[bloblaw]

This looks like a good introduction to the core of Perl programming, however I would recommend "Modern Perl" by Chromatic. It's free (and legal) for the PDF version.

Why do I recommend "Modern Perl" instead? Because it: (1) contains new language features added to Perl in the last 9 years (2) covers how to use Moose for OOP (3) shows how to use new Perl 6 features in Perl 5 (4) clearly explains the right way to do things (5) covers how to write tests (6) demonstrates that the Perl language continues to evolve and is a modern and effective programming language

And in the end, "Modern Perl" shows you how to write maintainable and effective Perl code. Great book, and you can get the PDF for free here: http://onyxneon.com/books/modern_perl/