Rating: 
Summary: Just enough to get your mouth wet
Review: A trusted bookseller with whom I was discussing my interest and savings plan for the twenty volume second edition OED recommended this little book as something to gnaw on. The story follows the title briefly telling the story of the amazingly different lives of James Murray (the professor) and Dr. William Minor (the madman), their relationship and the end result, the Oxford English Dictionary. I'd recommend it as a primer to anyone interested in the making of the OED and its somewhat eccentric contributors. The author provides a list of further readings for those interested in complete understanding of the complexities of the OED's creation.
Rating:
Summary: Language, Lunatic, What an Interesting Read...
Review: If I could create a three dimensional model of the shape of this history, this story, I think we would see some rough and wild edges; substance not only a little ugly, but extraneous as well. The heart of the story is very much bright, beautiful and human. And the narrator's love of his subject matter and skills as a writer are very evident throughout the book. I just can't help but to feel like I would have enjoyed the story and the writing had it taken the form of a shorter and denser essay. And that might have something to do with where I stand in relation to the subject matter of the book: I am neither a etymologist nor someone overly interested in schizophrenia or the study of abnormal behaviors, two things the narrator goes to great lengths to explore. What I enjoyed of the book was the description of the process of creating the OED -- the people involved, the tools used, and the marketing aspects of the work -- as well as the stories of the two principal characters. I also enjoyed interacting with the narrator: he was smart, somewhat loopy, and like I said, very much into his subject matter. Now, having said all that, I will return to my belief that the story may have been best served by reducing it to twenty or thirty pages. For in doing that, I think I would have gotten my fill of both the story, the style and its sympathies.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: I guess we take the dictionary for granted, and never really think about the story and the men and women that made its existence possible. The Professor and the Mad Man focuses on two such men, both are considered brilliant yet one was insane. His story is the most interesting and the most tragic. However, although a perverse way to look at things, if he did not commit the murder he committed the dictionary would not have been as rich as it is, for he had quite a bit of time to work on it, considering that he was institutionalized for most of his adult life. My only problem with the book is when it would interrupt the story of Minor and Murray and discuss in very brief spurts other people involved in the dictionary, when clearly this books strong suit is the relationship of Murray- the head of the project and Minor- the most prolific contributor. When the book focuses on Minor's tragic life, it is a great read. When it diverts it can be a bit of a chore. But all in all for a subject matter most would consider droll, this work flushes the humanity out of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting. But interesting is an interesting word
Review: I was prepared to not like this book since I had so not liked Winchester's The Map that Changed the World, but I thought this work by the author was a much better effort. It certainly was an interesting subject, how two very different individuals worked together to help produce the OED. Those readers into words and their history will love the book. However, others who are more into plot might find it slow. I noticed some of the other customer reviewers thought it would have been better as a long article. I agree. I thought the author at times was stretching to bulk up the story. But, all in all an enjoyable and memorable read.
Rating: 
Summary: The joy of lex
Review: A completely fascinating true story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the odd story of one of its most prolific contributers, a Dr William Chester Minor. Minor, an American who had been a surgeon in the Civil War, spent his days reading old books looking for quotations that could be used to illustrate word meanings, them sending thousands of them to the lexicographers at Oxford. He had the time to do this because he was confined to an insane asylum, a fact which was not at first known by his editor, Professor Murray. The story of Minor's tortured yet brilliant mind (if alive today, he would be diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic) and his friendship with Murray unfolds with amazing detail. This author did his homework, unearthing old correspondence, consulting medical and military records, and contacting the major players' descendents. Minor was reasonably well-known in his day, having gained notoriety for committing a senseless murder that led to his confinement, and again later when stories were run in American tabloids telling how his confinement was discovered when his unsuspecting editor paid him a surprise visit at the asylum. Those tabloid stories turned out to be apocryphal, the author uncovers, but the real story is no less interesting. With the definitions of words and fascinating asides, not to mention the lovely narration by the author himself, this is an amazingly FUN audiobook on what could have been a deathly dull subject. It actually makes you want to run out and buy a copy of the OED. Especially worthwhile is an interview between the author and the current editor of the OED. The word 'between' is needed because at times it is hard to tell who is interviewing whom! If you like history, language, or people, you will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: Professor and Madman -- a good story stretched too long?
Review: The story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary is very interesting -- most of us surely had no idea what it took to assemble this seminal work (nearly a century, and thousands of volunteer contributors). The story of the schizophrenic American physician who was one of the main contributors, working from his comfortable cell in an asylum for the criminally insane, undoubtedly made an interesting article (at one time, but is not complex enough to justify a full length book. In the absence of anything more than the basic facts of the case, and with the need to stretch it to book length, the author repeats himself tediously and puts in a great deal of painfully obvious foreshadowing. He wants us to appreciate the wonder and irony of the fact that this unfortunate schizophrenic was also a genius (or at least a great academic scholar), but is this really so surprising? Many intellectual giants have been schizophrenics. It's also not so surprising that, having nothing else to do with his powerful mind and the endless years stretching in front of him, he chose to participate in the research needed to create this massive history and record of the English language. All in all, an interesting bit of history told in a somewhat tiresome way. ...
Rating:
Summary: Should have been a long article, not a 240 page book
Review: It is an engaging article: one of the chief contributors to the massive Oxford English Dictionary was an inmate in an asylum. It is not enough to fill a book, however. With one character imprisoned and the other at his desk reading, there isn't much going on - certainly not enough to sustain my interest.
Rating:
Summary: Well Worth the Read
Review: This book is about as exciting as the dictionay itself, which, depending on how you look at it, could be good or bad. Sometimes you feel that it's boring, unnecessarily detailed and coldly academic, and sometimes you feel as if you've stumbled upon the most wonderful piece of treasure. In the end, I came to adore this book for it's delicate combination of both the dry detail and the fascinating storyline because it is this sort of balance that makes the OED what it is: the most triumphant academic work in modern history, but comprised of the most painstaking and obsessed detail.
My only dissapointment with the book was that I felt I didn't get to know the two main characters, Dr. Minor and Dr. Murray, as intimately as I had hoped. I suppose I was expecting to know what drove these two characters to achieve what they did: why were they so passionate about the dictionary, what made them slave over thousands of words, day after day, for a good half of each of their lives? All in all, this book is a wonderful, accessible read, and will leave you with a greater appreciation for words and definitions than perhaps you ever thought possible.
Rating:
Summary: Biography of the OED and Mystery All in One
Review: Simon Winchester's long title, The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary, is definitely necessary to describe this book. I would argue that it is more about the making of the OED than it is about its two main characters, and so, the title is a bit backwards, but let's blame that on the editors rather than the author. Winchester tells the story of the creation of the earliest English dictionaries in the 17th Century, followed hard upon by Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary. He also explains why a comprehensive English dictionary still had not been published by the late 19th Century and describes the efforts of the Philological Society in England to rectify this fact. Winchester explains how the OED is different from almost all dictionaries. Not only does it attempt to be complete--a very hard task for the English language--but it defines the nuances of the definition of words through quotations throughout the centuries as well as through definitions. Winchester describes the manner in which the dictionary project started, its reliance on volunteers as well as dedicated editors, its fits and starts, and eventually its triumph. Winchester intersperses the story of the dictionary with the story of Dr. William Minor, an American medical doctor who killed an Englishman and was confined to an insane asylum as a result and contributed many quotations to the OED to fill his time. He also spends a few sections discussing the life of the general editor of the OED for most of its first edition, James Murray, and discussing the relationship between Murray and Minor. The parts of the book about Minor (and to a lesser extent Murray) are chiefly interesting because they seem to be the work of Herodotus or Thucydides rather than a modern-day writer. There are many fictional accounts of conversations, rank speculation about the causes of Minor's insanity and later of the impulses guiding Minor to work on the OED or stop working on it, as the case may be. Winchester does catch our attention by intentionally misleading us at one important place (described in another review for those who want to see the spoiler) and only later providing the correct facts. He also gives a rather lurid account of the shooting that results in Minor's incarceration and later of an injury Minor suffers. But on the whole, the description of Minor and Murray is the weakest part of the book and causes the book to lose 2 stars in my rating. To end on a positive note, each chapter begins with a definition of a word from the OED. These were uniformly interesting and gave sometimes direct and sometimes oblique clues about what the contents of the chapter would be.
Rating:
Summary: Great fuel for "Did you know?" conversations
Review: This is a very well-written book stylistically (the author is great with turns of phrase, but only in spurts now and then, so there's no "wall of sound" effect), and the subject matter is fascinating. The book appears to be exhaustively researched (loads of thank-yous and aknowledgements), and yet is actually quite short and easy to read -- in fact, it is slightly repetitious. I have to say I will never forget this book after the bizarre and unforeshadowed turn of events toward the end that still has me puckering and unintentionally crossing my legs. The best part about this book is how much you learn in a short time, and the way it always interests folks when you bring up in conversation the subjects it covers.
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