Reviews

Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin

bethaniesherwood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

A truly remarkable man. 

zurpel's review against another edition

3.0

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 this belonged to the better ones I’ve read so far.

I listened to the free LibriVox audiobook of this book. Those are of varying quality. This production was of average (tending to good) quality.

ldebbo's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

stevenyenzer's review against another edition

3.0

Apparently Franklin's autobiography is incomplete, and it certainly read that way. I loved the first half or so -- Franklin's description of his upbringing, his flight to Philadelphia, and the fecundity of the colonial economy that allowed him to get a job virtually anywhere because of his printing skills. But the latter half, which delved into the inside baseball of Philadelphia politics, was boring and drawn-out. Luckily Franklin's wit is endearing enough to pull you through.

intentional_practices's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.75

nfleow's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing

4.0

annepw's review against another edition

2.0

I did not love this. Franklin comes across as a bit self-satisfied and irritating, although he certainly must have been an interesting fellow in his time. I personally found the account of his childhood very dry, although most people seem to like it the best, and the laundry list of his achievements towards the end was unspeakably dull. My favorite bit was part two where he described his exhaustive self-improvement regimens which I found very fascinating. I wouldn't have finished this if I wasn't reading it for class, though. Perhaps if Franklin had had a chance to edit it it would have made for better reading. Read for English 252 Fall 2013.

hopeheadden's review against another edition

3.0

First time reading an autobiography, not my style but it was interesting. Friend recommended to me. He tell about a lot of events leading up to the revolution. It was cool seeing his steps to improve himself and the way he thought. I might start reading more autobiographies

good_night_gracie's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

2.0

bkeving_74's review against another edition

3.0

This was a pretty easy read as it does not cover his entire life or even the most interesting part when he was part of the revolution. So this work was kind of disappointing.