This is my favorite technical book ever, partially because it is the book whose author is least in love with its subject. Neuberg tells you how to use Applescript without pretending that Applescript isn't hard to use and arcane in spite of its supposedly English-like syntax. His chapter on "what it's like to use Applescript" encompasses what programming is like for me more than any other thing I've read, and itself is worth reading even if one has no use for Applescript.