A good introduction to the language and a some nice medium scale examples in the second half. I’d choose Norvig’s Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming, which is really a general book about Lisp programming techniques in spite of the title, if I could only have one Lisp book. And I would get Graham’s other book On Lisp as a follow-up. But if you are a serious Lisper, get this, too, if only for the examples. Graham is a good programmer and worth learning from.
Got me back into comic books during college. I loved comics as a kid, but I’d moved on to science fiction. A classmate turned me on to Watchmen. I think Watchmen was the start of the Deconstruction of the Super Hero, and if that has been overdone by now, Watchmen is still a terrific read.
Charming and funny, with occasional lovely passages, some lovely in spite of themselves, since he seems to want to make fun of the romantic streak that is apt to come out in even the most pedestrian people when faced with a pretty vista. And if you are honest with yourself, you will admit the many foibles he pokes fun at in himself.
Funny, and fairly accurate as these sorts of generalizations go (at least, according to one random Danish friend.)
Superb sequel to H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine. Captures the language and the spirit of the original, and, I think, the intent, though a little more optimistic than Wells. The characters are well developed, the cosmic temporal scope great and wide. Achieves the sense of wonder that makes a classic.