To be clear, I haven't finished the book yet, but I made it through the first eleven chapters (~230 pages) so I think I've gone through enough material to rende

To be clear, I haven't finished the book yet, but I made it through the first eleven chapters (~230 pages) so I think I've gone through enough material to render a reasonable opinion. With that disclaimer out of the way... I love that the author chose to expose readers to core, foundational concepts through example programs that were continually improved instead of using lots of throwaway one-off examples. Put differently, the author managed to ensure that readers that diligently followed through from beginning to end would gain a real sense of progression as they went through the material. The only complaint I really have so far is Chapter 11 -- but that's not really the author's fault; that's just the terrifyingly mind-numbing formatting functionality (Common?) Lisp offers.