A Great Improvisation

Franklin, France, and the Birth of America

By: Stacy Schiff

Narrated by: Susan Denaker

In this dazzling work of history, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author follows Benjamin Franklin to France for the crowning achievement of his career.

"In December of 1776 a small boat delivered an old man to France." So begins an enthralling narrative account of how Benjamin Franklin - 70 years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French - convinced France, an absolute monarchy, to underwrite America's experiment in democracy.

When Franklin stepped onto French soil, he well understood he was embarking on the greatest gamble of his career. By virtue of fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers, and hostile colleagues; engineered the Franco-American alliance of l778; and helped to negotiate the peace of l783. The eight-year French mission stands not only as Franklin's most vital service to his country but as the most revealing of the man.

In A Great Improvisation, Stacy Schiff draws from new and little-known sources to illuminate the least-explored part of Franklin's life. Here is an unfamiliar, unforgettable chapter of the Revolution, a rousing tale of American infighting, and the treacherous backroom dealings at Versailles that would propel George Washington from near decimation at Valley Forge to victory at Yorktown. From this audiobook emerges a particularly human and yet fiercely determined Founding Father, as well as a profound sense of how fragile, improvisational, and international was our country's bid for independence.

©2006 Stacy Schiff (P)2012 Random House Audio

no stated chapter breaks

Clarity of enunciation, but repeated lines. When the narrator corrects a line, many times the previous line with error is not edited out of the audio, which makes for an odd, deja vu listening experience. Next, there are no breaks. Chapters flow continuously. Would be better to announce "chapter 25" than to omit. Would be even better had the author taken time to title the chapters or sections. Perhaps she has done so, but the Audible format omits them. Poor.

Benjamin Franklin’s character was very well drawn.

Hard to discern the years with few mentions, and the offices of the various Frenchmen. An excellent revelation of Franklin’s French role in the American war of independence.

Great with one editing request

There are many places where the narrator repeats a sentence twice. It would be easy to edit this. Otherwise, a great book and presentation!

Incredible story that is forgotten far more than it should be. Excellent writing and performance.

Incredible story that is forgotten far more than it should be. Excellent writing and performance.

Exquisite book

Great book written with a perfect use of language and impressive composition. It’s not just a biography but a work of art. I enjoyed the performance and content with profound admiration to the author.

Not Bad

If you listened to this title you understand this review. If you listened to this title you understand this review.

Very Entertaining

It’s takes many books to get grip on Franklin and his times, and some are tedious. This book undresses everybody it meets…which is refreshing and often humorous. Highly recommended. Narration is better than average, though slightly overdone to my ears. But I’m sensitive ;)

Enticing Title...Convoluted Story

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I'm not sure. I found the prose to be overly pretentious. There was much use of "big" words, e.g., disingenuous, duplicitous, etc. Not that I or anyone who would be attracted to this book would not know them, but unnecessary and less direct than simpler language.

If you’ve listened to books by Stacy Schiff before, how does this one compare?

I loved Cleopatra, a Life, and felt that it gave me great insight into the times in which she lived, and, more importantly, insight into the connections between characters (Plutarch, Augustus, etc.) whose names were familiar to me.

Would you be willing to try another one of Susan Denaker’s performances?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I was disappointed that the book seemed so pretentious and that it was disjointed due to the fact that it jumped forward and backward in time and was difficult to know "when" we were in the narrative.

Multiple repeated clips on the recording.

Story is meandering and often unclear. It goes into too little detail at times and too much detail without supporting context at others.

Good narration and writing, poor editing

I bought this bought having watched the Apple TV series Franklin. The writing style is great as is the performance but the editing is poor, or perhaps they forgot to edit altogether? Several lines are repeated as others have stated and the “Chapter” markers do not match up in any way to the actual chapter breaks - for example the announced Chapter 5 is somewhere around Audible Chapter 20. Made for a difficult listen and I did not finish it.