For a complete beginner the book is total nonsense and worse than overwhelming. The only plausible outcome is frustration and a higher likelihood the person will give up learning.
People need to please stop recommending JS The Good Parts to beginners. Please stop.
Beginners need an intro to the language and often an intro to programming concepts. What are they supposed to do with chapters on closure and currying?
When you think about recommending it again to a beginner, please stop and think about what a beginner knows, and what makes sense for them to learn as a next step.
It's true that for a beginner in programming it is overwhelming, but it's worth the read for those already with programming skill who's entering the language.
After all, it's just s recommendation, not a command. I don't see a reason to throw a tantrum over it.
+1 . For me "Effective Javascript" http://effectivejs.com/ is much more beginner-friendly and goes straight to the quirks of JavaScript . "JS - The good parts" is still worth reading after you had some experience.