Contradictions aplenty, 09 Jan 2008
Every chapter contradicts the last. It seems to be a mess of platitudes, no new ideas and, I'm sorry to say, a waste of time reading.

Unaccustomed as I am ..., 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he gets a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book, he a fantastic job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

This book is a must for every 'father of the bride', 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit that he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he's a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book he did a brilliant job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

A must for every Dad about to give away his daughter!, 23 Oct 2000
As a bride-to-be, I want to be sure that my big day goes as smoothly as possible. I can try to control most things, but the speeches are out of my hands. I have bought this book to help my Dad not to embarrass himself or me, well, not too much! Making the Father of the Bride's Speech is easy to read and full of practical advice. The author writes clearly about the different stages of the speech and includes helpful ideas as well as examples of jokes, quotes and how to be sensitive without being sloppy. This book is a must for any Dad about to give away his daughter, especially if he's not used to public speaking, or just totally overwhelmed about the do's and don't's of making a wedding speech.

Contradictions aplenty, 09 Jan 2008
Every chapter contradicts the last. It seems to be a mess of platitudes, no new ideas and, I'm sorry to say, a waste of time reading.

Unaccustomed as I am ..., 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he gets a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book, he a fantastic job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

This book is a must for every 'father of the bride', 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit that he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he's a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book he did a brilliant job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

A must for every Dad about to give away his daughter!, 23 Oct 2000
As a bride-to-be, I want to be sure that my big day goes as smoothly as possible. I can try to control most things, but the speeches are out of my hands. I have bought this book to help my Dad not to embarrass himself or me, well, not too much! Making the Father of the Bride's Speech is easy to read and full of practical advice. The author writes clearly about the different stages of the speech and includes helpful ideas as well as examples of jokes, quotes and how to be sensitive without being sloppy. This book is a must for any Dad about to give away his daughter, especially if he's not used to public speaking, or just totally overwhelmed about the do's and don't's of making a wedding speech.

appallingly bad, 12 Aug 2006
This book is dedicated to "Paula, 'bride' of my life", and this gives you an idea of the standard of the humour on offer here. The example speeches are cringe-makingly awful, and the example jokes range from outrageously inappropiate to bafflingly unfunny, through just plain corny. Many of them I would feel uncomfortable making in mixed company, let alone at my wedding (and I'm no prude). The one star I've given this book is because it motivated me to just get on and write my speech, because my efforts could never be worse than the examples in this book. If you're writing a speech I would advise you to do the same and just get on with it, but if you really want to get a book I'd suggest getting the "Confetti" book on wedding speeches- it's slightly less cheesy, and also has some quotes that might be useful. And good luck.

All you need to make a start on your speech, 18 Apr 2002
Most of the advice I've seen on websites has either been painfully obvious or quite irrelevant to my situation. After a couple of hours reading this entertaining and helpful book, I was ready to start putting my speech together with confidence and optimism that I didn't have before. It's particularly helpful if you're concerned about how to convey sincere (and expected) emotions without your mates laughing at you!

It won't give you masses of content to crib from, though, but it does give enough guidance for you to produce your own material, which is probably better. Well worth the money.

Subtitled "A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words," this is a remarkable account of the life of W.C. Minor. Not a famous name, but a quite extraordinary man. Minor was an American Army surgeon and millionaire who contributed enormously by post to the first, epic edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) while hidden away in obscurity in Berkshire, England. As the author points out, the OED is the most important work of reference ever created, and, given the globalisation of the English language, is likely to remain so for centuries. But when in 1896 Sir James Murray, the formidable editor of the OED, at last travelled down to Berkshire to find this elusive lexicographer and thank him for all his work, he found Minor in Broadmoor: patient Number 742.

Minor was educated, gentlemanly, industrious, and a psychopathic killer, who had gunned down a man at random in the London streets because he believed his victim was an Irish terrorist after his blood.

Simon Winchester won't win any prizes for the elegance of his prose style, but he has dug up a strange and extraordinary life story and turned it into a compelling piece of historical detective work. He never really penetrates into the central mystery of Minor's madness, because no one can. The mystery remains, inviolable, and makes his tale all the more darkly compelling. --Christopher Hart

Contradictions aplenty, 09 Jan 2008
Every chapter contradicts the last. It seems to be a mess of platitudes, no new ideas and, I'm sorry to say, a waste of time reading.

Unaccustomed as I am ..., 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he gets a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book, he a fantastic job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

This book is a must for every 'father of the bride', 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit that he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he's a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book he did a brilliant job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

A must for every Dad about to give away his daughter!, 23 Oct 2000
As a bride-to-be, I want to be sure that my big day goes as smoothly as possible. I can try to control most things, but the speeches are out of my hands. I have bought this book to help my Dad not to embarrass himself or me, well, not too much! Making the Father of the Bride's Speech is easy to read and full of practical advice. The author writes clearly about the different stages of the speech and includes helpful ideas as well as examples of jokes, quotes and how to be sensitive without being sloppy. This book is a must for any Dad about to give away his daughter, especially if he's not used to public speaking, or just totally overwhelmed about the do's and don't's of making a wedding speech.

appallingly bad, 12 Aug 2006
This book is dedicated to "Paula, 'bride' of my life", and this gives you an idea of the standard of the humour on offer here. The example speeches are cringe-makingly awful, and the example jokes range from outrageously inappropiate to bafflingly unfunny, through just plain corny. Many of them I would feel uncomfortable making in mixed company, let alone at my wedding (and I'm no prude). The one star I've given this book is because it motivated me to just get on and write my speech, because my efforts could never be worse than the examples in this book. If you're writing a speech I would advise you to do the same and just get on with it, but if you really want to get a book I'd suggest getting the "Confetti" book on wedding speeches- it's slightly less cheesy, and also has some quotes that might be useful. And good luck.

All you need to make a start on your speech, 18 Apr 2002
Most of the advice I've seen on websites has either been painfully obvious or quite irrelevant to my situation. After a couple of hours reading this entertaining and helpful book, I was ready to start putting my speech together with confidence and optimism that I didn't have before. It's particularly helpful if you're concerned about how to convey sincere (and expected) emotions without your mates laughing at you!

It won't give you masses of content to crib from, though, but it does give enough guidance for you to produce your own material, which is probably better. Well worth the money.

Delve into a world of polysyllabic sesquipedalianism, 22 Jan 2008
The subject of the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary might seem to some as interesting as plowing through the subject text itself. Some might be more intrigued, the bibliophile, amateur lexicographer or philologist taking interest in the heritage of one of the greatest works in the English language. But those who are interested in biography or narrative history may discern a more exciting prospect. This is the story of two men, both central and devoted to the OED, and sharing as many similarities as they shared stark differences.

Some reviewers have commented that the story set out in this book would be dismissed as fantasy if it masqueraded as fiction. That it is a true story makes it quite remarkable. This is a tale from Victorian England in a world of European competition, supreme British confidence and `great' men. Just as the Victorians transformed and tamed their physical surroundings with majestic bridges, overbearing edifices and engineering feats they sought to do the same in the realm of learning. The Oxford English Dictionary was one of the high points of this academic adventure, deserving of greater recognition and understanding.

Winchester's book is an entertaining narrative of the dictionary's difficult gestation, birth and development. It is largely told through two protagonists (having pondered within the debate between the OED and Fowler's English Grammar on whether it was even possible to have plural protagonists) - the OED's long serving and dedicated editor, James Murray, and one of his keenest volunteers, William Minor.

And it is in Minor's story that the book finds its central intrigue. The surgeon of Crowthorne was indeed a surgeon, graduating from Yale and serving as a doctor in the US army of the civil war. And he was a resident of the Berkshire village of Crowthorne. But rather than occupying a manorial pile or a quaint, donnish cottage W. C. Minor was committed to Broadmoor, the secure hospital, or asylum, for the criminally insane.

Winchester develops the story well, plunging into the pasts of the two men to discern both their intellectual powers and how they found themselves in very different, yet at times strangely similar, circumstances. This story is intriguing, a tale of genius, dedication, madness and monomania. But for me the real joy was the remaining central character, the dictionary itself. It is in the love of the words, of the precise, magisterial definitions and the history of dictionaries that Winchester's passion shines. He writes with a passionate verve that sees the enthusiasm leap from the page.

The pre-Oxford English Dictionary world of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and a world of "anachronistic polysyllabic sesquipedalian", inkhorn terms designed to impress others is a ridiculous treat. The clergyman quoted writing from Lincolnshire begging for promotion as "sacerdotal dignity in my native country contiguate to me ... which your worshipful benignity could some inpenetrate for me" is a wonderful find.

If you find joy in the admittedly obsolete existence of abequitate, bubulcitate and comatrix (they mean, and I did have to look them up, to ride away, to cry like a cowherd and a joint womb) then I believe you will enjoy this book. A few annoying traits unfortunately dragged this great book from a full five star review. Winchester has a rather annoying tendency to repeat the facts he has mentioned in previous chapters. A couple of times I noticed the repetition of ideas that contradicts himself, and a couple of things, such as the wailing of Broadmoor sirens in the Victorian age - they were only operational from 1952, at points disappointed an otherwise fantastic read.

A criminally insane man and the Oxford English Dictionary, 12 Jun 2006
The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the largest and most encompassing dictionaries in the world. It took almost 70 years to complete and during those years thousands of volunteers scrutinized newspapers, journals and new and old books for new words, new meanings of words and sentences that would clarify the meanings. One of the most active volunteers was the American doctor William Chester Minor. During the 20 years that the doctor collaborated he developed a friendship with the editor, James Murray. When Murray decided to visit doctor Minor, he found that the latter served a lifetime sentence in the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane after he had killed an innocent worker. The intellectual doctor Minor was found to be mad as a hatter: at night he heard voices, he claimed he was kidnapped, tortured and abused and under the floor of his cell there would live a bunch of Pygmees. The biographies of Murray, Minor and the Oxford English Dictionary are nicely interrelated in this well-written book.

Surprisingly interesting read, 16 Oct 2005
A copy of this book was left behind by a previous holiday maker in an apartment I spent two weeks on holiday in Portugal this summer. I did not expect much from this book discarded by someone else with a less that exciting subject matter - the creation of the OED, but the "Tale of Murder........" caught my eye and I decided to give it a go.

While not exactly exhilarated by this read, I was not disappointed either. You will find the tale of W C Minor a fascinating one in itself - he was clearly a mad genius. What Winchester does to add more interest is to catalog his involvement in the creation of the OED.

For me, the real tale of the book is the dedication of OED Editor James Murray to the cause of the dictionary over most of his life. I can't think of a more boring job than editor of a dictionary - yet Winchester makes it sound like a blast!

Don't let the subject matter of the creation of the OED turn you off this book. It is an easy and enjoyable read.

Stranger than Fiction, 08 Oct 2004
This book recounts a tale so improbable that as fiction it would have been hard to believe. Two Victorian lives become entwined. On the one hand, a great scholar who has bettered himself through learning, a man of towering reputation and influence; on the other, a millionaire madman whose delusional grip on reality has failed him and left him isolated in a lunatic asylum, a continent away from his family, with only his books for company.

Somehow their paths collide, and for years they work at a distance to create together the greatest reference book in the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Eventually they meet, and their rapport blossoms into true friendship. A strange story unfolds, of gothic madness, violence, improbable love and eventual disintegration.

At times uplifting, at others rather muted, this book can at times be unevenly paced; but overall it is a very rewarding read.

A Dictionary will never be the same again ………….., 25 May 2004
This is a well-told tale that leads the audience through some of the politics involved in the production of the Oxford English Dictionary. The author has fictionalised the account at times through necessity, but made it clear that this is what he has done, in a story that combines murder most foul with the troubled life of the murdered.

The dictionary (“OED”) was a product of the Victorian ‘we can do anything’ optimism, and was undoubtedly a hugely ambitious project. The task would probably have been finished without the help of Dr William Chester Minor, a resident of a large country house in Berkshire (and better known as Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane). However, the work was enormously advanced by the surgeon / murderer. Minor grasped the vast amount of work involved, and had the tiem and source material to contribute freely. He also had a wonderful method in his searching out quotations for the normal and abnormal use of words. His method enabled the editorial team, led by Dr James Murray, to request help from Minor and know thay would receive an enlightening and quality answer.

Minor died in 1920, back in his native America, more that 7 years before the completion of the OED. In the completed work there are 414835 words defined, and 1,827,306 illustrative quotations. Minor alone had contributed scores of thousands.

The English speaking world is indebted to the contributions of William Minor. We are also grateful to Simon Winchester for telling the tale with clarity and humour. Winchester also debunks the mythical account of the first meeting between Dr Murray and Minor. I got the feeling that the author liked the fabled account, even though he knew it not to be true (and clearly states that fact).

Contradictions aplenty, 09 Jan 2008
Every chapter contradicts the last. It seems to be a mess of platitudes, no new ideas and, I'm sorry to say, a waste of time reading.

Unaccustomed as I am ..., 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he gets a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book, he a fantastic job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

This book is a must for every 'father of the bride', 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit that he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he's a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book he did a brilliant job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

A must for every Dad about to give away his daughter!, 23 Oct 2000
As a bride-to-be, I want to be sure that my big day goes as smoothly as possible. I can try to control most things, but the speeches are out of my hands. I have bought this book to help my Dad not to embarrass himself or me, well, not too much! Making the Father of the Bride's Speech is easy to read and full of practical advice. The author writes clearly about the different stages of the speech and includes helpful ideas as well as examples of jokes, quotes and how to be sensitive without being sloppy. This book is a must for any Dad about to give away his daughter, especially if he's not used to public speaking, or just totally overwhelmed about the do's and don't's of making a wedding speech.

appallingly bad, 12 Aug 2006
This book is dedicated to "Paula, 'bride' of my life", and this gives you an idea of the standard of the humour on offer here. The example speeches are cringe-makingly awful, and the example jokes range from outrageously inappropiate to bafflingly unfunny, through just plain corny. Many of them I would feel uncomfortable making in mixed company, let alone at my wedding (and I'm no prude). The one star I've given this book is because it motivated me to just get on and write my speech, because my efforts could never be worse than the examples in this book. If you're writing a speech I would advise you to do the same and just get on with it, but if you really want to get a book I'd suggest getting the "Confetti" book on wedding speeches- it's slightly less cheesy, and also has some quotes that might be useful. And good luck.

All you need to make a start on your speech, 18 Apr 2002
Most of the advice I've seen on websites has either been painfully obvious or quite irrelevant to my situation. After a couple of hours reading this entertaining and helpful book, I was ready to start putting my speech together with confidence and optimism that I didn't have before. It's particularly helpful if you're concerned about how to convey sincere (and expected) emotions without your mates laughing at you!

It won't give you masses of content to crib from, though, but it does give enough guidance for you to produce your own material, which is probably better. Well worth the money.

Delve into a world of polysyllabic sesquipedalianism, 22 Jan 2008
The subject of the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary might seem to some as interesting as plowing through the subject text itself. Some might be more intrigued, the bibliophile, amateur lexicographer or philologist taking interest in the heritage of one of the greatest works in the English language. But those who are interested in biography or narrative history may discern a more exciting prospect. This is the story of two men, both central and devoted to the OED, and sharing as many similarities as they shared stark differences.

Some reviewers have commented that the story set out in this book would be dismissed as fantasy if it masqueraded as fiction. That it is a true story makes it quite remarkable. This is a tale from Victorian England in a world of European competition, supreme British confidence and `great' men. Just as the Victorians transformed and tamed their physical surroundings with majestic bridges, overbearing edifices and engineering feats they sought to do the same in the realm of learning. The Oxford English Dictionary was one of the high points of this academic adventure, deserving of greater recognition and understanding.

Winchester's book is an entertaining narrative of the dictionary's difficult gestation, birth and development. It is largely told through two protagonists (having pondered within the debate between the OED and Fowler's English Grammar on whether it was even possible to have plural protagonists) - the OED's long serving and dedicated editor, James Murray, and one of his keenest volunteers, William Minor.

And it is in Minor's story that the book finds its central intrigue. The surgeon of Crowthorne was indeed a surgeon, graduating from Yale and serving as a doctor in the US army of the civil war. And he was a resident of the Berkshire village of Crowthorne. But rather than occupying a manorial pile or a quaint, donnish cottage W. C. Minor was committed to Broadmoor, the secure hospital, or asylum, for the criminally insane.

Winchester develops the story well, plunging into the pasts of the two men to discern both their intellectual powers and how they found themselves in very different, yet at times strangely similar, circumstances. This story is intriguing, a tale of genius, dedication, madness and monomania. But for me the real joy was the remaining central character, the dictionary itself. It is in the love of the words, of the precise, magisterial definitions and the history of dictionaries that Winchester's passion shines. He writes with a passionate verve that sees the enthusiasm leap from the page.

The pre-Oxford English Dictionary world of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and a world of "anachronistic polysyllabic sesquipedalian", inkhorn terms designed to impress others is a ridiculous treat. The clergyman quoted writing from Lincolnshire begging for promotion as "sacerdotal dignity in my native country contiguate to me ... which your worshipful benignity could some inpenetrate for me" is a wonderful find.

If you find joy in the admittedly obsolete existence of abequitate, bubulcitate and comatrix (they mean, and I did have to look them up, to ride away, to cry like a cowherd and a joint womb) then I believe you will enjoy this book. A few annoying traits unfortunately dragged this great book from a full five star review. Winchester has a rather annoying tendency to repeat the facts he has mentioned in previous chapters. A couple of times I noticed the repetition of ideas that contradicts himself, and a couple of things, such as the wailing of Broadmoor sirens in the Victorian age - they were only operational from 1952, at points disappointed an otherwise fantastic read.

A criminally insane man and the Oxford English Dictionary, 12 Jun 2006
The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the largest and most encompassing dictionaries in the world. It took almost 70 years to complete and during those years thousands of volunteers scrutinized newspapers, journals and new and old books for new words, new meanings of words and sentences that would clarify the meanings. One of the most active volunteers was the American doctor William Chester Minor. During the 20 years that the doctor collaborated he developed a friendship with the editor, James Murray. When Murray decided to visit doctor Minor, he found that the latter served a lifetime sentence in the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane after he had killed an innocent worker. The intellectual doctor Minor was found to be mad as a hatter: at night he heard voices, he claimed he was kidnapped, tortured and abused and under the floor of his cell there would live a bunch of Pygmees. The biographies of Murray, Minor and the Oxford English Dictionary are nicely interrelated in this well-written book.

Surprisingly interesting read, 16 Oct 2005
A copy of this book was left behind by a previous holiday maker in an apartment I spent two weeks on holiday in Portugal this summer. I did not expect much from this book discarded by someone else with a less that exciting subject matter - the creation of the OED, but the "Tale of Murder........" caught my eye and I decided to give it a go.

While not exactly exhilarated by this read, I was not disappointed either. You will find the tale of W C Minor a fascinating one in itself - he was clearly a mad genius. What Winchester does to add more interest is to catalog his involvement in the creation of the OED.

For me, the real tale of the book is the dedication of OED Editor James Murray to the cause of the dictionary over most of his life. I can't think of a more boring job than editor of a dictionary - yet Winchester makes it sound like a blast!

Don't let the subject matter of the creation of the OED turn you off this book. It is an easy and enjoyable read.

Stranger than Fiction, 08 Oct 2004
This book recounts a tale so improbable that as fiction it would have been hard to believe. Two Victorian lives become entwined. On the one hand, a great scholar who has bettered himself through learning, a man of towering reputation and influence; on the other, a millionaire madman whose delusional grip on reality has failed him and left him isolated in a lunatic asylum, a continent away from his family, with only his books for company.

Somehow their paths collide, and for years they work at a distance to create together the greatest reference book in the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Eventually they meet, and their rapport blossoms into true friendship. A strange story unfolds, of gothic madness, violence, improbable love and eventual disintegration.

At times uplifting, at others rather muted, this book can at times be unevenly paced; but overall it is a very rewarding read.

A Dictionary will never be the same again ………….., 25 May 2004
This is a well-told tale that leads the audience through some of the politics involved in the production of the Oxford English Dictionary. The author has fictionalised the account at times through necessity, but made it clear that this is what he has done, in a story that combines murder most foul with the troubled life of the murdered.

The dictionary (“OED”) was a product of the Victorian ‘we can do anything’ optimism, and was undoubtedly a hugely ambitious project. The task would probably have been finished without the help of Dr William Chester Minor, a resident of a large country house in Berkshire (and better known as Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane). However, the work was enormously advanced by the surgeon / murderer. Minor grasped the vast amount of work involved, and had the tiem and source material to contribute freely. He also had a wonderful method in his searching out quotations for the normal and abnormal use of words. His method enabled the editorial team, led by Dr James Murray, to request help from Minor and know thay would receive an enlightening and quality answer.

Minor died in 1920, back in his native America, more that 7 years before the completion of the OED. In the completed work there are 414835 words defined, and 1,827,306 illustrative quotations. Minor alone had contributed scores of thousands.

The English speaking world is indebted to the contributions of William Minor. We are also grateful to Simon Winchester for telling the tale with clarity and humour. Winchester also debunks the mythical account of the first meeting between Dr Murray and Minor. I got the feeling that the author liked the fabled account, even though he knew it not to be true (and clearly states that fact).

Excllent compact guide., 11 Feb 2008
This book was recommended to me by a BBC producer when I started trying to write comedy. Yes it's simplistic, but it works. JV gives you a brilliant method for developing characters and plots. I still dip into it now and again when I'm struggling with something. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It's a nice slim volume rather than a big fat tome, too. Which is nice.

Great ideas on structure for *all* writers., 09 Jan 2008
This and Vorhaus's other book on writing, "Creativity Rules" have been invaluable in helping me write more shapely fiction and I immediately recommend them to anyone who tells me they want to write, too.

His ideas on story structure are presented in a fun and funny way, but whenever I approach other books on writing I feel like Vorhaus got there first with this light little book, before all the guys with their deeply important mythic cycle breezeblock-workbooks hung around their necks -- and he got there with a smile on his face.

His principles on comedy in this book have given me what feels like X-ray vision when it comes to watching popular culture of any kind. This is someone who's been paying close attention to how story, humour, and thinking work, and he's given us all his crib notes.

A big help but use it wisely, 01 Aug 2007
Doreen has never been a confident public speaker but last summer she was faced with the daunting challenge of delivering a speech in a local debate. 'This house believes that prostitution should be legalised' was never going to be an easy motion to put to a Christian faith-group. Apparently she surmised that the only chance to get the audience on her side would be through the use of humour. Not a bad idea, I'll warrant, but Doreen (physical characteristics aside) has never been a particularly funny woman. I bought this excellent guidebook in order to help but I fear that she failed to exploit its full potential. If she had even glanced over the explanations of word-play, misdirection and irony then it certainly didn't come across. Rather, I believe that she followed in the footsteps of Roy 'Chubby' Brown and confined her research to one particular facet of comedy.

Well, I don't think even Doreen had intended to turn the air quite so blue, but the warm-up gin and tonics went far beyond having a 'calming' influence. I fear that she was egged-on even further by vocal support from the elderly Mrs. Dewhurst. The isolated cries of approval were probably not the best way to gauge the sentiment of the room, if one considers that Mrs Dewhurst tends to punctuate even the most leisurely of Sunday sermons with bouts of raucous cheering. Needless to say, the speech was not met with the universal acclaim that Doreen had anticipated. Still, technically the debate can't be chalked up as a loss. The melee that broke out (after a particularly crass 'joke' that would have made Ron Jeremy blush) ended any chances of a civil vote being held.

Excellent start to wannabe writers, 25 Jan 2006
I have read and re-read this book in its entirety, and in my view is invaluable if you want to become a more confident writer/performer or just want to have a deeper understanding of what humour actually is. The author offers many exercises for the reader to complete. This built up my confidence and made me realise that you can make a whole bunch of boring and mundane parts of life into supremely comedy sequences.
First the basics of what makes us laugh are explained. The book then moves into defining how to make your comic characters and to forget about why you think a certain aspect is unfunny.
After this the book is split up into seperate sections depending on which field of comedy you wish to pursue, be it sitcom, sketch, stand-up, and, ahem, practical jokes (it is hard to show sarcasm through text).
The end of the book applies to every comedian, helping you to perfect your work, and ultimately selling your material.
Unfortunately the book is not prfect throughout. Most explainations of certain comic situations involve the use of a 1980's film or tv series, so if you are under the age of, say 25 like me (or, if you didn't watch American shows of the 80's) I would strongly suggest buying Mel Helitzer's Comedy Writing Secrets, 2005. Apart from this I strongly recommend this book, trust me you can't go wrong.

WOW!, 21 May 2003
This is a thoroughly recommended book. I used to struggle at parties for things to talk about, which used to make me feel awkward, this book has opened my eyes and now I can make humorous conversation.........a definite winner with the ladies.
As for the sitcom material, I've been giving it a go.
I feel funnier than I ever have....get this book

Contradictions aplenty, 09 Jan 2008
Every chapter contradicts the last. It seems to be a mess of platitudes, no new ideas and, I'm sorry to say, a waste of time reading.

Unaccustomed as I am ..., 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he gets a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book, he a fantastic job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

This book is a must for every 'father of the bride', 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit that he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he's a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book he did a brilliant job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

A must for every Dad about to give away his daughter!, 23 Oct 2000
As a bride-to-be, I want to be sure that my big day goes as smoothly as possible. I can try to control most things, but the speeches are out of my hands. I have bought this book to help my Dad not to embarrass himself or me, well, not too much! Making the Father of the Bride's Speech is easy to read and full of practical advice. The author writes clearly about the different stages of the speech and includes helpful ideas as well as examples of jokes, quotes and how to be sensitive without being sloppy. This book is a must for any Dad about to give away his daughter, especially if he's not used to public speaking, or just totally overwhelmed about the do's and don't's of making a wedding speech.

appallingly bad, 12 Aug 2006
This book is dedicated to "Paula, 'bride' of my life", and this gives you an idea of the standard of the humour on offer here. The example speeches are cringe-makingly awful, and the example jokes range from outrageously inappropiate to bafflingly unfunny, through just plain corny. Many of them I would feel uncomfortable making in mixed company, let alone at my wedding (and I'm no prude). The one star I've given this book is because it motivated me to just get on and write my speech, because my efforts could never be worse than the examples in this book. If you're writing a speech I would advise you to do the same and just get on with it, but if you really want to get a book I'd suggest getting the "Confetti" book on wedding speeches- it's slightly less cheesy, and also has some quotes that might be useful. And good luck.

All you need to make a start on your speech, 18 Apr 2002
Most of the advice I've seen on websites has either been painfully obvious or quite irrelevant to my situation. After a couple of hours reading this entertaining and helpful book, I was ready to start putting my speech together with confidence and optimism that I didn't have before. It's particularly helpful if you're concerned about how to convey sincere (and expected) emotions without your mates laughing at you!

It won't give you masses of content to crib from, though, but it does give enough guidance for you to produce your own material, which is probably better. Well worth the money.

Delve into a world of polysyllabic sesquipedalianism, 22 Jan 2008
The subject of the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary might seem to some as interesting as plowing through the subject text itself. Some might be more intrigued, the bibliophile, amateur lexicographer or philologist taking interest in the heritage of one of the greatest works in the English language. But those who are interested in biography or narrative history may discern a more exciting prospect. This is the story of two men, both central and devoted to the OED, and sharing as many similarities as they shared stark differences.

Some reviewers have commented that the story set out in this book would be dismissed as fantasy if it masqueraded as fiction. That it is a true story makes it quite remarkable. This is a tale from Victorian England in a world of European competition, supreme British confidence and `great' men. Just as the Victorians transformed and tamed their physical surroundings with majestic bridges, overbearing edifices and engineering feats they sought to do the same in the realm of learning. The Oxford English Dictionary was one of the high points of this academic adventure, deserving of greater recognition and understanding.

Winchester's book is an entertaining narrative of the dictionary's difficult gestation, birth and development. It is largely told through two protagonists (having pondered within the debate between the OED and Fowler's English Grammar on whether it was even possible to have plural protagonists) - the OED's long serving and dedicated editor, James Murray, and one of his keenest volunteers, William Minor.

And it is in Minor's story that the book finds its central intrigue. The surgeon of Crowthorne was indeed a surgeon, graduating from Yale and serving as a doctor in the US army of the civil war. And he was a resident of the Berkshire village of Crowthorne. But rather than occupying a manorial pile or a quaint, donnish cottage W. C. Minor was committed to Broadmoor, the secure hospital, or asylum, for the criminally insane.

Winchester develops the story well, plunging into the pasts of the two men to discern both their intellectual powers and how they found themselves in very different, yet at times strangely similar, circumstances. This story is intriguing, a tale of genius, dedication, madness and monomania. But for me the real joy was the remaining central character, the dictionary itself. It is in the love of the words, of the precise, magisterial definitions and the history of dictionaries that Winchester's passion shines. He writes with a passionate verve that sees the enthusiasm leap from the page.

The pre-Oxford English Dictionary world of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and a world of "anachronistic polysyllabic sesquipedalian", inkhorn terms designed to impress others is a ridiculous treat. The clergyman quoted writing from Lincolnshire begging for promotion as "sacerdotal dignity in my native country contiguate to me ... which your worshipful benignity could some inpenetrate for me" is a wonderful find.

If you find joy in the admittedly obsolete existence of abequitate, bubulcitate and comatrix (they mean, and I did have to look them up, to ride away, to cry like a cowherd and a joint womb) then I believe you will enjoy this book. A few annoying traits unfortunately dragged this great book from a full five star review. Winchester has a rather annoying tendency to repeat the facts he has mentioned in previous chapters. A couple of times I noticed the repetition of ideas that contradicts himself, and a couple of things, such as the wailing of Broadmoor sirens in the Victorian age - they were only operational from 1952, at points disappointed an otherwise fantastic read.

A criminally insane man and the Oxford English Dictionary, 12 Jun 2006
The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the largest and most encompassing dictionaries in the world. It took almost 70 years to complete and during those years thousands of volunteers scrutinized newspapers, journals and new and old books for new words, new meanings of words and sentences that would clarify the meanings. One of the most active volunteers was the American doctor William Chester Minor. During the 20 years that the doctor collaborated he developed a friendship with the editor, James Murray. When Murray decided to visit doctor Minor, he found that the latter served a lifetime sentence in the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane after he had killed an innocent worker. The intellectual doctor Minor was found to be mad as a hatter: at night he heard voices, he claimed he was kidnapped, tortured and abused and under the floor of his cell there would live a bunch of Pygmees. The biographies of Murray, Minor and the Oxford English Dictionary are nicely interrelated in this well-written book.

Surprisingly interesting read, 16 Oct 2005
A copy of this book was left behind by a previous holiday maker in an apartment I spent two weeks on holiday in Portugal this summer. I did not expect much from this book discarded by someone else with a less that exciting subject matter - the creation of the OED, but the "Tale of Murder........" caught my eye and I decided to give it a go.

While not exactly exhilarated by this read, I was not disappointed either. You will find the tale of W C Minor a fascinating one in itself - he was clearly a mad genius. What Winchester does to add more interest is to catalog his involvement in the creation of the OED.

For me, the real tale of the book is the dedication of OED Editor James Murray to the cause of the dictionary over most of his life. I can't think of a more boring job than editor of a dictionary - yet Winchester makes it sound like a blast!

Don't let the subject matter of the creation of the OED turn you off this book. It is an easy and enjoyable read.

Stranger than Fiction, 08 Oct 2004
This book recounts a tale so improbable that as fiction it would have been hard to believe. Two Victorian lives become entwined. On the one hand, a great scholar who has bettered himself through learning, a man of towering reputation and influence; on the other, a millionaire madman whose delusional grip on reality has failed him and left him isolated in a lunatic asylum, a continent away from his family, with only his books for company.

Somehow their paths collide, and for years they work at a distance to create together the greatest reference book in the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Eventually they meet, and their rapport blossoms into true friendship. A strange story unfolds, of gothic madness, violence, improbable love and eventual disintegration.

At times uplifting, at others rather muted, this book can at times be unevenly paced; but overall it is a very rewarding read.

A Dictionary will never be the same again ………….., 25 May 2004
This is a well-told tale that leads the audience through some of the politics involved in the production of the Oxford English Dictionary. The author has fictionalised the account at times through necessity, but made it clear that this is what he has done, in a story that combines murder most foul with the troubled life of the murdered.

The dictionary (“OED”) was a product of the Victorian ‘we can do anything’ optimism, and was undoubtedly a hugely ambitious project. The task would probably have been finished without the help of Dr William Chester Minor, a resident of a large country house in Berkshire (and better known as Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane). However, the work was enormously advanced by the surgeon / murderer. Minor grasped the vast amount of work involved, and had the tiem and source material to contribute freely. He also had a wonderful method in his searching out quotations for the normal and abnormal use of words. His method enabled the editorial team, led by Dr James Murray, to request help from Minor and know thay would receive an enlightening and quality answer.

Minor died in 1920, back in his native America, more that 7 years before the completion of the OED. In the completed work there are 414835 words defined, and 1,827,306 illustrative quotations. Minor alone had contributed scores of thousands.

The English speaking world is indebted to the contributions of William Minor. We are also grateful to Simon Winchester for telling the tale with clarity and humour. Winchester also debunks the mythical account of the first meeting between Dr Murray and Minor. I got the feeling that the author liked the fabled account, even though he knew it not to be true (and clearly states that fact).

Excllent compact guide., 11 Feb 2008
This book was recommended to me by a BBC producer when I started trying to write comedy. Yes it's simplistic, but it works. JV gives you a brilliant method for developing characters and plots. I still dip into it now and again when I'm struggling with something. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It's a nice slim volume rather than a big fat tome, too. Which is nice.

Great ideas on structure for *all* writers., 09 Jan 2008
This and Vorhaus's other book on writing, "Creativity Rules" have been invaluable in helping me write more shapely fiction and I immediately recommend them to anyone who tells me they want to write, too.

His ideas on story structure are presented in a fun and funny way, but whenever I approach other books on writing I feel like Vorhaus got there first with this light little book, before all the guys with their deeply important mythic cycle breezeblock-workbooks hung around their necks -- and he got there with a smile on his face.

His principles on comedy in this book have given me what feels like X-ray vision when it comes to watching popular culture of any kind. This is someone who's been paying close attention to how story, humour, and thinking work, and he's given us all his crib notes.

A big help but use it wisely, 01 Aug 2007
Doreen has never been a confident public speaker but last summer she was faced with the daunting challenge of delivering a speech in a local debate. 'This house believes that prostitution should be legalised' was never going to be an easy motion to put to a Christian faith-group. Apparently she surmised that the only chance to get the audience on her side would be through the use of humour. Not a bad idea, I'll warrant, but Doreen (physical characteristics aside) has never been a particularly funny woman. I bought this excellent guidebook in order to help but I fear that she failed to exploit its full potential. If she had even glanced over the explanations of word-play, misdirection and irony then it certainly didn't come across. Rather, I believe that she followed in the footsteps of Roy 'Chubby' Brown and confined her research to one particular facet of comedy.

Well, I don't think even Doreen had intended to turn the air quite so blue, but the warm-up gin and tonics went far beyond having a 'calming' influence. I fear that she was egged-on even further by vocal support from the elderly Mrs. Dewhurst. The isolated cries of approval were probably not the best way to gauge the sentiment of the room, if one considers that Mrs Dewhurst tends to punctuate even the most leisurely of Sunday sermons with bouts of raucous cheering. Needless to say, the speech was not met with the universal acclaim that Doreen had anticipated. Still, technically the debate can't be chalked up as a loss. The melee that broke out (after a particularly crass 'joke' that would have made Ron Jeremy blush) ended any chances of a civil vote being held.

Excellent start to wannabe writers, 25 Jan 2006
I have read and re-read this book in its entirety, and in my view is invaluable if you want to become a more confident writer/performer or just want to have a deeper understanding of what humour actually is. The author offers many exercises for the reader to complete. This built up my confidence and made me realise that you can make a whole bunch of boring and mundane parts of life into supremely comedy sequences.
First the basics of what makes us laugh are explained. The book then moves into defining how to make your comic characters and to forget about why you think a certain aspect is unfunny.
After this the book is split up into seperate sections depending on which field of comedy you wish to pursue, be it sitcom, sketch, stand-up, and, ahem, practical jokes (it is hard to show sarcasm through text).
The end of the book applies to every comedian, helping you to perfect your work, and ultimately selling your material.
Unfortunately the book is not prfect throughout. Most explainations of certain comic situations involve the use of a 1980's film or tv series, so if you are under the age of, say 25 like me (or, if you didn't watch American shows of the 80's) I would strongly suggest buying Mel Helitzer's Comedy Writing Secrets, 2005. Apart from this I strongly recommend this book, trust me you can't go wrong.

WOW!, 21 May 2003
This is a thoroughly recommended book. I used to struggle at parties for things to talk about, which used to make me feel awkward, this book has opened my eyes and now I can make humorous conversation.........a definite winner with the ladies.
As for the sitcom material, I've been giving it a go.
I feel funnier than I ever have....get this book

Practical and inspiring, 25 Jan 2004
Writing poems - it's a great title. Deceptively plain, it carries many possible meanings, most of which Sansom slings out before he starts.

From the back cover on, he makes it clear that he won't be telling us what kind of poems to write or how to write them. Instead he's offering something much more valuable - why to write poems and how to write them better.

Quite a chunk of the book examines the techniques of some well-chosen poets, making it almost as much about reading poems as writing them. This makes a lot of sense, given Sansom's strong belief that close reading must come before writing. Using the work of poets from John Keats to Carol Ann Duffy, he shows us in detail why they write poems so well.

He then takes us very readably through the formal forms, with endearingly opinionated opinions on them all, along with some good solid definitions of the spondees, dactyls and pentameters that can be so unnerving. He offers sound advice on choosing titles and explains just why we need to be careful of dangerous poetry words like shard.

There's a few writing exercises and games as well, though Sansom disconcertingly seems to think that we're going to be leading students through these, rather than using them ourselves. Evidently this is a book about teaching other people to write poems too.

Sansom repeats more than once that the poet should show rather than tell, persuade rather than insist. But since he's writing prose here, I guess it's okay that he playfully goes on to do quite a bit of insisting anyway.

For a start, he's pretty insistent on the value of the small magazines and marginal publishing that have done so much for today's poets, poetry and poetry readers. Well, true enough, and the question of where your poems might go once you've written them is certainly treated here in a more thought-provoking way than in the usual tedious cut and paste jobs straight from last year's Writers and Artists Yearbook.

Sansom is just as insistent on the importance of writing authentically - surely the most basic requirement for a poet and yet often so elusive. I found him particularly helpful on this point, though a bit surprised by his choice of poem to illustrate it.

The tone of Sansom's list of whose poems to read, and why, goes a little beyond the persuasive too. Fine by me - it's a very personal list and that makes it all the easier to trust.

There's no real shortage of people writing about writing. Unlike a lot of them, Peter Sansom is an accomplished poet with a track record of helping many others get there too. Hardly surprising then that his contribution is so practical and inspiring.

Contradictions aplenty, 09 Jan 2008
Every chapter contradicts the last. It seems to be a mess of platitudes, no new ideas and, I'm sorry to say, a waste of time reading.

Unaccustomed as I am ..., 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he gets a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book, he a fantastic job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

This book is a must for every 'father of the bride', 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit that he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he's a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book he did a brilliant job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

A must for every Dad about to give away his daughter!, 23 Oct 2000
As a bride-to-be, I want to be sure that my big day goes as smoothly as possible. I can try to control most things, but the speeches are out of my hands. I have bought this book to help my Dad not to embarrass himself or me, well, not too much! Making the Father of the Bride's Speech is easy to read and full of practical advice. The author writes clearly about the different stages of the speech and includes helpful ideas as well as examples of jokes, quotes and how to be sensitive without being sloppy. This book is a must for any Dad about to give away his daughter, especially if he's not used to public speaking, or just totally overwhelmed about the do's and don't's of making a wedding speech.

appallingly bad, 12 Aug 2006
This book is dedicated to "Paula, 'bride' of my life", and this gives you an idea of the standard of the humour on offer here. The example speeches are cringe-makingly awful, and the example jokes range from outrageously inappropiate to bafflingly unfunny, through just plain corny. Many of them I would feel uncomfortable making in mixed company, let alone at my wedding (and I'm no prude). The one star I've given this book is because it motivated me to just get on and write my speech, because my efforts could never be worse than the examples in this book. If you're writing a speech I would advise you to do the same and just get on with it, but if you really want to get a book I'd suggest getting the "Confetti" book on wedding speeches- it's slightly less cheesy, and also has some quotes that might be useful. And good luck.

All you need to make a start on your speech, 18 Apr 2002
Most of the advice I've seen on websites has either been painfully obvious or quite irrelevant to my situation. After a couple of hours reading this entertaining and helpful book, I was ready to start putting my speech together with confidence and optimism that I didn't have before. It's particularly helpful if you're concerned about how to convey sincere (and expected) emotions without your mates laughing at you!

It won't give you masses of content to crib from, though, but it does give enough guidance for you to produce your own material, which is probably better. Well worth the money.

Delve into a world of polysyllabic sesquipedalianism, 22 Jan 2008
The subject of the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary might seem to some as interesting as plowing through the subject text itself. Some might be more intrigued, the bibliophile, amateur lexicographer or philologist taking interest in the heritage of one of the greatest works in the English language. But those who are interested in biography or narrative history may discern a more exciting prospect. This is the story of two men, both central and devoted to the OED, and sharing as many similarities as they shared stark differences.

Some reviewers have commented that the story set out in this book would be dismissed as fantasy if it masqueraded as fiction. That it is a true story makes it quite remarkable. This is a tale from Victorian England in a world of European competition, supreme British confidence and `great' men. Just as the Victorians transformed and tamed their physical surroundings with majestic bridges, overbearing edifices and engineering feats they sought to do the same in the realm of learning. The Oxford English Dictionary was one of the high points of this academic adventure, deserving of greater recognition and understanding.

Winchester's book is an entertaining narrative of the dictionary's difficult gestation, birth and development. It is largely told through two protagonists (having pondered within the debate between the OED and Fowler's English Grammar on whether it was even possible to have plural protagonists) - the OED's long serving and dedicated editor, James Murray, and one of his keenest volunteers, William Minor.

And it is in Minor's story that the book finds its central intrigue. The surgeon of Crowthorne was indeed a surgeon, graduating from Yale and serving as a doctor in the US army of the civil war. And he was a resident of the Berkshire village of Crowthorne. But rather than occupying a manorial pile or a quaint, donnish cottage W. C. Minor was committed to Broadmoor, the secure hospital, or asylum, for the criminally insane.

Winchester develops the story well, plunging into the pasts of the two men to discern both their intellectual powers and how they found themselves in very different, yet at times strangely similar, circumstances. This story is intriguing, a tale of genius, dedication, madness and monomania. But for me the real joy was the remaining central character, the dictionary itself. It is in the love of the words, of the precise, magisterial definitions and the history of dictionaries that Winchester's passion shines. He writes with a passionate verve that sees the enthusiasm leap from the page.

The pre-Oxford English Dictionary world of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and a world of "anachronistic polysyllabic sesquipedalian", inkhorn terms designed to impress others is a ridiculous treat. The clergyman quoted writing from Lincolnshire begging for promotion as "sacerdotal dignity in my native country contiguate to me ... which your worshipful benignity could some inpenetrate for me" is a wonderful find.

If you find joy in the admittedly obsolete existence of abequitate, bubulcitate and comatrix (they mean, and I did have to look them up, to ride away, to cry like a cowherd and a joint womb) then I believe you will enjoy this book. A few annoying traits unfortunately dragged this great book from a full five star review. Winchester has a rather annoying tendency to repeat the facts he has mentioned in previous chapters. A couple of times I noticed the repetition of ideas that contradicts himself, and a couple of things, such as the wailing of Broadmoor sirens in the Victorian age - they were only operational from 1952, at points disappointed an otherwise fantastic read.

A criminally insane man and the Oxford English Dictionary, 12 Jun 2006
The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the largest and most encompassing dictionaries in the world. It took almost 70 years to complete and during those years thousands of volunteers scrutinized newspapers, journals and new and old books for new words, new meanings of words and sentences that would clarify the meanings. One of the most active volunteers was the American doctor William Chester Minor. During the 20 years that the doctor collaborated he developed a friendship with the editor, James Murray. When Murray decided to visit doctor Minor, he found that the latter served a lifetime sentence in the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane after he had killed an innocent worker. The intellectual doctor Minor was found to be mad as a hatter: at night he heard voices, he claimed he was kidnapped, tortured and abused and under the floor of his cell there would live a bunch of Pygmees. The biographies of Murray, Minor and the Oxford English Dictionary are nicely interrelated in this well-written book.

Surprisingly interesting read, 16 Oct 2005
A copy of this book was left behind by a previous holiday maker in an apartment I spent two weeks on holiday in Portugal this summer. I did not expect much from this book discarded by someone else with a less that exciting subject matter - the creation of the OED, but the "Tale of Murder........" caught my eye and I decided to give it a go.

While not exactly exhilarated by this read, I was not disappointed either. You will find the tale of W C Minor a fascinating one in itself - he was clearly a mad genius. What Winchester does to add more interest is to catalog his involvement in the creation of the OED.

For me, the real tale of the book is the dedication of OED Editor James Murray to the cause of the dictionary over most of his life. I can't think of a more boring job than editor of a dictionary - yet Winchester makes it sound like a blast!

Don't let the subject matter of the creation of the OED turn you off this book. It is an easy and enjoyable read.

Stranger than Fiction, 08 Oct 2004
This book recounts a tale so improbable that as fiction it would have been hard to believe. Two Victorian lives become entwined. On the one hand, a great scholar who has bettered himself through learning, a man of towering reputation and influence; on the other, a millionaire madman whose delusional grip on reality has failed him and left him isolated in a lunatic asylum, a continent away from his family, with only his books for company.

Somehow their paths collide, and for years they work at a distance to create together the greatest reference book in the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Eventually they meet, and their rapport blossoms into true friendship. A strange story unfolds, of gothic madness, violence, improbable love and eventual disintegration.

At times uplifting, at others rather muted, this book can at times be unevenly paced; but overall it is a very rewarding read.

A Dictionary will never be the same again ………….., 25 May 2004
This is a well-told tale that leads the audience through some of the politics involved in the production of the Oxford English Dictionary. The author has fictionalised the account at times through necessity, but made it clear that this is what he has done, in a story that combines murder most foul with the troubled life of the murdered.

The dictionary (“OED”) was a product of the Victorian ‘we can do anything’ optimism, and was undoubtedly a hugely ambitious project. The task would probably have been finished without the help of Dr William Chester Minor, a resident of a large country house in Berkshire (and better known as Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane). However, the work was enormously advanced by the surgeon / murderer. Minor grasped the vast amount of work involved, and had the tiem and source material to contribute freely. He also had a wonderful method in his searching out quotations for the normal and abnormal use of words. His method enabled the editorial team, led by Dr James Murray, to request help from Minor and know thay would receive an enlightening and quality answer.

Minor died in 1920, back in his native America, more that 7 years before the completion of the OED. In the completed work there are 414835 words defined, and 1,827,306 illustrative quotations. Minor alone had contributed scores of thousands.

The English speaking world is indebted to the contributions of William Minor. We are also grateful to Simon Winchester for telling the tale with clarity and humour. Winchester also debunks the mythical account of the first meeting between Dr Murray and Minor. I got the feeling that the author liked the fabled account, even though he knew it not to be true (and clearly states that fact).

Excllent compact guide., 11 Feb 2008
This book was recommended to me by a BBC producer when I started trying to write comedy. Yes it's simplistic, but it works. JV gives you a brilliant method for developing characters and plots. I still dip into it now and again when I'm struggling with something. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It's a nice slim volume rather than a big fat tome, too. Which is nice.

Great ideas on structure for *all* writers., 09 Jan 2008
This and Vorhaus's other book on writing, "Creativity Rules" have been invaluable in helping me write more shapely fiction and I immediately recommend them to anyone who tells me they want to write, too.

His ideas on story structure are presented in a fun and funny way, but whenever I approach other books on writing I feel like Vorhaus got there first with this light little book, before all the guys with their deeply important mythic cycle breezeblock-workbooks hung around their necks -- and he got there with a smile on his face.

His principles on comedy in this book have given me what feels like X-ray vision when it comes to watching popular culture of any kind. This is someone who's been paying close attention to how story, humour, and thinking work, and he's given us all his crib notes.

A big help but use it wisely, 01 Aug 2007
Doreen has never been a confident public speaker but last summer she was faced with the daunting challenge of delivering a speech in a local debate. 'This house believes that prostitution should be legalised' was never going to be an easy motion to put to a Christian faith-group. Apparently she surmised that the only chance to get the audience on her side would be through the use of humour. Not a bad idea, I'll warrant, but Doreen (physical characteristics aside) has never been a particularly funny woman. I bought this excellent guidebook in order to help but I fear that she failed to exploit its full potential. If she had even glanced over the explanations of word-play, misdirection and irony then it certainly didn't come across. Rather, I believe that she followed in the footsteps of Roy 'Chubby' Brown and confined her research to one particular facet of comedy.

Well, I don't think even Doreen had intended to turn the air quite so blue, but the warm-up gin and tonics went far beyond having a 'calming' influence. I fear that she was egged-on even further by vocal support from the elderly Mrs. Dewhurst. The isolated cries of approval were probably not the best way to gauge the sentiment of the room, if one considers that Mrs Dewhurst tends to punctuate even the most leisurely of Sunday sermons with bouts of raucous cheering. Needless to say, the speech was not met with the universal acclaim that Doreen had anticipated. Still, technically the debate can't be chalked up as a loss. The melee that broke out (after a particularly crass 'joke' that would have made Ron Jeremy blush) ended any chances of a civil vote being held.

Excellent start to wannabe writers, 25 Jan 2006
I have read and re-read this book in its entirety, and in my view is invaluable if you want to become a more confident writer/performer or just want to have a deeper understanding of what humour actually is. The author offers many exercises for the reader to complete. This built up my confidence and made me realise that you can make a whole bunch of boring and mundane parts of life into supremely comedy sequences.
First the basics of what makes us laugh are explained. The book then moves into defining how to make your comic characters and to forget about why you think a certain aspect is unfunny.
After this the book is split up into seperate sections depending on which field of comedy you wish to pursue, be it sitcom, sketch, stand-up, and, ahem, practical jokes (it is hard to show sarcasm through text).
The end of the book applies to every comedian, helping you to perfect your work, and ultimately selling your material.
Unfortunately the book is not prfect throughout. Most explainations of certain comic situations involve the use of a 1980's film or tv series, so if you are under the age of, say 25 like me (or, if you didn't watch American shows of the 80's) I would strongly suggest buying Mel Helitzer's Comedy Writing Secrets, 2005. Apart from this I strongly recommend this book, trust me you can't go wrong.

WOW!, 21 May 2003
This is a thoroughly recommended book. I used to struggle at parties for things to talk about, which used to make me feel awkward, this book has opened my eyes and now I can make humorous conversation.........a definite winner with the ladies.
As for the sitcom material, I've been giving it a go.
I feel funnier than I ever have....get this book

Practical and inspiring, 25 Jan 2004
Writing poems - it's a great title. Deceptively plain, it carries many possible meanings, most of which Sansom slings out before he starts.

From the back cover on, he makes it clear that he won't be telling us what kind of poems to write or how to write them. Instead he's offering something much more valuable - why to write poems and how to write them better.

Quite a chunk of the book examines the techniques of some well-chosen poets, making it almost as much about reading poems as writing them. This makes a lot of sense, given Sansom's strong belief that close reading must come before writing. Using the work of poets from John Keats to Carol Ann Duffy, he shows us in detail why they write poems so well.

He then takes us very readably through the formal forms, with endearingly opinionated opinions on them all, along with some good solid definitions of the spondees, dactyls and pentameters that can be so unnerving. He offers sound advice on choosing titles and explains just why we need to be careful of dangerous poetry words like shard.

There's a few writing exercises and games as well, though Sansom disconcertingly seems to think that we're going to be leading students through these, rather than using them ourselves. Evidently this is a book about teaching other people to write poems too.

Sansom repeats more than once that the poet should show rather than tell, persuade rather than insist. But since he's writing prose here, I guess it's okay that he playfully goes on to do quite a bit of insisting anyway.

For a start, he's pretty insistent on the value of the small magazines and marginal publishing that have done so much for today's poets, poetry and poetry readers. Well, true enough, and the question of where your poems might go once you've written them is certainly treated here in a more thought-provoking way than in the usual tedious cut and paste jobs straight from last year's Writers and Artists Yearbook.

Sansom is just as insistent on the importance of writing authentically - surely the most basic requirement for a poet and yet often so elusive. I found him particularly helpful on this point, though a bit surprised by his choice of poem to illustrate it.

The tone of Sansom's list of whose poems to read, and why, goes a little beyond the persuasive too. Fine by me - it's a very personal list and that makes it all the easier to trust.

There's no real shortage of people writing about writing. Unlike a lot of them, Peter Sansom is an accomplished poet with a track record of helping many others get there too. Hardly surprising then that his contribution is so practical and inspiring.

A reference book you need to have by your side - assuming you're writing a screenplay, 08 May 2008
I got this book and a couple of others last week. This one is astounding. Denny Martin Flinn opens by telling you he isn't some successful writer (he has one Star Trek under his belt - not unimpressive) but does tell you he was a 'reader' for major studios and has read thousands of scripts. And reading is the first part of the process (once you've done your bit) to getting it made. So, essentially, what you have here is a book that shows you how to make your screenplay INTERESTING - a reader telling you what reader loves and hates - end of story. Crack all 101 points and you're halfway there (though a good story will help too but that's for other books). If you're at all serious about writing screenplays for the big screen or tv, get this book. You will not be sorry.

Overpriced and disappointing., 05 Mar 2008
I've recently bought several books on screenwriting and this is the most disappointing of the lot by a long way. It is the one that gives the most detail on how to use screenplay elements such as "CUT TO:" and "CONT'd", however if you use the freely available script formatting program 'Celtx' you can avoid having to know a lot of the stuff this book tells you about formatting.

I would recommend this book, perhaps, if it were nearer the £6 mark. It is a slim tome and large chunks are given over to quoting scripts from films. As aspiring scriptwriters will probably already know, you get far fewer words to a page once you start formatting as a screenplay. This book is already only 200 pages long once you discard the index and appendices. Yet another 50 or more of those are given over to quoting screenplays. This leaves the author with little room to explore what he's telling you, so the overall effect is of a book that has been rushed to market.

My advice would be to look around at some of the websites that tell you how to format a screenplay. Then read lots of screenplays themselves (which, again, are available online). Then download Celtx and let that handle your formatting.

Fandabidozi, 22 Oct 2007
The best book I've read on how to write a screenplay (and I've got and read loads).

As another reviewer says this is how to write the screenplay rather than the story so it does what it says on the tin.

It's an easy read too, and not a drudge. Even better. And has a lot of good ideas which once you read you wonder why no-one else pointed that out, or why you didn't think on it yourself.

This is how to write a screenplay, 13 Jan 2007
This is not a book on story, or archetypes, but a great guide on how your screenplay should be written. That's your screenplay, not how your story should be written. This book is for someone who is ready to write, and all the questions that will come up about what you should put on the page, and how you should put it on the page, will be answered.
If you are ready to write your screenplay this is the book you will need at hand to dip into everytime you need to know how to formatt a telephone call or how not to give stage or acting directions to the actor.
Extremly helpful book you'll keep referring to as you write.

Learning through mistakes, and professionals, 04 Dec 2000
The book is devided into 3 sections. The first section (the most part of the book) I would give 5 stars. The reason being that it teaches you, through mistakes and quality writing how to/ or not to write for film.

I found myself laughing at the witty comments the author makes. Often referring to bad writing submitted through 'quality agents'. It's a shame that the rest of the book tapers off towards the end.

The second part, is story developemt. The book only glazes over story. Other books dedicated to story development I would have to recommend, McKee's Story, for example.

The third section, only lasted a few pages, and is not worth mentioning about.

Overall, the book is very helpful. I've read about 9 other screenwriting books before, and this one made a very good impression on me. Despite its later flaws, it's still worth buying for the larger 1st part.

over and out, Daniel

Contradictions aplenty, 09 Jan 2008
Every chapter contradicts the last. It seems to be a mess of platitudes, no new ideas and, I'm sorry to say, a waste of time reading.

Unaccustomed as I am ..., 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he gets a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book, he a fantastic job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

This book is a must for every 'father of the bride', 02 Nov 2002
An excellent book. My dad would be first to admit that he isn't a naturally gifted public speaker and he's a bit nervous at times. But after reading this book he did a brilliant job for me on my Big Day! He was so relaxed and he got the balance between humour and seriousness spot on. I can't recommend this book too highly ... it's brilliant!

A must for every Dad about to give away his daughter!, 23 Oct 2000
As a bride-to-be, I want to be sure that my big day goes as smoothly as possible. I can try to control most things, but the speeches are out of my hands. I have bought this book to help my Dad not to embarrass himself or me, well, not too much! Making the Father of the Bride's Speech is easy to read and full of practical advice. The author writes clearly about the different stages of the speech and includes helpful ideas as well as examples of jokes, quotes and how to be sensitive without being sloppy. This book is a must for any Dad about to give away his daughter, especially if he's not used to public speaking, or just totally overwhelmed about the do's and don't's of making a wedding speech.

appallingly bad, 12 Aug 2006
This book is dedicated to "Paula, 'bride' of my life", and this gives you an idea of the standard of the humour on offer here. The example speeches are cringe-makingly awful, and the example jokes range from outrageously inappropiate to bafflingly unfunny, through just plain corny. Many of them I would feel uncomfortable making in mixed company, let alone at my wedding (and I'm no prude). The one star I've given this book is because it motivated me to just get on and write my speech, because my efforts could never be worse than the examples in this book. If you're writing a speech I would advise you to do the same and just get on with it, but if you really want to get a book I'd suggest getting the "Confetti" book on wedding speeches- it's slightly less cheesy, and also has some quotes that might be useful. And good luck.

All you need to make a start on your speech, 18 Apr 2002
Most of the advice I've seen on websites has either been painfully obvious or quite irrelevant to my situation. After a couple of hours reading this entertaining and helpful book, I was ready to start putting my speech together with confidence and optimism that I didn't have before. It's particularly helpful if you're concerned about how to convey sincere (and expected) emotions without your mates laughing at you!

It won't give you masses of content to crib from, though, but it does give enough guidance for you to produce your own material, which is probably better. Well worth the money.

Delve into a world of polysyllabic sesquipedalianism, 22 Jan 2008
The subject of the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary might seem to some as interesting as plowing through the subject text itself. Some might be more intrigued, the bibliophile, amateur lexicographer or philologist taking interest in the heritage of one of the greatest works in the English language. But those who are interested in biography or narrative history may discern a more exciting prospect. This is the story of two men, both central and devoted to the OED, and sharing as many similarities as they shared stark differences.

Some reviewers have commented that the story set out in this book would be dismissed as fantasy if it masqueraded as fiction. That it is a true story makes it quite remarkable. This is a tale from Victorian England in a world of European competition, supreme British confidence and `great' men. Just as the Victorians transformed and tamed their physical surroundings with majestic bridges, overbearing edifices and engineering feats they sought to do the same in the realm of learning. The Oxford English Dictionary was one of the high points of this academic adventure, deserving of greater recognition and understanding.

Winchester's book is an entertaining narrative of the dictionary's difficult gestation, birth and development. It is largely told through two protagonists (having pondered within the debate between the OED and Fowler's English Grammar on whether it was even possible to have plural protagonists) - the OED's long serving and dedicated editor, James Murray, and one of his keenest volunteers, William Minor.

And it is in Minor's story that the book finds its central intrigue. The surgeon of Crowthorne was indeed a surgeon, graduating from Yale and serving as a doctor in the US army of the civil war. And he was a resident of the Berkshire village of Crowthorne. But rather than occupying a manorial pile or a quaint, donnish cottage W. C. Minor was committed to Broadmoor, the secure hospital, or asylum, for the criminally insane.

Winchester develops the story well, plunging into the pasts of the two men to discern both their intellectual powers and how they found themselves in very different, yet at times strangely similar, circumstances. This story is intriguing, a tale of genius, dedication, madness and monomania. But for me the real joy was the remaining central character, the dictionary itself. It is in the love of the words, of the precise, magisterial definitions and the history of dictionaries that Winchester's passion shines. He writes with a passionate verve that sees the enthusiasm leap from the page.

The pre-Oxford English Dictionary world of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and a world of "anachronistic polysyllabic sesquipedalian", inkhorn terms designed to impress others is a ridiculous treat. The clergyman quoted writing from Lincolnshire begging for promotion as "sacerdotal dignity in my native country contiguate to me ... which your worshipful benignity could some inpenetrate for me" is a wonderful find.

If you find joy in the admittedly obsolete existence of abequitate, bubulcitate and comatrix (they mean, and I did have to look them up, to ride away, to cry like a cowherd and a joint womb) then I believe you will enjoy this book. A few annoying traits unfortunately dragged this great book from a full five star review. Winchester has a rather annoying tendency to repeat the facts he has mentioned in previous chapters. A couple of times I noticed the repetition of ideas that contradicts himself, and a couple of things, such as the wailing of Broadmoor sirens in the Victorian age - they were only operational from 1952, at points disappointed an otherwise fantastic read.

A criminally insane man and the Oxford English Dictionary, 12 Jun 2006
The Oxford English Dictionary is one of the largest and most encompassing dictionaries in the world. It took almost 70 years to complete and during those years thousands of volunteers scrutinized newspapers, journals and new and old books for new words, new meanings of words and sentences that would clarify the meanings. One of the most active volunteers was the American doctor William Chester Minor. During the 20 years that the doctor collaborated he developed a friendship with the editor, James Murray. When Murray decided to visit doctor Minor, he found that the latter served a lifetime sentence in the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane after he had killed an innocent worker. The intellectual doctor Minor was found to be mad as a hatter: at night he heard voices, he claimed he was kidnapped, tortured and abused and under the floor of his cell there would live a bunch of Pygmees. The biographies of Murray, Minor and the Oxford English Dictionary are nicely interrelated in this well-written book.

Surprisingly interesting read, 16 Oct 2005
A copy of this book was left behind by a previous holiday maker in an apartment I spent two weeks on holiday in Portugal this summer. I did not expect much from this book discarded by someone else with a less that exciting subject matter - the creation of the OED, but the "Tale of Murder........" caught my eye and I decided to give it a go.

While not exactly exhilarated by this read, I was not disappointed either. You will find the tale of W C Minor a fascinating one in itself - he was clearly a mad genius. What Winchester does to add more interest is to catalog his involvement in the creation of the OED.

For me, the real tale of the book is the dedication of OED Editor James Murray to the cause of the dictionary over most of his life. I can't think of a more boring job than editor of a dictionary - yet Winchester makes it sound like a blast!

Don't let the subject matter of the creation of the OED turn you off this book. It is an easy and enjoyable read.

Stranger than Fiction, 08 Oct 2004
This book recounts a tale so improbable that as fiction it would have been hard to believe. Two Victorian lives become entwined. On the one hand, a great scholar who has bettered himself through learning, a man of towering reputation and influence; on the other, a millionaire madman whose delusional grip on reality has failed him and left him isolated in a lunatic asylum, a continent away from his family, with only his books for company.

Somehow their paths collide, and for years they work at a distance to create together the greatest reference book in the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Eventually they meet, and their rapport blossoms into true friendship. A strange story unfolds, of gothic madness, violence, improbable love and eventual disintegration.

At times uplifting, at others rather muted, this book can at times be unevenly paced; but overall it is a very rewarding read.

A Dictionary will never be the same again ………….., 25 May 2004
This is a well-told tale that leads the audience through some of the politics involved in the production of the Oxford English Dictionary. The author has fictionalised the account at times through necessity, but made it clear that this is what he has done, in a story that combines murder most foul with the troubled life of the murdered.

The dictionary (“OED”) was a product of the Victorian ‘we can do anything’ optimism, and was undoubtedly a hugely ambitious project. The task would probably have been finished without the help of Dr William Chester Minor, a resident of a large country house in Berkshire (and better known as Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane). However, the work was enormously advanced by the surgeon / murderer. Minor grasped the vast amount of work involved, and had the tiem and source material to contribute freely. He also had a wonderful method in his searching out quotations for the normal and abnormal use of words. His method enabled the editorial team, led by Dr James Murray, to request help from Minor and know thay would receive an enlightening and quality answer.

Minor died in 1920, back in his native America, more that 7 years before the completion of the OED. In the completed work there are 414835 words defined, and 1,827,306 illustrative quotations. Minor alone had contributed scores of thousands.

The English speaking world is indebted to the contributions of William Minor. We are also grateful to Simon Winchester for telling the tale with clarity and humour. Winchester also debunks the mythical account of the first meeting between Dr Murray and Minor. I got the feeling that the author liked the fabled account, even though he knew it not to be true (and clearly states that fact).

Excllent compact guide., 11 Feb 2008
This book was recommended to me by a BBC producer when I started trying to write comedy. Yes it's simplistic, but it works. JV gives you a brilliant method for developing characters and plots. I still dip into it now and again when I'm struggling with something. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It's a nice slim volume rather than a big fat tome, too. Which is nice.

Great ideas on structure for *all* writers., 09 Jan 2008
This and Vorhaus's other book on writing, "Creativity Rules" have been invaluable in helping me write more shapely fiction and I immediately recommend them to anyone who tells me they want to write, too.

His ideas on story structure are presented in a fun and funny way, but whenever I approach other books on writing I feel like Vorhaus got there first with this light little book, before all the guys with their deeply important mythic cycle breezeblock-workbooks hung around their necks -- and he got there with a smile on his face.

His principles on comedy in this book have given me what feels like X-ray vision when it comes to watching popular culture of any kind. This is someone who's been paying close attention to how story, humour, and thinking work, and he's given us all his crib notes.

A big help but use it wisely, 01 Aug 2007
Doreen has never been a confident public speaker but last summer she was faced with the daunting challenge of delivering a speech in a local debate. 'This house believes that prostitution should be legalised' was never going to be an easy motion to put to a Christian faith-group. Apparently she surmised that the only chance to get the audience on her side would be through the use of humour. Not a bad idea, I'll warrant, but Doreen (physical characteristics aside) has never been a particularly funny woman. I bought this excellent guidebook in order to help but I fear that she failed to exploit its full potential. If she had even glanced over the explanations of word-play, misdirection and irony then it certainly didn't come across. Rather, I believe that she followed in the footsteps of Roy 'Chubby' Brown and confined her research to one particular facet of comedy.

Well, I don't think even Doreen had intended to turn the air quite so blue, but the warm-up gin and tonics went far beyond having a 'calming' influence. I fear that she was egged-on even further by vocal support from the elderly Mrs. Dewhurst. The isolated cries of approval were probably not the best way to gauge the sentiment of the room, if one considers that Mrs Dewhurst tends to punctuate even the most leisurely of Sunday sermons with bouts of raucous cheering. Needless to say, the speech was not met with the universal acclaim that Doreen had anticipated. Still, technically the debate can't be chalked up as a loss. The melee that broke out (after a particularly crass 'joke' that would have made Ron Jeremy blush) ended any chances of a civil vote being held.

Excellent start to wannabe writers, 25 Jan 2006
I have read and re-read this book in its entirety, and in my view is invaluable if you want to become a more confident writer/performer or just want to have a deeper understanding of what humour actually is. The author offers many exercises for the reader to complete. This built up my confidence and made me realise that you can make a whole bunch of boring and mundane parts of life into supremely comedy sequences.
First the basics of what makes us laugh are explained. The book then moves into defining how to make your comic characters and to forget about why you think a certain aspect is unfunny.
After this the book is split up into seperate sections depending on which field of comedy you wish to pursue, be it sitcom, sketch, stand-up, and, ahem, practical jokes (it is hard to show sarcasm through text).
The end of the book applies to every comedian, helping you to perfect your work, and ultimately selling your material.
Unfortunately the book is not prfect throughout. Most explainations of certain comic situations involve the use of a 1980's film or tv series, so if you are under the age of, say 25 like me (or, if you didn't watch American shows of the 80's) I would strongly suggest buying Mel Helitzer's Comedy Writing Secrets, 2005. Apart from this I strongly recommend this book, trust me you can't go wrong.

WOW!, 21 May 2003
This is a thoroughly recommended book. I used to struggle at parties for things to talk about, which used to make me feel awkward, this book has opened my eyes and now I can make humorous conversation.........a definite winner with the ladies.
As for the sitcom material, I've been giving it a go.
I feel funnier than I ever have....get this book

Practical and inspiring, 25 Jan 2004
Writing poems - it's a great title. Deceptively plain, it carries many possible meanings, most of which Sansom slings out be