For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spot...
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Jun 23, 2011
Nathan
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I suppose I knew what I was getting into with this book. The subtitle hints at the fact that this is a pretty thoroughgoing psychological history, rather than a historical narrative. Ellis posits Jefferson as an inscrutable figure shielded from effective analysis by a contradictory philosophy as well as a reserved personality. Both of which may be true, but both of which made this book scanty on real insight. Ellis doesn't spend much time asking why Jefferson was the way he was (a pretty worthw
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May 20, 2008
Mike
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This book is more a series of portraits than a biography. It doesn't tell Jefferson's story in one long arc, but rather captures him at significant periods of his life. This method works well for Ellis (see: Founding Brothers), probably because the broader view allows him to write more lyrically than a stick-to-the-facts biography would allow.
What emerges from Jefferson's portraits is a man with extraordinary powers of self-delusion. These powers enabled him to bemoan slavery More...
What emerges from Jefferson's portraits is a man with extraordinary powers of self-delusion. These powers enabled him to bemoan slavery More...
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Mar 04, 2008
Suzanne
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I loved the title. The iconic image of Jefferson takes a bit of a hit in this non-traditional biography. He was a brilliant, creative, imaginative and inventive man who helped transform our world with his vision on the role of government and in his writings. He was also a deeply flawed human being. He loved beauty and lived so beyond his financial means that, at his death, his beloved Monticello had to be auctioned off. He despised slavery yet, without them, could not afford his lifestyle.
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Apr 30, 2011
Carrie
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This purpose of this book was to explore Jefferson’s character and how it shaped the man. It is not exhaustive by any means so you have to look to other sources if you want a full run through of all of his life, presidency years, etc.
In essence, Ellis argues that Jefferson had a vision in his head and was the type of person who was (nearly) always true to that vision without taking into consideration the reality of the world around him. There was a certain kind of naivete and “inno More...
In essence, Ellis argues that Jefferson had a vision in his head and was the type of person who was (nearly) always true to that vision without taking into consideration the reality of the world around him. There was a certain kind of naivete and “inno More...
Dec 07, 2010
Bill
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Sep 08, 2010
Damian
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As I read "American Sphinx", an odd thing happened. The more I learnt about Jefferson the less I liked him. The Jefferson of Ellis' biography is an arrogant, obsessive ideologue, whose successes are the lucky results of others' hard work, and whose failures are inevitable given his substantial flaws. As someone who was looking to like Jefferson, this was all pretty disappointing.
Ellis' biography follows Jefferson from his first entrance into public life right until his provi More...
Ellis' biography follows Jefferson from his first entrance into public life right until his provi More...
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Dec 22, 2009
Steven
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Thomas Jefferson, according to the author, was an American Sphinx. And, indeed, there is an elusive quality to Jefferson. As the biography outlines, he could be as vicious a political assassin as there was (e.g., his attacks on John Adams through others, while trying to keep his own hands "clean"), but he did not appear to want to accept or confront this in himself.
At one time, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were great friends, founding cousins, as it were, of the new rep More...
At one time, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were great friends, founding cousins, as it were, of the new rep More...
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Aug 29, 2009
Audrey
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I really prefer to read biographies in which the author actually has some affection for his subject! Mr. Ellis treated Thomas Jefferson as a neurotic and idealistic man who just happened to experience a few flashes of brilliance because he was at the right place during the right time. Ellis was consistently patronizing and apologetic in his discussions about Thomas Jefferson's thoughts, ideas and actions. I generally expect a biographer to present his subject with an emphasis on his strengths an
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Jun 14, 2009
Julie
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This book is a well disguised attack on Jeffersonian ideals of smaller government...accomplished through lengthy "psychoanalytic" attacks on Jefferson's character. It amazes me that so many find this illuminating and deserving of the Pulitizer Prize. Ellis chiefly does this by showing Jefferson to be a secretive, ultimately anarchic radical who was incapable of perceiving the need for political governance under the Constitution (the "necessary evil" described by Paine in Co
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Sep 24, 2011
Murdock
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Sep 06, 2010
Jill
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I didn't find this read quite as interesting as the Abigail Adams bio I just finished, but it was still quite interesting. I learned so much. There were a few pieces of information that were repeats from Abigail Adams (letters between John Adams and Jefferson, differences of opinion they had, etc.). I think the most interesting thing about Jefferson was how his life's practices often did not coincide with his strong beliefs. He's such a fascinating contradiction. A few examples include his
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Jan 14, 2012
Lorena
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I picked this book up at the Monticello museum store. After touring the house and hearing more about Jefferson I was intrigued to know the man, especially since I got an idea for an novel about him and his first wife. This book does give you a deeper insight than just his politics which matters to me and to really understand the man. It's slow cause it's lots of history and facts...but I am interested. Can't always say that about historical books.
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Jul 15, 2011
Colette
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This is my third Joseph J. Ellis book, and, like the others, I appreciate his very readable rendition of history. Unlike the very straight foward, decision minded Washington, Jefferson is perhaps best loved as the ideal of himself rather than the true man. Most of his presidency was done at a writing desk, after all. His views on slavery vary greatly from the reality, one of his many ideological paradoxes. Ellis seems to want the reader to admire Jefferson for seeking the ideal, pastoral lif
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May 02, 2011
Darlene
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I finished this biography of Thomas Jefferson a couple of days ago and needed to think about it for a bit. In considering what I learned, I have found this is not a simple book to review. First off, it is not a typically written biography. Ellis did not write it in the usual chronological order that biographies tend to follow.He presented different aspects of Jefferson's life and presidency and alternated forward and backward through time.
By the time I was halfway through this book More...
By the time I was halfway through this book More...
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Dec 06, 2011
Logan
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Aug 22, 2010
Donnac
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I was so disappointed with this book. From the very first pages, you could sense the author was antagonistic towards his subject; and this continued throughout the book. I cannot count the number of times Ellis alluded to Jefferson as some kind of narcissistic mental case. As a grandmother to two children with autism, I could easily have seen Jefferson as being on the spectrum! He was incredibly intelligent, and his devotion to the building of Monticello and his love for agriculture as all-encom
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Sep 19, 2010
Andrew
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Joseph Ellis, before he wrote, "His Excellency," based on the life of George Washington, took on the dynamic personality of Thomas Jefferson. As a person who had never read a thing about Jefferson, at least nothing that was free of fabrications and myths, I found the style Ellis uses to be something of a constantly shifting, dynamic language. While he notes that Jefferson had two sides to his personality, he interweaves these seemingly opposing personalities seamlessly into his story.
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Mar 03, 2011
Jim
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Good review of Thomas Jefferson's character. Not a chronological look at Jefferson's life. Rather the author looks at various times in Jefferson's life and the incidents that occurred during them, to elucidate his political and world view.
This book contains a fair amount of what some deride as historic-psychobabble - the tendency to try and psychoanalyze historic figures to find the origins of their greatness or perfidy (depending on your point of view). In this case, while it does a More...
This book contains a fair amount of what some deride as historic-psychobabble - the tendency to try and psychoanalyze historic figures to find the origins of their greatness or perfidy (depending on your point of view). In this case, while it does a More...
Mar 14, 2010
Kay
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Joseph Ellis is an excellent writer. His style is almost musical in places. His work was very well-researched and was a joy to read.
Ellis took a look at some of the major turning points in the life of Thomas Jefferson, and paid special notice of how his political views sometimes seemed to be contradictory - and of the times when what he did contradicted what he said.
He really was an interesting man - a leader of the American revolution, an idealist, and an introvert wit More...
Ellis took a look at some of the major turning points in the life of Thomas Jefferson, and paid special notice of how his political views sometimes seemed to be contradictory - and of the times when what he did contradicted what he said.
He really was an interesting man - a leader of the American revolution, an idealist, and an introvert wit More...
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Jan 13, 2012
Steve
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I like the fact that Ellis goes against the grain and shows the contradictory nature of Jefferson's character:
1) Like many of the founding fathers, Jefferson was haunted by the slavery question for his entire life. He owned a huge amount of slaves, yet he argued for the self-evident rights of all mankind.
2) Jefferson's presidency was dedicated to reducing the national debt, while he had absolutely no control of his personal finances.
3) Jefferson also was a More...
1) Like many of the founding fathers, Jefferson was haunted by the slavery question for his entire life. He owned a huge amount of slaves, yet he argued for the self-evident rights of all mankind.
2) Jefferson's presidency was dedicated to reducing the national debt, while he had absolutely no control of his personal finances.
3) Jefferson also was a More...
Aug 21, 2011
Bob
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Interesting book showing a different side of the Jefferson we all were been presented in school. After reading about John Adams, I grew fascinated by their relationship. The Character of Thomas Jefferson was certainly flawed in many ways. A southern gentleman who struggled with the founding fathers about slavery, wanting all men to be free, owned over 200 slaves. He politicked openly about how the races should not mix, yet fathered at least one child with one of his slaves. And, the politics
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Jul 01, 2010
Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com
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This is an elegant, informative and well researched book. I’ve learned many things about Thomas Jefferson (for example: he didn’t like public attention) and Mr. Ellis’ analysis is certainly worth of praise.
The book is divided into five parts:
- Philadelphia: 1775 -76
- Paris: 1784-89
- Monticello: 1794 – 97
- Washington D.C.: 1801 – 04
- Monticello: 1816 – 26
As you can see, the book starts at the dawn of the American Revolution with Jefferson’s arrival in More...
The book is divided into five parts:
- Philadelphia: 1775 -76
- Paris: 1784-89
- Monticello: 1794 – 97
- Washington D.C.: 1801 – 04
- Monticello: 1816 – 26
As you can see, the book starts at the dawn of the American Revolution with Jefferson’s arrival in More...
Aug 10, 2009
Johnathan
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An excellent biography of the ever-enigmatic Jefferson. Perhaps my only complaint would be the length of the book...Ellis could have easily written a longer and much more detailed view of the man. It presents Jefferson as a man full of contradictions...supporting the liberties and freedoms of all men, while owning slaves at the same time.
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May 16, 2010
Martin
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This was the perfect corrective to the two volume biography of Jefferson by Alf Mapp that I read last year. It provided all the insight, analysis and perspective that those volumes were missing. That said, one still needs a comprehensive biography of Jefferson to really make this book come to life. Because it is not Ellis' intention to tell Jefferson's life story; he's more interested in, as the subtitle suggests, understanding the character of our third president.
Where he nets out w More...
Where he nets out w More...
Feb 11, 2012
Roger
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American Sphinx is an erudite biography in which Joseph J. Ellis conducts an astounding psychological study of the mysterious genius and contradictory idealism that constituted the mind of Thomas Jefferson. Ellis assesses Jefferson more as an idealistic visionary than as a political leader. Ellis shows how Jefferson’s dreams for an American republic were so farfetched that they were essentially a myth skirting the realms of unattainability. Anyone who believes in the value of progress and change
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Nov 09, 2011
Amy
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I like Thomas Jefferson a lot less than I did before I read this book. Which means it's worth reading - Ellis is no hagiographer. (And I readily confess I probably like it so much because Ellis comes down so squarely on the side of My Main Man John Adams.) What makes this book so interesting is that it is an intellectual biography - a history of Jefferson's education and ideas. Sure, he talks about Sally Hemings, but that's not what's important about Jefferson. Ellis makes a great argument
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Jun 08, 2011
Sandra
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After reading John Adams at over seven hundred pages, I decided I needed a shorter biography for Thomas Jefferson and I thought 368 pages was a reasonable length to tell the story of his life without being verbose. I was right, but it still took me two weeks to get through it. Anyway, compared to McCullough's John Adams I loved this book so, so much more. There was some overlap as can be expected, but I liked how Ellis presented facts as facts and theories and theories without superfluous sto
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Aug 18, 2010
Michael
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I've read this book a number of times and have read pretty much all of Ellis's output as a leading exponent of what Jeffrey Pasley and David Waldstreicher called "Federalist Chic." While Ellis's writing style is a big factor behind his relative popularity, there are significant problems with this book. However, this book is just one of many in the last ten years which has focused on the "character" of the founders as the key to their "greatness." There is no doubt t
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Aug 09, 2011
Evan
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So far, so good.
But it seems to me that everyone pussyfoots around on the subject of Jefferson because of what he wrote.
It seems to me the record indicates he was a brilliant writer who could articulate something he could never embody and that in many things, we was a flawed human being just like the rest of us, and was, in particularly, a hypocrite about many things about which he wrote so beautifully.
Can't we just honor him for that contribution. Must we worship h More...
But it seems to me that everyone pussyfoots around on the subject of Jefferson because of what he wrote.
It seems to me the record indicates he was a brilliant writer who could articulate something he could never embody and that in many things, we was a flawed human being just like the rest of us, and was, in particularly, a hypocrite about many things about which he wrote so beautifully.
Can't we just honor him for that contribution. Must we worship h More...
Oct 02, 2009
Janet
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After reading the Adams bio, I was ready to hate Jefferson. He seemed such a snake and a liar. Ellis is one of my favorite historical biographers and he did a great job here. He showed Jefferson in all his complexity and contradictions. This is a man I probably would not have liked much in real life as he seems very slippery and too equivocal. But he was dedicated to the cause of individual rights (if you exclude his slaves!). I love how Ellis shows his characters through snippets rather th
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