Grey Hat Python is a great book, if the code "doesn't work" they don't have the desire or aptitude to make it work. If you want to understand "hacking" there are a million books to read. I would start with Counter Hack Reloaded, it will open your eyes. From there, decide what you're interested in... and report back. This is a lifestyle and commitment, not just a profession

You say that you're new to information security, but you don't say what your other skills are.  The advice that people can give you really depends on the CS/IT background that you already have.  If you're also new to IT, you should start with books on system/network administration and programming.  If you're already an accomplished programmer, Cisco guru, or sysadmin, you can pick a security book that relates to your existing experience and jump right in. 

If you're already strong in networking concepts you might want to grab Network Intrusion Detection by Stephen Northcutt (a little dated, but good), The Tao of Network Security Monitoring by Richard Beijtlich, or Snort IDS and IPS Toolkit by Jay Beale.  If your interest is in Cisco, the Hacking Exposed: Cisco book may suit you.

If you have system administration experience, you may want to grab one of the Hacking Exposed volumes or Counter Hack as recommended above (I haven't read that one).

If you're interested in application security, check out this reading list by Dino Dai Zovi (one of the top appsec researchers):

http://www.amazon.com/A-Bug-Hunters-Reading-List/lm/R21POHD6Y2DOLQ

Python is a good language.   It's clean, powerful, and you can develop apps quickly with it.   I used to build all of my small or one-shot apps in Perl, but I switched to Python a while back.  It's easier to read/maintain which is particularly important to me since I don't code on a daily basis anymore. 

You should also learn enough C  that you can at least read basic code with some proficiency; it will be helpful for solving compilation problems, understanding exploit code, and reading some articles. 

As far as understanding the enemy, you should check out the papers from the Honeynet project titled "Know Your Enemy":

http://www.honeynet.org/papers

I agree with cd1zz. Counter Hack Reloaded is great. If I could go back to the time I started in infosec, I would choose this one. Ed Skoudis is a great instructor.

Hey,
THE BASICS OF HACKING AND PENETRATION TESTING.
 ethical hacking and penetration testing made easy.
Author....PATRICK  ENGEBRETSON
Plz this book is 100 percent ok for newbie.
I just finish the book and ready to hack and pen test.