Whenever anyone asks me how to get started in programming, I tell them to forget about buying any of those "Dummies Guide" books and instead just pick a problem they're really passionate about and Google anything they need to learn to make the idea happen.
Such an approach certainly doesn't teach you a lot of the most important thing about programming (garbage collection, what types of objects to use and when to use them, etc.) but it does get the job done.
And that's the thing I think matters most for those just starting out: if you try to learn bottom-up and get all the fundamentals, you're going to burn out.
Of course such advice goes right out the window if your goal is to actually become a real, breathing, programmer. Because you can't afford to make mistakes and the foundational stuff ensures you're less likely to do so.
Whereas just Googling how to put together a project will likely leave you with a functional project, yes, but also less-than-ideal code.