Ben Franklin lingers in our lives and in our imaginations. One of only two non-presidents to appear on US currency, Franklin was a founder, statesman, scientist, inventor, diplomat, publisher, humorist, and philosopher. He believed in the American experiment, but Ben Franklin's greatest experiment was...Ben Franklin. In that spirit of betterment, Eric Weiner embarks on an ambitious quest to live the way Ben lived.
"A warm combination of homage and introspective memoir" (Kirkus Reviews), Ben & Me is a guide to living and thinking well, as Ben Franklin did. It is also about curiosity, respect for virtue, and, most of all, the elusive goal of self-improvement. As Weiner follows Franklin from Philadelphia to Paris, Boston to London, he attempts to uncover Ben's life lessons, large and small. We learn how to improve a relationship with someone by inducing them to do a favor for you—a psychological phenomenon now known as The Ben Franklin Effect. We learn about the printing press (the internet of its day), early medicine, diplomatic intrigue, and, of course, electricity. And we learn about ethics, persuasion, humor, regret, appetite, and so much more.
At a time when history is either neglected or contested, Weiner argues we have much to learn from the past and that we'd all be better off if we acted and thought a bit more like Ben did, even if he didn't always live up to his own high ideals. Engaging, smart, moving, and quirky, Ben & Me distills the essence of Franklin's ideas into grounded, practical wisdom for all of us.
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Release date
June 11, 2024 -
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- ISBN: 9781501129070
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- ISBN: 9781501129070
- File size: 4704 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Kirkus
May 15, 2024
Benjamin Franklin for the 21st century. About to turn 60, Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss and The Socrates Express, found himself drawn to Franklin, the most accessible and relatable among the nation's Founders. Franklin, as the author sees him, is "fleshly and fluid," with "much to teach us about something as enticing as it is elusive: the secret to living a long and useful life." As Weiner follows Franklin's footsteps in Boston, Philadelphia, London, France, and Canada, he considers the trajectory of his own life in the context of Franklin's. Some similarities strike him: Both, he reveals, were "bitten by the travel bug at a young age," leaving the cities of their births--Franklin's Boston and Weiner's Baltimore--to search for a more congenial setting. Franklin's immediate affinity for Philadelphia recalls Weiner's own feeling that in India, where he was sent as a foreign correspondent for NPR, he had found his "soulplace." Both men "wrestled with order" and extolled the power of habits. "Like me," Weiner writes, Franklin "was prone to distraction and absent-mindedness. Like me, he loved a good planner. Like me, he possessed a strong and persistent drive to improve." He was not without faults: He struggled with anger issues and, most distressingly for Weiner, failed his family. He did not rush from London to his dying wife's side, and he refused to reconcile with his son, who had been a staunch monarchist. He owned slaves, only belatedly coming to the cause of abolition. Nevertheless, Franklin still inspires, with a lifelong "sense of wonder," respect for virtue, and lively curiosity. "At a time when everyone, including me, is struggling to create better versions of themselves," Weiner writes, "Franklin, America's original self-help evangelist, reminds us it is easier than we think." A warm combination of homage and introspective memoir.COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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- Kindle Book
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