The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin in Reading with Style

Mar 08, 2010 Ellen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: american-lit, favorites, non-fiction, classic, 18thc-pd, nationalism

If you think you know Benjamin Franklin from what they taught you in school, you should read his autobiography and be enlightened. In fact, did you know this man invented the autobiography? You think of Benjamin Franklin as this old fat rich white guy who you may have heard was kicked out of France for being too rowdy. Of all places, he was kicked out of France. How do you get kicked out of France? Only Benjamin knows how. Now you might also feel scornful of him because his pretty face is on the ...more

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Oct 25, 2015 Avery Martin rated it really liked it

I purchased this book from an old country store while traveling. It's a throwback Lake English Classic edition with a signature from 1911 in it. Pretty interesting history surrounding the age of the book, as well as the admirable youth of Ben Franklin. I didn't expect to be hooked from page one, but each page came with its own lesson. Surprisingly, a lot of the issues regarding competition, networking, and organization still hold true today, and Franklin was the master of these. Unfortunately, I ...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Isabell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: listened, read-2012, unabridged, audiobook, non-fiction, american-lit, 18th-century, librivox, librivox-solo

Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography is sometimes referred to as the first How-to-Book (at least I read that somewhere, though I can’t recall now where). It’s certainly interesting to read (or hear when listening to the audiobook) of his early life and how he became a man of importance. Also, the writing style isn’t too monotone or boring (I’m listening to a novel right now that has a more boring style than this non-fiction). Usually I struggle with biographies (or autobiographies/memoirs), but thi ...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, nonfiction, biography-memoir, rws-2010-winter, 2011-read

Benjamin Franklin was certainly a remarkable fellow. The first half of this autobiography was a lot more interesting to me than the second half. In the first half, he writes mostly about his private life and intends the book as instructions on life for his son. The second half, written much later, is intended as a public autobiography and seemed much more distant and fact-recounting rather than personal.

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