Was he reading Dreaming in Code? For everyone unfamiliar with this book, the co-founder of Salon.com, Scott Rosenberg, wrote a book called "Dreaming in Code" that's basically about why writing software is so hard.
I am in the same position and have the same question. Have you tried following Learn Python the Hard Way or reading "Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist"? Those are to very good resources for learning Python. I would also recommend you try reading up on data structures and algorithms. What's your programming background? Do you know any other programming languages?