Most introductory programming books lay down the basic principles of programming, describe the specific language the particular book covers, and give you enough of a sense of how you can apply the knowledge to real-world applications that you should be able to decide within 100 pages whether it's for you.

Sarcasm? :)

No no, not at all. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. Sometimes I get frustrated, when f.e. I want to get concepts of a new programming language, and learn it fast. I can't understand that f.e. it's so hard to find a good book/guide in under 100 pages. But ok, that's for the technical books.

So, no sarcasm, I agree with you about the first 30 pages :)

Ohh ok. Well I can't speak on behalf of programming, which I tried learning but realized it wasn't really my thing. :(