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

Author: Simon Winchester

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This is the fascinating true account of the crafting of the Oxford English Dictionary, and the lives of the two men who most influenced it.

James Murray, an esteemed linguistic scholar from Scotland and the instigator of the dictionary's creation, sought the help of an American named William Chester Minor for thirty years until his death. The brilliant Minor sent Murray original definitions, citations, corrections, and polishing touches on thousands of words throughout his lifetime, and gained the respect of many English scholars and researchers in the process. After many years apart, without ever having met the mysterious contributor, Murray decided to pay Minor a visit - only then discovering that the man was contained for life in an insane asylum.

The historical events leading up to this shocking realization are well-researched and include reproductions of passages from unearthed journals and hospital accounts to support the story, as well as the author's editorial musings on the cause of Minor's madness. One neat feature is a dictionary entry included at the beginning of each chapter, taken directly from the original OED. The extracts tie in with the content of the chapter - for example, chapter 3, titled "The Madness of War," discusses William Minor's early stirrings of insanity, so the paragraph entry included is "Lunatic." It gives a scholarly flavor to the murder-mystery feel of the story, keeping specific events in perspective of the greater context of the monumental first English dictionary, seven decades in the making.

Equal parts a riveting true story of a madman, an insightful picture of war, an engaging historical narrative, a murder mystery, and a detailed account of what was to be one of the most colossal projects of the 19th century, Professor is worth a read by anyone.

The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America

Author: Bill Bryson (The Mother Tongue, A Short History of Nearly Everything)

Synopsis: Nonfictional. The author returns to the States after several years away as a writer in England, and compiles his observations about small-town life.

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"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."

Everything you need to know about this book is contained in these first two lines: It makes fun of small towns, mercilessly but good-naturedly. The author has firsthand experience with what he's discussing. Des Moines is a crummy place to grow up.

The writing is delightful, usually falling into one of three categories - Bryson's childhood experiences in the Midwest, present-day detailed narration on areas in which he stops to explore, and (most commonly) general cracks about the nuances of everyday life in a place that no one wants to live except the people who already live there. Not merely a joke book, this reads sometimes almost as a vacation/tourist guide, covering museums and historical landmarks no matter how trite they seem to outsiders (or is that the point?). If the reader is not from a small town, or is for some reason not already enjoying the book, perhaps they can identify with the intermittent flashbacks of the author's vacationing youth with his droll, travelphilic and knowledge-hungry father, from whom he clearly gets much of his traveling [mannerisms] and spirit whether or not he wants to admit it.

Admittedly, most of the small-town jokes have been done before, but Bryson successfully revives them with freshness and wit. I was thrilled to reach the section on Ohio, my home state, and realize not only that everything he says is true, but also (surprisingly) that they are digs I hadn't heard before - or at least not from his particular standpoint. Whether or not you chalk it up to his foreign station, he does a good job with a subject that has potential to be worn out.

Like any of Bryson's books, The Lost Continent is heartily amusing and chuckle-inducing, as well as effectively researched and absolutely true.... Or maybe the reader can judge that last part for themselves.

DO READ IF: you live in a small town in America and make fun of it at every opportunity (prepare to be entertained).

DO NOT READ IF: you live in a small town in America and love it (prepare to be offended).

A Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man

Author: Joseph Heller

Edition: Scribner

Difficulty: see third paragraph below.

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From the author of Catch-22 (which admittedly, I never finished) comes a book of quite different stock.

The story takes us through the problems of an elderly acclaimed author named Eugene Pota (whose life mirrors Heller's), particularly his newfound and nearly debilitating case of writer's block, and his struggle to retain respect and relevancy in a modern world. While there are some interesting aspects of his situation to consider, they're not much fun to read about. The telling signs of weariness in the author lend a depressing air to the narration - even the title itself, a play on James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, seems a little cheap.

While I'm not very familiar with Heller's writing style, I'm not impressed from this example alone. Laden with a superfluous amount of adjectives, most of which are unnecessary and require the average reader to look up for comprehension, it's clumsy to wade through and I found my attention wandering often. Clearly the author is intelligent and has a large vocabulary, but too much of this at once is tedious for both the eyes and the brain; in the end it feels like how a stew with too many flavorful ingredients might taste.

Perhaps Portrait appeals to an older demographic than myself. Perhaps it's also more engaging specifically to writers interested in the progression of their work. (I suppose if one likes realist fiction, they could argue that the author is a compelling writer - no doubt what he details is legitimate.) But it comes off to me as an empty story that only makes the reader as tired and uninspired as its protagonist.

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DO READ IF: you're a fan of Catch-22..... (I guess...)

DO NOT READ IF: you have anything better to do.