American Sketches is an audiobook by Walter Isaacson, narrated by Cotter Smith. The unabridged Audible edition runs 9 hrs 26 mins.
Publisher’s Summary
One of America’s most versatile writers, author of bestselling biographies such as Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin, has assembled a gallery of portraits of (mostly) Americans that celebreate genius, talent, and versatility, and traces his own education as a writer and biographer.
In this collection of essays, the brilliant, acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacson reflects on lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, and other interesting characters he has chronicled both as biographer and journalist. The people he writes about have an awesome intelligence, but that is not the secret to their success. They had qualities that were even more rare, such as imagination and true curiousity.
Isaacson also reflects on how he became a writer, the lessons he learned from various people he met, and the challenges for journalism in the digital age.
He also offers loving tributes to his hometown of New Orleans, which offers many of the ingredients for a creative culture, and to the Louisiana novelist Walker Percy, who was an early mentor. In an anecdotal and personal way, Isaacson describes the joys of writing and the way that tales about the lives of fascinating people can enlighten our own lives.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 9 hrs 26 mins
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Release year: 2009
- Audible category: Biographies & Memoirs / History / Americas
Listener Ratings
American Sketches holds an average listener rating of 4.1/5 from 244 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.4/5
- Story: 4.2/5
- 5-star ratings: 47% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
4/5 stars — “Great Overview of Different Interesting People”
Short reviews of many interesting people. He weaves the stories in coherent way. It is a compilation of Isaacson writings in TIME Magazine. He does a good job linking them and is honest about the source of the stories. You end the book learning few things about many people.— Ricardo Ernst, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Best book ever”
But it makes you realize how insignificant you are. <br/>You can get through this book. I did. <br/><br/>It caused me to have tons of emotional reactions. Such a great read— Gilbert J. Bradshaw, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Isaacson about his favorites and himself too!”
Isaacson about his favorites and himself too! Great narrative and inspiring characters! Really worth listening.— Marcela Caruso, Audible listener
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