I started learning programming in January using K & R. It is a wonderful book which avoids all of these problems.

It's short. You write challenging programs in the tutorial introduction. And the accompanying "C answer book" has good solutions for all the exercises.

I also like the fact that each example is a working program. You learn the concepts by applying them. And the exercises really make you think.

People say its "not for beginners". I actually think it's an ideal way to start. The "beginner" books are just confusing.