The Professor and the Madman Unabrdged: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

Reading brings us into contact with times, places, and events that are otherwise inaccessible to us. This is the special gift from the story of the professor and the madman. The detailed research and descriptions made the times and events real to us. We enjoyed learning about the development of the Oxford English Dictionary. The story was a vehicle that kept us interested. The characters were fully 3-dimensional. Well done all around!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I did not expect to like this, but the details of the work that went into compiling the dictionary and all the politics involved were compelling. I can see why others might find it stuffy, but I really enjoyed it. Probably best enjoyed by a work lover.

I tried to get through this because my mother recommended it. I listened to about half of it, but I just didn't care about the topic and the stuffiness of it irritated me. I don't really enjoy literature in the classical style, but I can see how someone else might enjoy this book as it is very beautifully written.

As a person who loves words, this book was a plesant suprise. It was facinating and very detailed. The building of the first dictionary is something you realize that someone had to do but I never considered the stories behind the pulling together of the Oxford Dictionary. Excellent story.

I loved this book. It is filled with details about the Oxford English Dictionary that you would not enjoy in a dry, academic book. If you like words and language, this is a book for you.

If you enjoy excessive and somewhat stuffy verbage, you'll like this. Though the story is interesting, it could have been an article in Readers Digest. Perhaps the abridged version would be better. The author is in love with his writing and lets it show. He did a lot of research, some valid, some obscure, all of which he used in the book making it about 12 chapters too long. The audio version is well read by a stuffy Englishman also and, naturally, the subject matter suits the voice. PS: As an Englishman myself I feel wholly justified in critizing, once again, a nation that takes all of its history way too seriously.