A tragedy indeed. "A Tour of C++" by Stroustrup is an excellent counterexample. He explains the basics in Chapter 1, and then goes on to explain more advanced s

A tragedy indeed. "A Tour of C++" by Stroustrup is an excellent counterexample. He explains the basics in Chapter 1, and then goes on to explain more advanced stuff all while avoiding the uncommon or ugly parts of the language. When learning a new language I often search for its "A Tour of C++" or "Effective Java" equivalent, but they're not common. The "In a Nutshell" series are a passable substitute.