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American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane Audiobook
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(3.01) - 238 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
By the author of the bestselling biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, a reflection on: What are the roots of creativity? What makes for great leadership?
In this collection of essays, Walter Isaacson reflects on the lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and various other larger-than-life characters he has chronicled as a biographer and a journalist.
Isaacson reflects on how he became a writer, the lessons he learned from various people he met, and the challenges he sees for journalism in the digital age. He offers living tributes to his hometown of New Orleans, which both before and after Hurricane Katrina offered many of the ingredients for a creative culture, and to the Louisiana novelist Walker Percy, who was an early mentor.
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"Interesting short bio of people like Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton and many others. Kind of like a book of short stories, but the stories are bios of interesting people. Isaacson is a great writers (same guy who wrote the Steve Jobs book)."
— Gary (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Unpretentious wisdom.”
— Barnes & Noble review -
“A compelling, highly readable collection of fresh perspectives on some of the most significant names in American history.”
— Kirkus Reviews
American Sketches Listener Reviews
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" It was O.K. The book is essentially a collection of editorials that Mr. Isaacson has written over his career. I found a few to be very insightful. Several were somewhat informative. And a few were... blah...blah...blah. All in all a mixed bag, very uneven. "
— Scott, 8/8/2013 -
" This book repeats itself a bit. It's a collection of articles, and it doesn't seem like any effort was made to make it readable from cover to cover, other than that it is full of great stuff, and worth reading. "
— Steven, 7/8/2013 -
" An APL Recycled Reads find. I have read all of this biographies and really enjoyed his ability to bring a historic figure to life. This collection of previously written Time pieces did not do any thing for me. It was a chore to read. I should have taken a cue from my Granddaughter and put it down. "
— Michael, 5/13/2013 -
" Collection of essays, repetitious at times, but still insightful. "
— Jack, 2/20/2013 -
" Really interesting. I was especially interested in Isaacson's discussion of different types of intelligences as he talked about Bill Clinton and then Bill Gates. "
— Lyndsey, 1/4/2013 -
" There was many parts of the books of liberal bias. The last part was much better than the political characters. "
— Gus, 8/16/2012 -
" Can't say I disliked this book, can't say I liked it. It was a collection of his articles from his time at Time. They just didn't go into the type of detail I prefer. I'll still read his other couple of books but I'll be more careful about what I pick. "
— Jim, 5/1/2012 -
" Short biographical essays on the founding fathers, Reagan/Gorbachev, and Einstein. Not bad, really "
— Beverly, 2/4/2012 -
" so well written...and what an array of fascinating people this man has had the good fortune to be able to study and interview... "
— Julianabadescu, 11/16/2011 -
" Articles were of varying interest. Read through several and skimmed the ones with more of a political focus. "
— Julie, 8/11/2011 -
" This book wasn't at all what I had hoped it would be. Had I read the jacket a bit more carefully, I would have realized this work is merely a collection of previously published essays that would likely share no in depth insight on the people mentioned. The fault is mine. "
— Fred, 7/27/2011 -
" Some very interesting segments about influential people of the 20th century. The introduction is great; well written. "
— Caroline, 6/1/2011 -
" Short biographical essays on the founding fathers, Reagan/Gorbachev, and Einstein. Not bad, really "
— Beverly, 3/31/2011 -
" <br/><br/>Some very interesting segments about influential people of the 20th century. The introduction is great; well written. "
— Caroline, 3/1/2011 -
" Really interesting. I was especially interested in Isaacson's discussion of different types of intelligences as he talked about Bill Clinton and then Bill Gates. <br/><br/> "
— Lyndsey, 10/25/2010 -
" Collection of essays, repetitious at times, but still insightful. "
— Jack, 6/2/2010 -
" Articles were of varying interest. Read through several and skimmed the ones with more of a political focus. "
— Julie, 1/18/2010 -
" It was O.K. The book is essentially a collection of editorials that Mr. Isaacson has written over his career. I found a few to be very insightful. Several were somewhat informative. And a few were... blah...blah...blah. All in all a mixed bag, very uneven. "
— Scott, 12/28/2009
About Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson is the author of highly acclaimed works of nonfiction, including several biographies that have made the #1 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list. A professor of history at Tulane University, he has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu.
About Cotter Smith
Cotter Smith is an American actor of stage, film, and television. As an audiobook narrator, he has won two Earphones Awards and was a finalist in 1997 for the prestigious Audie Award.