The cookbook assumes you know some Python. if you know it, you're good :) If you're new to Python and programming I would recommend 'Learning Python' by Mark Lutz and David Ascher. if you're very familiar with programming but need to catch up on Python syntax, I would recommend the Python in a nutshell by Alex Martelli.
I would also recommend you always keep a copy of the official Pythons docs by your side. They're priceless in my opinion. Good luck! -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
