You should just pick a random section and start reading; or better still find a section relevant to something you have worked with before. Knuth is a clear writ

You should just pick a random section and start reading; or better still find a section relevant to something you have worked with before. Knuth is a clear writer and pretty funny, and there is a lot of great insight packed in there. Note that TAOCP is more a reference book for professional researchers than a book to skim quickly cover-to-cover.