Zed, I've written a beginner's book called 'A Byte of Python', and I'd like to know your opinion about it - http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/Python

FWIW, the background is that it has been under a Creative Commons license since 2004, it has had about half a million downloads/readers (guesstimate, of course), is used as a text book for introductory programming courses in at least 8 universities worldwide, and has been translated to at least 5-6 languages by volunteers.