The Django Book (http://www.djangobook.com http://www.djangobook.com) starts with these details (except for the the dispatcher stuff), then shows you how to cut

The Django Book (http://www.djangobook.com http://www.djangobook.com) starts with these details (except for the the dispatcher stuff), then shows you how to cut down the boiler-plate code using django. The book I read on TurboGears was similar, IIRC. You start with the basics, use the framework to speed up monotonous stuff, then drop back to the basics when you need to do heavy lifting.