The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

5 Responses to “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”

1. Andy P. says:

   May 2, 2010 at 2:06 am

   Forgive me America, but I could not stand this book. If his life was so fantastic, it seems it would be alot more appealing than this book shows. The only excellent, to some extent inspirational part was that part about moral perfection. Sorry to say, it did not change my life. (Of course, I had to read the book for school, so that may be part of my rage towards it)
   Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
2. B. Agee says:

   May 2, 2010 at 4:03 am

   Seriously… anyone that excise this book anything additional than 5 stars is a perfect idiot. He is a hero.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
3. B. Agee says:

   May 2, 2010 at 5:12 am

   Seriously… anyone that excise this book anything additional than 5 stars is a perfect idiot. He is a hero.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
4. Eugene G. Barnes says:

   May 2, 2010 at 7:32 am

   Sometimes pastiches work well, like Bach’s B Minor Mass. Not so this autobiography. Thrown together, arbitrary, sinfully pedestrian, this is one book that you can easily miss in your fleeting life. Franklin shows you he’s just a regular guy with regular thought processes. He drifts through life sometimes helping people and sometimes taking advantage of them. He may be an early humanitarian, but he is also an early capitalist, and he knows what he wants. Fantastic, so does Ted Turner, but you don’t see us going ape for his life tale, do you? Franklin was truly one of our greatest founding fathers, but you won’t get a glimmer of that from this book. Reading anyone else’s account of Franklin’s life would be a much more rewarding experience. Go there if you must do Franklin.
   Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
5. Tim says:

   May 2, 2010 at 7:40 am

   Benji Franklin is a fascinating guy. He really is. Sorry to say, you really don’t get to know him through his autobiography (it was written for the moral instruction of his son, first of all).

   Half the book reads like a “Mrs. Manners” column and the additional half reads like a resume. Franklin lists all his copious contributions to American society honestly coldly and not a small pretentiously (but we can allow him the pretention) and fills in the blank spaces with moral and philosphical instruction. ]

   While he was a fantastic inventor and statesman and had a knack for collecting and spitting out trite “truisms,” Benny just isn’t that appealing a moral philospher. If you’re really interested in getting to know Ben Franklin, check out a scholar’s biography–if anything, you get to learn all the juicy stuff about his disgustingly promiscuous sex life.
   Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5