Lisp in Small Pieces beats Harry Potter in bestseller list

At least on Amazon.ca, Lisp is outselling the last Harry Potter.

After finding out that Lisp in Small Pieces was selling for $3.95 on Amazon.ca, I bought a copy and a few extra for my colleagues at Standoutjobs. (Reading the comments, there’s mention that Probability Theory : The Logic of Science is also only $3.95.) If Peter Norvig gives this book 5 stars, I figure I can’t go wrong.

It could be a typo, but I think they would have changed it by now. It’s likely they’re selling extra inventory before a second edition comes out. Old books cost money to warehouse, and selling them at this price is great marketing. If you like the first edition, you’re more likely to buy the second.

So if you are interested in Lisp, now’s the time to go buy a copy.

18 comments ↓

#1 admin on 08.09.07 at 3:59 pm

Probability Theory is currently #2, also ahead of the Harry Potter book.

#2 p on 08.09.07 at 5:11 pm

I am a huge fan of that probability theory book, ET Jaynes provides a wonderfully suggestive development of probability from the foundations. Snatch it up, it used to cost over $100.

The only flaw is that Jaynes died before completing it, and instead of filling in the incomplete essays, they added excercises. The bulk of the book is great, though, totally got me through school when I was using a computer lab printout of the early preprints.

#3 p on 08.09.07 at 5:13 pm

In fact, the MaxEnt application of Bayesian probability theory is often called “Jaynesian” by statistics wizards.

#4 Mike on 08.09.07 at 5:18 pm

((((((lisp))))))((((is))))((so)))(((readable)))))

#5 Tyler on 08.09.07 at 5:31 pm

What would you theorize the probability of her dieing before completing the book was? Wonder if she calculated that…

#6 iapx86 on 08.09.07 at 5:52 pm

Mike: Extra close paren after the identifier “so”. Extra two close parens after the identifier “readable”. Probably an excellent program, once syntax errors are addressed.

IMHO, well written LISP is more readable than well written C++. I am forced to write C++ to generate revenue. At least I get to use elisp to support that development work.

#7 Michael on 08.09.07 at 6:18 pm

OH!…I thought it was a book on ridding yourself of your speech impediment…

Now I feel so dumb.

#8 SP on 08.09.07 at 6:46 pm

Yes, Lisp is outselling both the children’s version of Harry Potter in the #3 spot and the adult version in the #6 spot, but I wonder if Lisp would be outselling both of them combined. The only difference between the adult and children’s version are the pictures.

#9 Yarb on 08.09.07 at 9:09 pm

Looks like the price has been fixed:

Lisp in Small Pieces (Paperback)
CDN$ 76.86 (new)

* LOW PRICE

#10 thanatos on 08.09.07 at 10:04 pm

(setq i 0)
(while (

#11 thanatos on 08.09.07 at 10:05 pm

I guess this comment engine isn’t lisp-friendly…

#12 anthony on 08.09.07 at 10:59 pm

(define dugg ‘(price fixed))

#13 LP on 08.09.07 at 11:42 pm

Apparemment ils ont corigé le prix… Si tu as des copies d’extra je serais intéressé…

#14 Kelek on 08.10.07 at 12:13 pm

Apparently they’ve raised the price (without changing the edition), so I’m assuming it was a typo.

#15 Moodock on 08.10.07 at 3:58 pm

So the price was an error? Or it was simply a temporary sale? If I had bought it yesterday would I have gotten it at that price or would I have gotten some kind of “no can do” email later on?

Anyway, I am kind of disappointed, I was really looking forward to having them. But if it’s too good to be true…

#16 Digg post-vivem — Some French Guy on 08.11.07 at 8:59 pm

[…] ← Lisp in Small Pieces beats Harry Potter in bestseller list […]

#17 Lance on 08.14.07 at 4:32 pm

God damn Amazon.ca canceled my order!!! How about you guys?

#18 Dave on 08.16.07 at 5:10 pm

Yeah, they cancelled mine to. They offered me a $10 coupon that expired the day before the email was sent… bastards.

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