Just to chime in with Steve Holden on taking the why-not-learn-SQL route. Chris Fehily's new book, SQL, A Visual QuickStart Guide (2nd Ed) is a masterpiece and goes well on the bookshelf with his equally lucid Python QuickStart Guide.
Cheap, too, for what you get. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0321334175/richarddooling/ rpd -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
