Benjamin Franklin

An American Life

By: Walter Isaacson

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

In best selling author Walter Isaacson's vivid and witty full-scale biography, we discover why Franklin turns to us from history's stage with eyes that twinkle from behind his new-fangled spectacles. In Benjamin Franklin, Isaacson shows how Franklin defines both his own time and ours.

The most interesting thing that Franklin invented, and continually reinvented, was himself. America's first great publicist, he was consciously trying to create a new American archetype. In the process, he carefully crafted his own persona, portrayed it in public, and polished it for posterity. His guiding principle was a "dislike of everything that tended to debase the spirit of the common people." Few of his fellow founders felt this comfort with democracy so fully, and none so intuitively.

In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin's amazing life, from his days as a runaway printer to his triumphs as a statesman, scientist, and Founding Father. He chronicles Franklin's tumultuous relationship with his illegitimate son and grandson, his practical marriage, and his flirtations with the ladies of Paris. He also shows how Franklin helped to create the American character and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.

©2003 Walter Isaacson (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Benjamin Franklin catalogs the extraordinary range of its subject's accomplishments, which remain unrivaled in their variety and utility." (The New York Times)
"Isaacson has crafted a wonderfully written biography, and his treatment of Franklin's youth and rise to prominence is insightful and imaginative" (The Washington Post)
"The abridgment is seamless, the text runs the gamut...from brilliant to ordinary."(AudioFile)
"Blessed with one of the most polished and easy-to-absorb voices in the audio business, reader Boyd Gaines does an outstanding job with Walter Isaacson's excellent biography of perhaps the most appealing of the Founding Fathers..." (USA Today)

Franklin ftw

Entertaining and unbiased. Truly focuses on Franklin and not political and moral ideals. Amazing how much one person can cram into a life ;)

A True History Book

This is a wonderful lesson in history. The definition of Unabridged is; COMPLETE, being the most complete of its class. The definition of abridged is; to shorten in duration or extent.

Never listen to an abridged book

By comparison to other historical biographies, this book sounds superficial and skimpy. This is quite inconsistent with the reviewed and acclaim it has received - which makes me conclude that it suffered from crued abbreviation. If this is a representative example of what abridged books are like - I would never listen to an abridged book again.

Leaves a lot to be desired

The reading of this book leads me to believe that we could have done without Mr. Franklin. There is no passion, there is no cohesiveness as to what is happening around Mr. Franklin as we are pulled through a very superficial story. If one good thing comes of this book, it will be that I must read another one on Benjamin Franklin because he HAD to be more important than this book would have you come to understand. I didn't give it just one star only because I have read worse.

Avoid the abridged version

What would have made Benjamin Franklin better?

I kept asking myself: "Why is this Walter Isaacson book not nearly as good as his others?" Is is because Isaacson is better at history that is closer to current day or was it the disjointed nature of the abridged version.

Would you recommend Benjamin Franklin to your friends? Why or why not?

I kept asking myself: "Why is this Walter Isaacson book not nearly as good as his others?" Is is because Isaacson is better at history that is closer to current day or was it the disjointed nature of the abridged version.

Literary Bilge

A blantant attempt on the part of a connected CEO to take advantage of the current day interest in the founding of the country. Reads like a Cliff Notes written by a competent college junior. No comparison to John Adams or Founding Brothers.

The Abridged Version

I made a mistake by choosing the abridgement of this book. My rule has been "no abstracted volumes from Audible." I broke my own rule to my disappointment. It just isn't worth it. Having said that, if a listener just wants a Readers' Digest summary of a book, this may be a good choice. Abstracting an audio book does not seem to work. It reads as though the full audio book was cut rather than thoughtfullly abridging the written volume and then rereading what was left. It is just - to date - not satisfying.

Abridged audio books should be outlawed!

Why is it abridged? Why was this not announced until the end? What a waste of time. I listen to books for convenience, not because I'm an idiot who can't handle that much information at one time. Would not have bothered if it had been made clear at the outset.

Not a great biography

Sorry that I agree with the others giving this a poor review. My problem with the book is that if you've read other biographies of the period and other biographies of Franklin, this book lacks historical context. Yes, there's lots of detail--and maybe that's what history has become these days. But the lists of details don't add up to give a true picture of the man or the issues he dealt with. To me, you can't read this book and come away with the sense of why Franklin was such a great man.

The abridged version is lacking

I got 3 chapters into this before I realized it was an abridged version. Which explained why it seemed to be devoid of character and detail. I've returned it and am looking forward to listening to the full text.