The Professor and the Madman

By: Simon Winchester

Narrated by: Simon Winchester

Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Hidden within the rituals of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary is a fascinating mystery. Professor James Murray was the distinguished editor of the OED project. Dr. William Chester Minor, an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War, was one of the most prolific contributors to the dictionary, sending thousands of neat, hand-written quotations from his home. After numerous refusals from Minor to visit his home in Oxford, Murray set out to find him. It was then that Murray would finally learn the truth about Minor - that, in addition to being a masterly wordsmith, he was also an insane murderer locked up in Broadmoor, England's harshest asylum for criminal lunatics. The Professor and the Madman is the unforgettable story of the madness and genius that contributed to one of the greatest literary achievements in the history of English letters.

©1998 Simon Winchester (P)1999 HarperCollins Publishers Inc., All Rights Reserved, Harper Audio, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"The linguistic detective story of the decade." (New York Times Magazine)

Simon Winchester is a delight to read and hear!

What made the experience of listening to The Professor and the Madman the most enjoyable?

I loved Simon Winchester's sense of humor, which really came through in his narration of his book.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The "edge of my seat," I'm not sure. It is, after all, not a spy novel, but a story about two scholars (one committed to an asylum) working on the Oxford English Dictionary. However, the story is a very fascinating one. Simon Winchester is a masterful storyteller.

Which scene was your favorite?

Definitely the storytelling about how James Murray got to know about William Minor's condition (not the myth, but the reality), and how they became good friends...sort of the OED odd couple.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I had no extreme reactions to this book, but others might because of some of the details involving the quite insane Dr. Minor. For me, it was a pleasurable read...with a few weird moments.

Very Engaging and Underrated

I saw this on sale and was reminded of how much I enjoyed everything about this book. I was very surprised at the low overall rating and felt that it would be a shame for it to go overlooked. There are enough well written reviews on this, so I will refrain from telling you more than this: As soon as I finished it, I listened again. It is worth a credit and, on sale, it is an absolute bargain! Don’t hesitate on this one!

Very enjoyable and interesting book

I enjoyed this book about an unusual subject which is the writing and editing of the Oxford English Dictionary. The author did a beautiful job of writing and narrating the book. I highly recommend it. Very entertaining.

Interesting read for every kind of reader!

As an avid book reader I can have often have times having difficulty finding a book that keeps my attention. This book was quite hard to put down. The story is an interesting read indeed and the way the author has written it is compelling. I recommend this book to anyone!

It's ok

Be warned, the last hour is bibliography and interview with author and I need 9 more words so there ha

Ode to an ode to the English Language

Riveting book - charming Victorian prose. Winchester makes excellent use of the English language in writing this ode to the OED (which is, itself, an ode to English itself). Charles Hodgson (of podictionary.com) chose perfectly in recommending this.

Interesting Book

I will never look at the dictionary the same again. I had never given a thought to how someone created a dictionary so I found this book fascinating. Winchester did a good job researching the history of the Oxford dictionary and the story of the murder and the madman made it even more interesting. Going from the Battle of the Wilderness in the U.S. Civil War to Oxford Dons makes one take a big leap of the mind to fit them all together into one interesting story. I am going to look for more Winchester books. I had read Krakatoa by Winchester because of the reviews in Audible and at the end was a excerpt of The Professor and the Madman, so I downloaded and boy am I glad I did. Interesting book.

Stranger than Fiction

I have a hard time giving a non-fiction book five stars, for some reason. But this book was so fascinating to me. I have always loved the dictionary. Call me strange. You won't be the first. But I remember even in high school and earlier that when I looked a word up in the dictionary, I would get all excited as I got close to finding it. I just couldn't wait to find out all about words. I am still like that to a large degree. The most used app on my smart phone is the dictionary app. By far! Even more than Angry Birds . . .

Anyway, I found this whole story fascinating. The whole process of compiling the words for the first truly comprehensive dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary, would make a good story by itself. Couple that with the fact that the most valuable contributor was for the remainder of his life, in an institute for the criminally insane for murder, and it becomes stranger than fiction. My heart was so broken for William Miner and the crazy mixed up life he lived. Nevertheless, it was only because of his dysfunction that he was able to devote so much time to working on the Oxford English Dictionary. While he worked on the dictionary, he was not bothered by the hallucinations that drove him mad much of the rest of the time. William lived a long life, but I can only imagine the relief he must have felt when he was able to lay his mortal body down and his dysfunction along with it.

I'm not often a fan of authors reading their own book, but I thought Simon Winchester did a good job of reading this book.

Fact is stranger than fiction

Any additional comments?

I first listened to this book on cassette (library's copy) about a dozen years ago. I liked it so much, that a couple of years later when I came across the paper version in a book store, I bought it. Then it went on sale at Audible and I bought it again. It's worth it. I've listened to it a few times since I bought it. It gives the reader a brief glimpse into the horrors of the Civil War and the influence they had over a young doctor who was not emotionally equipped to handle them.

The author's narration was terrific. I thoroughly enjoyed the accent and the pace. No dragging here.

Since I love to look things up, the history of the making of a dictionary was right up my alley. I'm also a student of the Civil War so that, too, was interesting. My favorite part of the book would be a spoiler, so here's my challenge to someone reading this review. Listen to it yourself and see if you can guess!

Fascinating

This book is fascinating even if you aren’t interested in lexicography. Completely worth it to stay around until the very end, after the credits, and hear the interview.