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Summary: Success out of faliure; genius out of insanity.
Review: This is a fascinating book. It is about how the Oxford English Dictionary came into existence. But before you turn away thinking, "What could be interesting about a dictionary?", at least read this review.If you are not familiar with the OED, this book will provide an excellent introduction to this most important work of lexicography; how the idea of it came to be, and how the actual publishing of it occured. A truly fascinating story in itself. But, the most interesting feature of the book is reflected in the title. The madman in the title is an actual insane person on one level. But the book shows that inability, even insanity, in one area of life doesn't necessarily affect productivity, even genius in other areas of life. We can learn from this true account that we need not let failure in one part of our lives prevent success in another. In spite of defeats and failures we can make valuable contributions in other places if we persevere in the opportunities that present themselves to us.
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Summary: A great book
Review: In 1872, James Murray took over the flagging effort to produce a new, comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Putting out a public request for volunteers to read and provide examples of words, he was deluged by responses. One volunteer proved to be a valuable asset, one Dr. William Minor. Only after he had come to consider Dr. Minor as one of his prime resources did Dr. Murray come to find out that Minor was incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane. This is the story of two very different men and the evolution of the Oxford English Dictionary. This wonderful book gives you the entire story of a very strange historical occurrence, a madman's invaluable contribution to the English language. Going back, it gives the reader the life stories of the two men and shows the evolution of their relationship. The story is touching, told in a clear manner that brings the story home. This is a great book.
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Summary: quirky fun, a bizarre corner of the universe
Review: This is a wonderful story of a crazy man who finds a useful occupation for himself - as a researcher for the Dictionary - from his permanent seat in an insane asylum. The story is just strange enough to sustain the readers' interest throughout. And with all its eccentricities, it is so English. Warmly recommended.
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Summary: Great format for an interesting tale
Review: The greatest part about this book is not the story it tells (although it is a great story) but how the story is told. It reads as both a sort of novel and a work of academic history. I would say it is a historical narrative but it is more than that combining both forms in seperate sections of the story and then blending them all together. Another nice touch is the author's use of a quote from the Oxford English Dictionary at the beginning of each chapter. Don't be decieved by the short length of the book, you will need a dictionary to learn all of these words and it has some great ones(some weren't even in my dictionary) But hey if you are going to read a book about lexiography you should use a dictionary right.
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Summary: There are great passages, but ....
Review: I enjoyed this book and yet at times found it irritatingly slow, and at times it seemed to just scratch the surface of deeper issues. Mr Winchester speculates at some issues and speculation is fine, but I was left wondering if he'd done insufficient research. Surely something could have been established rather than just leave the speculation hanging. In fact, from a philosophical point of view, perhaps historical writers should refrain from speculation if they can't establish any evidence in support of their supposition. Did Mr Winchester have to engage in speculation to try and pad out the story? And yet, whenever I did find the story start to flag, another incident would be narrated that showed what an extraordinary story this is. The question that isn't addressed is the validity of Dr Minor's contribution to the OED, considering his insanity. Was there any attempt to validate Dr Minor's contribution - or, in fact, any of the contributors? This is an interesting story combining surprising elements - linguistics, English academia, the American Civil War (some of the best writing for me), London in the 1800s, mental illness and its management. But for me the book was not entirely worthy of its subject.
Rating: 
Summary: weak writing, fascinating characters
Review: I wanted to like this book more than I did. It had great promise, witih undelivered results. The repetitious writing gets in the way of the character's story. With a fascinating teaser intro, I was expecting more than I read. Apparently the author didn't read what he had written in the preceding chapter, or wrote out of order, because each chapter repeats itself, maybe to pad it into book length.
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Summary: fascinating characters but weak writing and plot
Review: This could be a fascinating story of two characters whose lives were devoted to writing a dictionary. But, while Minor's life is sketched, the author writes too much speculation about his motivations. The few incidents known about his life are stretched into a full length book when a pamphlet would have sufficed. The style is repetitive and sensational. Apparently the author didn't read what he wrote in the previous chapter, or he wrote them out of order because each repeats what was said earlier.
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Summary: The Human Touch
Review: This well-researched literary jewel has completely revamped the pedantic, prolixic image of the Oxford English Dictionary - that intimidatingly scholarly work of linguistic art. More than just a narrative about words and how they all come together between two covers, this narrative brings the context of the times into the picture, as well as opening a door into the behind-the-scenes action by revealing the people who made it all possible. More than just a book about another book, Simon Winchester has produced a well-written bridge from that time to our own time and introduced a respectable, if not unusual, cast of characters whose stories lend a warm, human touch to the cold, scholastic formality of the Oxford English Dictionary. A scholarly tribute to a scholarly masterpiece, this book is well-recommended to those seeking surprising, sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic insights into the late eighteen-hundreds and how it has influenced the way we speak and communicate today. - Benjamin Gene Gardner
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Summary: A great story; suffers just a bit in the telling
Review: The fascinating, appalling, sad tale of the lunatic American, John Minor, who became one of the most prolific contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary as it was being created by its learned Scottish editor, James Murray --- while Minor dwelt in an asylum for murder. An amazing tale, well worth telling, even if Winchester pads it with purple prose and much tangential material. Perhaps the most important part of the book is the debunking of the myth that told how Murray and Minor met, and how Murray was only then clued in to Minor's position (in fact the Scot was told before by a friend). Oddly, this myth is reprinted, as fact, on the dust jacket. Winchester also adds drama to the tale, which is like painting the lily; he tries, for example, to force a sort of parallelism on Minor's work on the OED and improvement in his condition, though the story he tells doesn't support that; Minor just stopped contributing as he declined, though the OED continued apace. I would have liked to read more on Murray's prodigal depth of learning and his method of work --- but this is mostly Minor's story, and it's an enthralling one.
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Summary: Piquant story with lousy prose
Review: This is an interesting bit of history--interesting enough, really, to capture the Victorian era English-speaking world from one of its more absurd and hypocritical angles: the rational empire which created and, in part, thrived through madness. But how long would it have taken a good writer to have related the story? Seventy pages? Fifty? Thirty, even. Winchester's book is 242 pages. Perhaps they are filled with extra scholarship and discussion of Winchester's various assertions...? No. This book is 80% body fat, plumped out with stereotype, tautology, and cloying prose. Here, for instance, is one of Winchester's descriptions: "[Lambeth Marsh was] a dim world of bricks and soot and screeching iron...and everywhere a...rough-hewn, rollicking, hugger-mugger, devil-may-care, peculiarly London type of good cheer." Five adjectives for one noun, and each one of them an easy cliche of Olde Londunn Towne. Even as a guilty pleasure this soon becomes tedious. The premise of the book is lost under such exploitation of the Victorian/Oxfordian world. The irony is that a book about the Oxford English Dictionary sells the language so cheap. Come to think of it, there is an additional irony in that it employs its whorish verbiage to make the book long and sexy enough to be marketed at a high price.
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