Book recommendation: “The Professor and the Madman”
by Mary - December 7, 2006 - 2:41 PM

0060839783.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpgI know I just told you yesterday about a wonderful book featuring someone who was literally crazy-brilliant, but believe me, this one’s even better:

When the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary 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.”

Trust me, this is the book equivalent of Pringles; once you pop, etc. It’s perfect for all you Weekend Word Wrap devotees, too.

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Comments (4)
  1. YAY! I read it not too long ago and LOVED it. Warning, you may scream and run at one point in the book….keep going. It will be worth it.

  2. That book is very cool. I recommend any by Winchester. He writes a reeeeal fine story, I must say.

  3. I read and purchased this book 2 years ago and loved it. You will never look at the OED the same again!

  4. i’ve not been able to finish this book due to having left it in another state (oops), but what i did read was amazing. good read.

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