Let me begin with some compliments. The author's treatment of packages, always a tricky concept for LISPers, is superior. Shapiro introduces them early, and applies them consistently throughout the rest of the book. Another plus is his conversational tone that makes the book easy to follow. Most of his explanations seem accurate.

Now the bad news: there are many details introduced early while basic concepts are pushed way far back in the book. While the author is entitled to his own opinion about what's important, there are a couple of issues that are particularly bothersome. The let statement is not introduced until chapter 27, but gensym, a much more advanced topic is introduced earlier. There seems to be no mention that the eval command is not in wide usage and should be used sparingly.

Also, the reader does not come away with any notion of what is acceptable programming style. Sure, people have differences, but that doesn't give the author the right to shy away from this issue.

Despite the clarity of Shapiro's prose, Common Lisp: An Interactive Guide does not communicate what makes LISP special, nor with a sense of the range of programs that can be written with LISP. It might have been better to take a project oriented approach from the beginning, introducing concepts as necessary. The rest could be looked up in a reference manual.

If you are a first time programmer with no knowledge of LISP, Winston & Horn, LISP 3d edition brings you up to speed faster. If you know another programming language already, Koschmann "A Lisp Companion" is a wonderful choice. Both these books address beginners concerns, but also show the reader the bigger picture than does Shapiro.

In short: there is too much emphasis on detail, and not enough perspective. With the publishing of ANSI Common LISP, which serves as both a reference and a crash course, there is no reason to buy this book. However, I would give this author a second look in another book - he is clearly an accomplished educator and communicator, even though his efforts in this instance were misdirected.