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Ben & Me: In Search of a Founder’s Formula for a Long and Useful Life Audio CD – Unabridged, June 11, 2024
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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.
Not a conventional biography, Ben & Me is a guide to living and thinking well, as Ben Franklin did. It is also about curiosity, diligence, 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, quirky, Ben & Me distills the essence of Franklin’s ideas into grounded, practical wisdom for all of us.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBlackstone Pub
- Publication dateJune 11, 2024
- Dimensions5.8 x 1.1 x 5.6 inches
- ISBN-101797178296
- ISBN-13978-1797178295
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Product details
- Publisher : Blackstone Pub; Unabridged edition (June 11, 2024)
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1797178296
- ISBN-13 : 978-1797178295
- Item Weight : 6.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.8 x 1.1 x 5.6 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,354,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,074 in American Revolution Biographies (Books)
- #2,692 in Travel Writing Reference
- #3,203 in U.S. Revolution & Founding History
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Eric Weiner is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius, as well as the critically acclaimed Man Seeks God and, his latest book, The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers. A former foreign correspondent for NPR, he has reported from more than three dozen countries. His work has appeared in the New Republic, The Atlantic, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, and the anthology "Best American Travel Writing." He lives in Silver Spring, MD with his wife and daughter. For more information, visit: www.ericweinerbooks.com
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Originally, Weiner’s editor suggested he do his next book on aliens and a UFO encounter, but, ironically, it was the initial research on aliens that led Weiner to the unlikely topic of Franklin, since Franklin himself entertained the idea of a “chorus of worlds.” Choosing then to explore more about Franklin, Weiner became convinced that, whom he called the “least dead” of all the founding fathers, was the more intriguing topic to write about. Weiner presents Franklin in a holistic way, never avoiding the more fraught aspects of his life, including racism, slaveholding, and, at times, the lack of support for wife and son. Asking how a man can still be considered great while holding slaves and refusing to forgive his own son for being a loyalist, Weiner navigates these murky waters instead of avoiding them. While he was never soft on Ben for his apparent failures, he helps the reader understand how we have our blind spots in the times in which we each live—not justifying or excusing it but seeking instead some perspective.
If history books can seem stodgy to some; if self-help books elicit eye-rolls from most; if personal confessional books seem like so much navel-gazing to others, then this book successfully pulls off the unlikely task of intertwining all three. Ben and Me, is a testament to life and to death and to doing each as well as possible in our short time on earth. Weiner is no sentimentalist. His impressive research is done very much old-school in the best traditions of travel, interviews, experiencing with his senses first hand to supplement the more mundane digital digging for information.
Those familiar with Weiner’s works know he always approaches subjects as part travelogue and as such takes the reader along on the journey. This is no exception, and Weiner succeeds in presenting the past as the “foreign country” that is also part of the present. In the most vivid sense he brings to mind Faulkner’s paradoxical words, “The past is never dead. It’s not even the past.” In a time when we most need to be buoyed-up by the best of our past as Americans, Weiner delights us with his latest book that has both inspired and delighted me, reminding me that there is hope even in dismal times.
"Ben and Me" is the perfect book to read this summer by the pool or in my case on the mountain. For four years, Eric (sometimes with his wife and daughter) followed Franklin's path from Boston to Philadelphia (Franklin would not be Franklin without Philly; Philly would not be Philly without Franklin), London and to France where he served as commissioner for the United States, living in Passy just outside of Paris. The book traces Ben's life from his early childhood to his death at the age of 84 in 1790. Yet, as a reader, you are not just reading about the past but rather you have the sense you are in the present traveling and seeing how the various locations that Ben either lived or visited have changed. It was so interesting to learn how greatly Ben is admired throughout Europe. In the book, Eric describes Ben's evolution from a printer apprentice, to journalist, author, inventor, public servant and Founding Father, the only Founder to have signed all four of the critical documents establishing the United States. Beyond learning about Ben's life, there are important lessons about how we can live today a better life by following what Eric describes as Franklin's five indispensable life strategies such as What good shall I do this day? and What good have I done today? What I learned here went beyond what you might see in some MBA management textbook! And, spoiler alert, younger Ben was athletic and loved recreational swimming which was certainly not the norm.
The narrative is exceptionally well-written, capturing the essence of Franklin's innovative and rebellious spirit. Additionally, the audiobook version enhances the experience, making it an enjoyable and entertaining listen. Overall, "Ben & Me" offers a fresh perspective on one of history's most fascinating figures, blending historical insight with modern-day reflections.