``A beautifully written, concise and comprehensive discussion of TeX as a programming language [...] Eijkhout's book is not a loose collection of unconnected entries but a very systematic account of how TeX works as a programming language. Not the ideal first introduction, but an absolute must-read if you want to understand the deeper foundations of the TeX language. On many occasion when one of my macros didn't work, only by consulting Eijkhout's book was I able to find the source of my problem.'' [From a review by Martin Diedrich]
``Whenever I hit a wall in my TeX hacking, I try to find a clue in the book by Eijkhout [...]. This worked for me again.'' [Boris Veytsman, in Tugboat]
There is a long review in Tugboat by Philip Taylor.
TeX by Topic, A TeXnician's Reference,
by Victor Eijkhout
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
Wokingham, England 1992
ISBN: 0-201-56882-9
List price US$28.95
pages 307+viii
This book went out of print somewhere in the 1990s, after which the publisher returned the rights to me. In 2001 I made it available for free download. Right now it’s available under the Gnu Free Documentation License. You can also get a nicely printed and bound copy from lulu.com for $16.61 plus shipping. There is a Nook version available from Barnes and Noble.
ISBN: 978-1-257-12571-5
Enjoy!
Victor.