This is a somewhat unconventional guide for people new to Common Lisp. You might like it; you might not. If not, there are plenty of alternatives.
Order: Instead of the logical presentation order, I present material in the order that I think it'd be interesting to read it. This means we don't start with Lisp Myths, with the History Of Lisp, or with CAR and CDR and asides about the IBM 704 and box/pointer diagrams. We start with how to install a Lisp compiler.
Portability: There is an ANSI Standard for Common Lisp (see the HyperSpec for more on this subject). Like the similar standard for C, it prescribes some things and leaves other things unspecified. Where many tutorials will tend to stick to portable code and tell you to read the manual or ask your vendor for the unportable bits, we choose a single implementation (Steel Bank Common Lisp, on x86 Linux) and revel in the lowlevel grunge. We hope we've pointed out any places that we've used unportable behaviour that it wasn't completely obvious.
Balance: And finally, a warning: the wisdom of the Moderns holds certain practices to be - well, not sacred, because religion is contentious - but very important Good Things, at least. These include balance, objectivity, careful highlighting of opinions and flagging of value judgements, and dispassionate analysis of the facts. I have no intention of observing any of the preceding traditions. If you read things here that you disagree with, be told that the Good Lord and/or the evolutionary selection that made you gave you a brain, so make your own mind up.
This document is placed in the public domain, for unencumbered use, modification and distribution. I ask however that modified versions carry a notice describing the changes made, the author of the changes, and a pointer to this original version. This is a request which I cannot enforce other than by writing rude things about people who don't.
Your comments (on the document, preferably, not the licence) are always appreciated.