I really think the author could have been able to express his point without the need to call any other book "buggy." Great books are able to claim "that pedestal" alone without this kind of references.

That "finely honed eye for defect" you refer to, you can have it after going to any great C book (including K&R C). By the end of the book, you should know what things were wrong before on the way.

Reflexion is something you do while you are reading.