I think this book is ever so slightly overrated when it comes to actually implementing programming languages, but it contains such a nice introduction to parsing that I have for years been using it as my goto "You're not ready yet, read this" book when it comes go guiding people going down the dark unhappy path of working on language implementations.
PLT and implementing languages is something that's always fascinated me, so I enjoy hearing everyone's experiences in this domain. What makes you call it a "dark unhappy path"?
