Reference Manual :: 7 MySQL Optimization
• MySQL Reference Manual :: 7.2 Optimizing SELECT Statements and Other Queries

And make sure, before you start tuning that you set a goal ... choose a performance metric, and work until you hit that number. Otherwise, you can run the risk of optimization obsession, and you spend days trying shave another 1/10th of a second off of your execution time, when it might be better spent on other tasks.