Winchester's love of the lexicographer and his patient, painstaking task make, ironically enough, for a fast, revealing read.Winchester introduces each chapter with a definition from the OED and cleverly uses it to tie his narratives together. This technique is reminiscent of Faulkner's "The Unvanquished."It's a shame, however, that Winchester can't get over his disdain for Christianity. He repeatedly attributes the madness of William Minor, one of the books central protagonists, to a strict Protestant upbringing.Was Winchester paying homage to the spirits of Emerson and Thoreau?Tom Wolfe's "Two Young Men Who Went West" "Hooking Up" offers a much more complimentary expose of the Protestant influence on American culture and the high tech industry in particular.