The best Python book I have ever read is Python Essential Reference by David M. Beazley. It is a great reference book that deserves a place on your desk, however it hasn't been updated since Python 2.1 :/ I would gladly buy a few copies of a Python 2.4 version!
Once all the PHP people have bought their Rails books, I suspect that there will be a huge falloff for Ruby book sales again. Python has a much larger following still. That being said, the sales numbers are a great example of how the Python community dropped the ball on web application development and let another dynamic language take the crown.
Of course, I still prefer TurboGears to Rails, and I think there is still plenty of time for Python to carve its niche.
-- Jonathan -- Jonathan LaCour http://cleverdevil.org
