Benjamin Franklin-racy? When we think of Franklin, we think of a statesman, an inventor, a man of worldly wisdom-and a man temperate in all his affairs. The last thing we think of is racy. But Franklin's own words, written in a letter to his son, tell of the scrapes, the tricks, the imbroglios and the intrigues that young Ben was party to. Did you know that Ben had to post bail for himself? Or that he was afraid of contracting a venereal disease? Did you know that he jilted a girl? And engaged in bribery? These "little family anecdotes of no importance to others," as Ben called them, make for great reading. And inspirational reading, as well, for from these anecdotes we learn that a great man is, after all, only human, and that a successful life is not without its mistakes, or "errata," as Ben called them. Without changing Franklin's words or spelling at all, the editor of this edition has broken Franklin's text down into "bite-sized" paragraphs, assigned memorable headings to his stories by selecting from the very words he used, and split the work into natural chapters with chapter headings. An index was also added. Finally, the work was laid out in a relatively large type, with plenty of white space so as not to overwhelm with the too-dense, too-daunting print of earlier editions of Franklin's autobiography. The result is an easy-to-read, easy-to-browse book, filled with memorable "family anecdotes" from one of our Founding Fathers.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this book! Very highly recommended!,
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This review is from: The Racy Memoirs of the Young Ben Franklin: Little Family Anecdotes of No Importance to Others (Paperback)
It shows a whole new view of Benjamin Franklin that I never imagined before. The "scrapes" he gets into are surprisingly contemporary, and Franklin is far from "straight-laced." This book not only gives personal and often embarrassing anecdotes of Franklin's young life until his marriage, it includes an Appendix of Franklin's "Scheme for Moral Perfection" (which he apparently felt a need for given all the trouble he got into in his young life); another Appendix with an essay that gives an overview of his entire life; and an Appendix with a Chronology giving dates of the major milestones in his life. This book is so much better than other versions of Franklin's autobiography because it's broken down into chapters, with headings for each topic or escapade that the editor has fashioned from Franklin's own words. This is a refreshing change because other versions of Franklin's autobiography are just a sea of ink that's hard to find your way through - if you don't fall asleep first! If you want an easy, fun read about Benjamin Franklin's life, you can't do better than this book! Very highly recommended.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating and Entertaining,
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This review is from: The Racy Memoirs of the Young Ben Franklin: Little Family Anecdotes of No Importance to Others (Paperback)
I found this book to be fascinating and entertaining. It was filled with well organized little tidbits that make it fun to leaf through at leisure and not necessarily read beginning to end.
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