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The Man Who Made Lists
July 2016: Biography Memoir
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The Man Who Made Lists / Joshua Kendall
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LibraryCin wrote: "The Man Who Made Lists / Joshua Kendall3 stars
During the 19th century, Peter Roget grew up without his father and with a mother who smothered him. Both his mother and later, his sister, had some..."
I really enjoyed The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary but think I'll pass on this one even though I love Roget's thesaurus.
Yes, that was the recent book I read on the OED, as well. :-) I gave it 3.5 stars (good).
I wonder if you might want to compare to some other reviews, as well, Denise? If you like the Thesaurus, you might like this one better than I did.
3 stars
During the 19th century, Peter Roget grew up without his father and with a mother who smothered him. Both his mother and later, his sister, had some mental issues later in life. Roget loved classifying things and making lists. He was extremely smart and grew up to become a physician; his preference was to lecture and experiment. Throughout his life, he kept word lists, but it was only when he retired that he focused his time on writing and publishing his now world-famous thesaurus.
It was ok. I don't think I found it quite as interesting as the recent book I read on the history of the Oxford English Dictionary. Much of it was interesting, but there were also parts where my mind would wander. Overall, ok.