Inventing A Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson Audiobook

" Listening to a Gore Vidal book is kind of like listening to your incredibly smart, but aging, grandfather, who just happens to be a scholar of history...he obviously really knows his stuff, but his train of thought isn't as coherant as it used to be. Even though I learned a lot from this book, having a narrative that skipped across the decades, rather than sticking to chronological order, was distracting. The one saving grace was the humor that Mr. Vidal injects...some of his asides and personal observations on the people and events of the Revolutionary era made me laugh out loud (his one comment about "His Excellency and His Rotundity" - George Washington and John Adams - still makes me chuckle). Not a bad book at all...one of these days, I'll have to try the print version to see if I like it any better. "

" Though I often have differences with him, I've found Vidal to be a wonderful writer and thinker. Yet, I did not particularly enjoy this book. It was a bit dry and sometime dramatically dismissive of the accomplishments of some of its characters. His sometimes oddly placed political assertions also turned me off to the writing at times as well. This all being said, it was still a good brief read on the contributions of the first three Presidents of the United States. "

" What an incredibly worthless book. Vidal spends most of the book manipulating history to fit his ideals, then spends the rest complaining about how society is messed up "nowadays." I was confused as to why any renowned author would act like no one would notice that he is lying about some of the founders' motivations. Blatantly. This was the first Vidal book I read and it will certainly be the last. "

" Liked it...seemed a bit biased at points, but very good "

" Wow, it takes a special kind of writer to be able to screw up the telling of the writing of the Constitution. Gore Vidal accomplished it. This type of history is right in my wheel-house and with so many interesting things to discuss and with such great characters - any idiot should be able to make this story readable. Mr. Vidal is a special kind of idiot because this was the most disjointed, sloppy history book I have experienced. This books needs a proper editor in the worst way. There is no semblance of order. Vidal starts with talking about George Washington's income problems, before heading to a discussion on the Louisiana purchase, then somehow makes a connection to the fraction relationship between modern day Republicans and Democrats, before taking a trip to Ben Franklin's behind-the-scene role in the French Revolution, and back again to house guests at Mount Vernon. Avoid this book and pickup literally any other book about the writing of the Constitution. "

" Put a twist on my view of history forever, good or bad? "

" It wasn't very well written and there seemed to be a lot of sarcasm and references to "see how this bad choice ended up now" or other comments like that. I was not impressed. He seemed to want to point out all the bad decisions rather than the good. "

" Always fascinating to see the behind the scenes work of the building of a great nation. "

" This is an interesting read and includes a lot of fun details and astute observations, but it's difficult to deal with Gore's constant pretentious, sometimes pompous asides. Still brilliant, but his style is becoming dated to me. "

" The real risks involved and the genius of the founders "

" Vidal's condescending political commentary interrupts an otherwise enjoyable history. This is a far cry from McCullough's John Adams biography. "

" An interesting history that does not idealize the personalities. "

" I found this interesting as an exercise, to consider Vidal's views of American history. The perspective of one who is angry at America can provide provocative review of the relationships and actions of national historical figures. It is worth the short read. "

" This was very informative book. I liked it well enough. "

" Interesting but too brief. Also a bit confusing as G.V. rushed through alliances, political parties, legislation, judges, foreign politics and personal fewds. The topic would have been better served in a full-length book IMHO. "

" Interesting, but filled with what I started to think of as "vidal-isms." "

" I would have expected better proofreading from this author. Between the grammatical errors and the rambling, I could barely focus on the information being presented! "

" Phenominal book on the framers and their intentions with the constitution...I read this on a flight to San Francisco earlier this month and I thought it was amazingly interesting. "

" clever, witty, relevant. we picked this up because we so enjoyed the new HBO series on John Adams. "

" I'm not capable of well-written or even useful reviews when it comes to Gore Vidal. I love the man. "

" Put a twist on my view of history forever, good or bad? "

" Always fascinating to see the behind the scenes work of the building of a great nation. "

" You can't get better than Vidal when it comes to American history essays. Both informative and entertaining. "

" A very brief overview of the founding of the country. But the interesting part is that Vidal mainly uses letters and notes from Washington, Adams, and Jefferson to tell the story. "

" Very gossipy. Gives a feeling for what these guys might have been like as people. It's fascinating material. It had never occurred to me how much the Founding Fathers were making it up as they went along. "

" The real risks involved and the genius of the founders "

" It wasn't very well written and there seemed to be a lot of sarcasm and references to "see how this bad choice ended up now" or other comments like that. I was not impressed. He seemed to want to point out all the bad decisions rather than the good. "

" I found this interesting as an exercise, to consider Vidal's views of American history. The perspective of one who is angry at America can provide provocative review of the relationships and actions of national historical figures. It is worth the short read. "

" I don't normally enjoy history, but this writing did engage me. Must Read - 3 Well-written - 5 Important - 3 Accessible - 5 Kept My Attention - 5 "