# On Lisp by Paul Graham

9 Hacker News commenters recommended On Lisp by Paul Graham and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for its worked examples on Lisp macros and techniques, and a free download from the author. Critics say parts reflect outdated practice.

## Why people recommend it

- Worked examples to follow along (2 comments): "He says better, and with more examples than I'd provide in a comment block" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48848629)) "you can work all of the examples in Graham's On Lisp in Python" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48950426))
- Enjoyable, well-regarded Lisp reading (2 comments): "I enjoyed books On Lisp and Let Over Lambda" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48861005)) "Graham's book "On Lisp" is really good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49172968))

## What people warn about

- Some advice dated by current standards (1 comments): "it does lots of things I wouldn’t consider good practice today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49304481))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crafting-interpreters.md): 60 recommend
- [Clean Code by Robert C. Martin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/clean-code.md): 31 recommend
- [The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pragmatic-programmer.md): 28 recommend
- [How to Design Programs by Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-design-programs.md): 18 recommend
- [Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mastering-emacs.md): 17 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0130305529?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780130305527) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "On Lisp by Paul Graham", https://hackerapproved.com/p/on-lisp/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).