first book about python

[Steve]

I recommend "The Quick Python Book" by Harms and McDonald.  Its
strength is its brevity and *readability* -- you can actually just sit
down and read it and enjoy it.  It doesn't cover the newest features of
Python or the most advanced, but that is not necessary in a beginner's
book.

Once you're up to speed on Python, as a sysadmin you'll probably find
"Python Network Programming" useful.  It is not a beginner's book, but
it is addressed to the kind of issues that you'll probably want to be
using Python for.