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American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane
What are the roots of creativity? What makes for great leadership? How do influential people end up rippling the surface of history?
In this collection of essays, Walter Isaacson reflects on the lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, and various other
...moreHardcover, 304 pages
Published
November 24th 2009
by Simon & Schuster
(first published 2009)
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I loved the last chapter ... which made the whole effort truly rewarding.
Now I am not a usual fan of the "cut-n-paste" nonfiction genre where we get a journalist's "best" articles or columns repurposed as a stand alone book. This dislike has its roots in my disappointment at "Boss," Mike Royko's Pulitzer Prize winning 1972 book on Mayor Richard J. Daley (the father of the present hizzonor). Not only had I read most of the columns, but viewed together ...more
Now I am not a usual fan of the "cut-n-paste" nonfiction genre where we get a journalist's "best" articles or columns repurposed as a stand alone book. This dislike has its roots in my disappointment at "Boss," Mike Royko's Pulitzer Prize winning 1972 book on Mayor Richard J. Daley (the father of the present hizzonor). Not only had I read most of the columns, but viewed together ...more
For the fans of Walter Isaacson who may wish to delve into some of his essays and articles when he also worked for TIME! It has some great articles and brief biographical "sketches" on some of the more significant figures--mostly from the 20th Century--though Ben Franklin and John Adams are tossed in because of his interest in those subjects and his best selling biographies. If you remember the TIME magazine Top 100 people of the 20th Century, he wrote some of the sketches then too.
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For the first half of the book, I kept saying that I wish the book went into greater detail about the "sketches." The book, a collection of forwards, reviews, articles, and short write-ups on some of the most influential faces of our time turned ended up being a great mix for those - like me - who tend to get bored by too many details. Although I might have preferred to have a few more details at the beginning, the depth explored for Gates and Einstein made up for it for the prelim...more
Isaacson offers brief essays on leaders who greatly influenced history in very diverse ways. He wisely limits his efforts to meaningful moments starting with our founders and moving forward to our heavily technology driven present. Everyone should always have a book sitting around in case someone has just a few minutes to fill and this is the perfect book for that. Open to any ten page essay that interests you and you'll learn something meaningful. Put it in your waiting room, living room or...more
I had previously enjoyed Walter Isaacson's biography of Ben Franklin, so I was looking forward to reading this one. The format was less biographical and much more of a commentary as Isaacson compiled here a number of past editorials, essays and introductions written about presidents, cabinet secretaries, business executives, scientists, authors and Woody Allen. The Allen piece doesn't really fit in with the rest of he book, and was rather lame.
Isaacson is obviously enamored with Ein...more
Isaacson is obviously enamored with Ein...more
Little disappointed in this. I know it's common to reuse pieces in books like this, but *all* of them are old. This wasn't so bothersome in the pieces on, say, Gandhi, Franklin and Einstein. But the Bill Gates and Woody Allen bits were hilariously out of date. The Bill Gates piece made me LOL by referencing Netscape. OH GEE I WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN THAR. Could at least add an update at the end. Ha.
Really interesting. I was especially interested in Isaacson's discussion of different types of intelligences as he talked about Bill Clinton and then Bill Gates.
Some very interesting segments about influential people of the 20th century. The introduction is great; well written.
Short biographical essays on the founding fathers, Reagan/Gorbachev, and Einstein. Not bad, really
Gift from a friend, should be nice to listen to Isaacson while I tidy the house.
Collection of essays, repetitious at times, but still insightful.
so well written...and what an array of fascinating people this man has had the good fortune to be able to study and interview...
It was O.K. The book is essentially a collection of editorials that Mr. Isaacson has written over his career. I found a few to be very insightful. Several were somewhat informative. And a few were... blah...blah...blah. All in all a mixed bag, very uneven.
Articles were of varying interest. Read through several and skimmed the ones with more of a political focus.
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Walter Isaacson lives in Washington, DC, where he is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He is the author of acclaimed, best-selling biographies of Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Kissinger.
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