phf: https://common-lisp.net/project/closure/ for the curious

phf: BingoBoingo: i use that ibook for mac os 9 now, with kaleidoscope, hypercard, mcl (macintosh common lisp). i boot it up from time to time and it feels like the cyberpunk future that never was

phf: a good common lisp book to have in addition to keene's clos book is AMOP http://www.amazon.com/The-Metaobject-Protocol-Gregor-Kiczales/dp/0262610744

phf: in practical terms, common lisp quirks are direct result of underlying machine level architecture

phf: i think "minimal set of common lisp primitives" is a common theme on #lisp, not surprisingly with different answers every time

phf: i'm not one of those people you're arguing against, i like cl standard just fine. i did paid common lisp consulting on and off for the past 10 years.