false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167571834m/25019.jpg 25019 41 [Also published as "The Surgeon of Crawthorne"] When the editors of the <I>Oxford English Dictionary</I> put out a call during the late 19th century pleading for "men of letters" to provide help with their mammoth undertaking, hundreds of responses came forth. Some helpers, like Dr. W.C. Minor, provided literally thousands of entries to the editors. But Minor, an American expatriate in England and a Civil War veteran, was actually a certified lunatic who turned in his dictionary entries from the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Simon Winchester has produced a mesmerizing coda to the deeply troubled Minor's life, a life that in one sense began with the senseless murder of an innocent British brewery worker that the deluded Minor believed was an assassin sent by one of his numerous "enemies." <p> Winchester also paints a rich portrait of the OED's leading light, Professor James Murray, who spent more than 40 years of his life on a project he would not see completed in his lifetime. Winchester traces the origins of the drive to create a "Big Dictionary" down through Murray and far back into the past; the result is a fascinating compact history of the English language (albeit admittedly more interesting to linguistics enthusiasts than historians or true crime buffs). That Murray and Minor, whose lives took such wildly disparate turns yet were united in their fierce love of language, were able to view one another as peers and foster a warm friendship is just one of the delicately turned subplots of this compelling book. <I>--Tjames Madison</I> 1628566 book 1998 The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary total:7287|5:1524|4:3030|3:2148|2:497|1:88| 7287 27266 10720 1159 5 6 false false Thu Sep 04 02:42:33 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 03:00:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 5 false false Wed Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 05 14:08:54 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 18 16:50:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 4 false false Fri Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 17:06:30 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 15:09:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 5 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 12 22:13:53 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 04 06:35:23 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 3 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 07 04:13:14 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 04:27:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Feb 08 16:35:34 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 16:38:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 2 false false Wed Mar 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 07 23:20:12 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 11 19:21:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 2 false false Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Nov 11 08:07:50 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 11 08:09:57 -0800 2007 3 1 false false Mon May 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 07:11:22 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 05:21:34 -0700 2009 http://apps.new.facebook.com/good_reads/... but I'm more lukewarm on Winchester's work than my Goodreading friend. Hard to say why, exactly. I loved The Story of Engl...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Sep 30 10:06:42 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 30 10:09:03 -0700 2008 5 1 false false Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 09:38:59 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 19:59:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 2 false false Fri Sep 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 11:00:57 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 09:34:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jan 07 23:41:32 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 08 00:12:56 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Dec 23 10:03:13 -0800 2007 Fri Jan 04 08:52:38 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Nov 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 12:33:01 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 21:54:13 -0800 2008
As with many books, though, I think making the story book-length was a stretch. This ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Apr 22 09:38:30 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 18:00:55 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jul 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 17:57:08 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 07:48:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 07:52:12 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 08:02:21 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 1999 Thu Jan 22 08:54:12 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 09:23:47 -0800 2009 1 I thoroughly enjoyed this book, mainly for learning about some of the key people and events behind one of the greatest undertakings in the English language. A lot of us today take the existence of the dictionary for granted, not realizing how i...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Oct 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 13:36:25 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 14:28:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=25019