Overview

Now available in paperback, The Meaning of Everything is the absorbing story behind the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Originally mooted in 1857, it would be another 71 years before the British prime minister could celebrate the completion of 'the greatest enterprise of its kind in history'. In this delightful account of the OED's creation, Winchester introduces us to a host of extraordinary characters: the murderer who contributed from his prison cell, the brilliant but tubercular first editor Herbert Coleridge (grandson of the poet), the boisterous Frederick Furnivall (who left the project in shambles) and James Murray, the self-taught draper's son who spent a half-century bringing the project to triumphant fruition. The Meaning of Everything is a scintillating and engaging account of the creation of the greatest monument ever erected to a living language.

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9780192805768

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Reviews

Teeming with knowledge and alive with insights. Winchester handles humor and awe with modesty and cunning. His devotion to the story is the more eloquent for the cool-handedness of its telling. His prose is supremely readable, admirable in its lucid handling of lexicographical mire. --William F.Buckley, New York Times Book Review The extraordinary story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary is a subject perfectly suited to Winchester's magpie mind.... Winchester's account is an affectionate and frankly partisan study of the making of a great dictionary. It is also an offbeat portrait of an extraordinarysociety. --Robert McCrumm, Los Angeles Times Devastatingly brilliant.... Fascinating, witty, extremely well-written.... Winchester makes words exciting. He obviously loves them. --Rochelle O'Gorman, The Boston Globe Winchester brings to life the trials and tribulations of creating the OED, particularly the never-dull personalities of those who were involved. Moreover, he delightfully, admiringly gives us an appreciation of the wonderfully adaptive, ever-expanding English language.... A story that could havebeen stultifyingly dull is fascinatingly told, with a verve and reverence for the English language that would have won huzzahs from Shakspere (Murray's favored spelling) himself. --Forbes Magazine As inspiring as it is informative, Simon Winchester's history of what it took to assemble the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is both a dazzling detective story and a poignant group portrait. A must-read for every language lover. --Seattle Times An inspired story of conflict, madness, genius, and inspiration so amusing that at times it reads like fiction--but it isn't. --Library Journal (starred review) Like Longitude...a story of extraordinary endurance. --Clive Davis, The Wilson Quarterly Winchester tells the story with great verve in an easy-going, anecdotal style that's delectably readable. --Christian Science Monitor Full of engaging characters and incidents. --Wall Street Journal Winchester has no peer at illuminating massive and complex endeavors through the quirks and foibles of the brilliant and powerful personalities who carry them out. --Chicago Sun Times A magnificent account, swift and compelling, of obsession, scholarship, and ultimately, philanthropy of the first magnitude. --Kirkus Review (starred review)

the account is engaging and its conclusion a triumph...an absorbing account * The Scotsman * absorbing and entertaining * Times Literary Supplement * Review from previous edition My book of the year, for pure pleasure...an exuberant, serious, funny, short, full, entrancingly readable account * Jane Gardam, Spectator * A lively and largely informative chronicle of a still-staggering enterprise * Helen Zaltzman, Observer * Simon Winchester has told this story with a touch of human drama and with a true sense of the social history that surrounded the enterprise. * Stephen Wade, Contemporary Review * Splendid history of the OED * Evening Standard * Splendid history of the OED * The Scotsman * Simon Winchester's book is a fascinating catalogue of political wrangles, logistical conundrums and personal battles that underlay the work's creation. This book is a delightful curiosity * Zoe Green, Daily Telegraph * Irresistible * The Independent * compelling reading. Winchester is excellent on the theory and practice of lexicography * Sunday Times *

compelling reading. Winchester is excellent on the theory and practice of lexicography Sunday Times Irresistible The Independent Simon Winchester's book is a fascinating catalogue of political wrangles, logistical conundrums and personal battles that underlay the work's creation. This book is a delightful curiosity Zoe Green, Daily Telegraph Splendid history of the OED The Scotsman Splendid history of the OED Evening Standard Simon Winchester has told this story with a touch of human drama and with a true sense of the social history that surrounded the enterprise. Stephen Wade, Contemporary Review A lively and largely informative chronicle of a still-staggering enterprise Helen Zaltzman, Observer Review from previous edition My book of the year, for pure pleasure...an exuberant, serious, funny, short, full, entrancingly readable account Jane Gardam, Spectator absorbing and entertaining Times Literary Supplement the account is engaging and its conclusion a triumph...an absorbing account The Scotsman

`compelling reading. Winchester is excellent on the theory and practice of lexicography' Sunday Times `Irresistible' The Independent `Simon Winchester's book is a fascinating catalogue of political wrangles, logistical conundrums and personal battles that underlay the work's creation. This book is a delightful curiosity' Zoe Green, Daily Telegraph `Splendid history of the OED' The Scotsman `Splendid history of the OED' Evening Standard `Simon Winchester has told this story with a touch of human drama and with a true sense of the social history that surrounded the enterprise.' Stephen Wade, Contemporary Review `A lively and largely informative chronicle of a still-staggering enterprise' Helen Zaltzman, Observer `Review from previous edition My book of the year, for pure pleasure...an exuberant, serious, funny, short, full, entrancingly readable account' Jane Gardam, Spectator `absorbing and entertaining' Times Literary Supplement `the account is engaging and its conclusion a triumph...an absorbing account' The Scotsman

Author Information

Simon Winchester is the author of the bestsellers The Surgeon of Crowthorne and The Map That Changed the World. After studying geology at Oxford, he became foreign correspondent for the Guardian and Sunday Times, and was based in Belfast, New Delhi, New York, London, and Hong Kong. He has written for the New York Times, Smithsonian, Spectator, and National Geographic, and is a frequent contributor to the BBC. He lives in Massachusetts, New York.

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