Rating: 
Summary: Delicious, delightful, stranger than fiction.
Review: A marvelous tribute, well presented, to those involved in the Oxford English Dictionary. Inadvertant heroism, sorrow and dedication. A must read.
Rating: 
Summary: The information was great; the book needed a good editor!
Review: I read the book and I also heard the tape of the book. I found the data fascinating. It is hard, really, to fathom how anyone could compile a dictionary of that magnitude without computers, yet Murray and his staff, and his successors, did just that. That part of the book was amazing. Murray's rise from Scottish peasantry to scholar was nearly incredible, especially at a time when people without the right connections and accents never did such a thing. Unfortunately, Winchester left a lot of gaps in Murray's story. His implication was that his book was to tell at least two parellel stories: the histories of Murray and Minor, and the dictionary's story. Instead, there was a lot of choppiness: like a series of daily columns in a newspaper, or several short essays on various aspects of the dictionary and its progenitors. There was lots on Minor. His tragic, yet macabre, life was documented fully. But, there were many gaps and many inconsistencies in the re-telling of his biography. We are never certain what set him on his quest for flesh. We are never certain how involved his family was with him. His tale should have been dramatic, but Winchester obviously uses a style programmed to give data, not drama. Thus, though drama is implied, we, the readers, never get more than titillated. Then, we get lots of stuff: data, fact after fact. There are few connective links between the book's diverse parts. It begins and ends in sections with little consistency or rhyme or reason. We never found out how Murray got out of poverty, how he received his academic credentials, what his salary was, how he was able to raise 11 children on that salary (suggested to be paltry), or what kind of person he was. He kind of dies in parenthis (shades of Virginia Wolfe!) He does not become more than one dimensional at best. Minor possibly gets to a two dimensional personna, but no further. Though the dictionary is the hero of the story, we never really realize who buys it, how many are and were sold annually, who uses it, exactly, and so on. I read the book, and was not bored by it...but I was amazed that I was not, because it was badly written. It was readable, probably because it was like a newspaper story, section after section. But it was poorly edited (lots of typos in the book), poorly constructed, and lacking in information it should have had.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling tale of an odd contributor to the OED
Review: Titled "The Surgeon of Crowthorne" in the UK, this tale of one of the odd characters who contributed to the OED was terrific. This showed a keen insight into the Victorian world of intellectualism and the monumental feats undertaken during the age of intellectual idealism. The fact that an American--and a convicted murderer and certified paranoid--contributed so greatly to one of the pillars of 19th century English intellectualism is a great tale unto itself. Winchester does a great job tying together so much so briefly. Though the story could have lingered longer on certain subjects, the brevity is a gift leaving me hoping that Winchester will write more on some of the key characters. Plenty of room for a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: This is an enthralling, well-written and touching book.
Review: "The Professor and the Madman" will not appeal to every reader. If you like lexicography, if you are interested in Victorian England, and if diseases of the mind fascinate you, then read this book. It is one of the strangest accounts that I have ever read. I devoured this book in one sitting. Winchester fascinates us with this story of the contribution that a convicted murderer named William Minor, who was confined to an asylum for the criminally insane, made towards the gargantuan Oxford English Dictionary. This book is written sparely and elegantly. It could easily have been a bloated tome, but Winchester pares the story down to its essentials. The cliche that truth is stranger than fiction is certainly borne out by this tale of obsession. I use the word "obsession" both in the sense of the paranoia that plagued William Minor during most of his life and the obsession to create one of the most ambitious and scholarly works of all time. Winchester does an admirable job of making "The Professor and the Madman" both accessible and intriguing.
Rating:
Summary: A quick-read; diverting and somewhat disturbing.
Review: The subtitle is apt: "A Tale..." Simon Winchester tells a story that is "a fine conjunction" of three entities (Murray, Minor and the OED). Initially put off by the frankly scary details of Minor's problems, I finally began to enjoy the book and was awed by Winchester's telling of how Dr. Minor endured his years at Broadmoor.Therefore this was not only a story, a true if possibly embellished story, but an insight to the life of an intelligent, disturbed man forever incarcerated. And although I have no quibbles about the bulk of Winchester's content, I don't really think we needed to read the specifics in the chapter entitled "The Unkindest Cut." This marred a telling that had otherwise not indulged in shock exploitation of the book's subject.
Rating:
Summary: Sad but also uplifting story of a descent into madness
Review: The story of how an educated distinguished American Civil War surgeon apparently traumatised by his experiences descended into madness and was committed to a mental instition in Victorian England. Despite this, he formed a postal relationship with the editor of the first Oxford English Dictionary and, over a period of several decades made 1000's of contributions whilst keeping his identity and circumstances a secret. A gripping, often unbelievable book, it changes your perception of madness whilst also giving an interesting insight into the art of lexicography. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Reality that sounds like fiction. Terrific
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and not well written
Review: Like other readers, I had expected to be capitvated by this thrilling story, but instead found myself annoyed and irritated by the many grammatical infelicities and asides. Don't publishers edit work anymore?
Rating:
Summary: Academic spite
Review: Mitchell Redmond writes a mediocre review of Simon Winchester's PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN. Redmond denies Winchester much of the original research which could have contributed to the depth of the work. Winchester, nonetheless, writes an intriguing yarn of insanity/brilliance which are so often intertwined in creative and intellectual works. It does not seem that Winchester attempts the ultimate work; it is a slim volume compared to the weight of his subject. It is not academic in terms of noting sources (which I found at times discouraging). It is anecdotal in approach and in presentation. Winchester succeeds in writing an easily read and understood history of a project so far beyond typical human consideration. He should be applauded for his effort and his result. This book is fun to read, simply put. Redmond seems driven mutually by spite and joy. I can see him giggling to himself as he took notes on Winchester's omissions. Well, Mr. Redmond how would he know they were omissions if you purposefully denied him information. Your decided effort to deny information has made you look foolish, not brilliant for finding the information first. Good for you! In the name of the story, you should have opened your findings to Winchester, allowed him a shared piece of your knowledge. Now, when thousands of people read his version, they will read something short of what it could have been. This short-changed version is thanks to you. You have, by denying him, and willfully allowing him to write short of a full story, done something akin to steeling original materials from the archive. That is upsetting. If he was better suited to tell this story to the world, you should have acknowledged that, and accepted the role as a contributor. I, for one, wish you had. And I also wish that you had not written that spiteful review. Winchester has written something for us to value. The OED is one of the greatest works of academia and literature; it is certainly too bad that the widest read version of its creation has been shortchanged by someone being spiteful.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Intriguing
Review: Winchester's narrative opens a window on an episode in history that would, otherwise, go largely un-noticed. The relationship between Professor James Murray and Dr. William Minor is as fascinating as it is intriguing, and is related by Winchester in a compelling, historiographical fashion. Occasionally the language deployed borders on the flowery, but in a book all about the world's principle book on language, that can be excused. Inexcusable is the failure of the publishers to include the photographs of Minor and Murray to which Winchester continually refers. It's a small annoyance in an otherwise delightful read.
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