I am not really sure on that, as I do not have very much experience with Flash.
As for the book, I have never read it. I did take a class on Flash animation, though. It taught me the basics, but I have forgotten most of the things I learned now

If you can find a class like that it would be one of the best ways to learn.
You could also try one of those Flash forums, like
http://www.flashkit.com/board/forumd....php?forumid=2
Sorry if that didn't really help too much

Flash takes a lot of practice to get good at.