There are lots of books about programming out there, and it seems Code Complete is pretty much at the top of most people's list of "must-read programming books", but what about The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth?  I'm a busy person, between work and a young family I don't have a ton of free time, so I have to be picky about how I use it.

I'm wondering - has anybody here read 'TAOCP'?  If so, is it worth making time to read or would some other book or more on-the-side programming like pet projects or contributing to open source be a better use of my time in terms of professional development?

DISCLAIMER - For those of you who sport "Knuth is my homeboy" t-shirts, don't get me wrong - I want to read it, but I'm just wondering if it should be right at the top of my priority list or if something else should come first.

TAOCP is an utterly invaluable reference for understanding how the data structures and algorithms that we use every day work and why they work, but undertaking to read it cover-to-cover would be an extraordinary investment of your time.
As one family man to another, spend the time with your kids.
