American Sketches

Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane

By: Walter Isaacson

Narrated by: Cotter Smith

What are the roots of creativity? What makes for great leadership? How do influential people end up rippling the surface of history?

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 and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and various other interesting characters he has chronicled as a biographer and journalist.

The people he writes about have an awesome intelligence, in most cases, but that is not the secret of their success. They had qualities that were even more rare, such as imagination and true curiosity.

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 also offers loving 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. In an anecdotal and personal way, Isaacson describes the joys of the "so-called writing life" and the way that tales about the lives of fascinating people can enlighten our own lives.

©2009 Walter Isaacson (P)2009 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Great Overview of Different Interesting People

What did you love best about American Sketches?

Short reviews of many interesting people.

What did you like best about this story?

He weaves the stories in coherent way.

Any additional comments?

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.

Isaacson about his favorites and himself too!

Isaacson about his favorites and himself too! Great narrative and inspiring characters! Really worth listening.

Very interesting read and phenomenal narration

The narrator, Cotter Smith, keeps you engaged throughout the entire book. He could make the iTunes user agreement sound interesting.

I am a big fan of Walter Isaacson and this book is a great way to dive into more of his writing and learn about many subjects in a short amount of time per subject. Each individual explored in the book is approx. 45 minutes and very interesting.

I will be recommending this book to friends.

Captivating and Inspiring

Each profile I listened to taught me so much about the person, the time she or he lived, her or his struggles and triumphs, and about the people and subjects they knew. The writing is personal and insightful. Walter Issacson and Hampton Sides are my favorite writers now!!

Best book ever

But it makes you realize how insignificant you are.
You can get through this book. I did.

It caused me to have tons of emotional reactions. Such a great read

Must Read for American History Buffs

Isaacson takes the reader on a journey through American history, masterfully weaving his own perspective on historical and contemporary issues. While some of the tales were repetitions of his prior books, the new commentary carried insights that Isaacson was reluctant to share in previous works. Somewhat serendipitously, readers may find clarity and understanding in some of today's more contentious political and social quandaries, making the work that much more impactful.

Great history of amazing people

lamazing people. in to a group of amazingvpeople. So interesting, I read it twice. outstanding!!

Enjoyable and Insightful - Get it

After enjoying each of Isaacson's Einstein, Jobs and Franklin biographies, I decided to get this audiobook. I was concerned there would be a lot of repeat material, but there is not much really.

This is an enjoyable book. It is told as a story, you don't feel like you are listening to chapters of discrete information. The stories are interesting, relevant and educational.

The last third of the book includes a random interview with Woody Allen about his affair with his stepdaughter and then a section on the future of publishing. Both chapters feel out of place completely, I have no idea why the author or the published would include them here. But, since the first two thirds were excellent, I will give them this one chance.

Worth a listen.

Catered to an audience who has never read a biography by Isaacson. Emphasizing the narrative that there is good in the world and all people can unite upon coming ground and make the world a better place. that it is the individuality of people great and small who strive to do good that in turn cultivate us all.

informative without going to in depth. not too wordy and delved deeper into those great individuals who needed a little more coverage- those including Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein to name a few.

Refreshing, inspiring and not too boring. If you are looking to gain a better insight into a handful of great men and women who helped make this world a better place, take the time to listen.

if you have already read any of Isaacson's other books, just know he will cover a lot of the same material, so maybe skip the chapter/chapters that reference that individual whom you have already read up on.

The variety of sketches.

Recognition of the giants of the American experiment. Especially those who did not make page 1.