Poor Richard's Almanac

By: Benjamin Franklin

Narrated by: Robert Bethune

The prefaces, proverbs, and poems of Benjamin Franklin, originally printed in editions of Poor Richard's Almanac for 1733 to 1758.

As Benjamin Franklin himself put it: "Courteous Listener: Besides the astronomical Calculations, and other Things usually contain’d in Almanacks, which have their daily Use indeed while the Year continues, but then become of no Value, I have constantly interspers'd moral Sentences, prudent Maxims, and wise Sayings, many of them containing much good Sense in very few Words, and therefore apt to leave strong and lasting Impressions on the Memory of young Persons, whereby they may receive Benefit as long as they live, when both Almanack and Almanac-maker have been long thrown by and forgotten. If I now and then insert a Joke or two, that seem to have little in them, my Apology is, that such may have their Use, since perhaps for their Sake light airy Minds peruse the rest, and so are struck by somewhat of more Weight and Moment. The Verses on the Heads of the Months are also design'd to have the same Tendency. I need not tell thee that many of them are of my own Making. If thou hast any Judgment in Poetry, thou wilt easily discern the Workman from the Bungler. I know as well as thee, that I am no Poet born, and it is a Trade I never learnt, nor indeed could learn. If I make Verses 't is in Spight—Of Nature and my Stars, I write. Why then should I give my Readers bad Lines of my own, when good Ones of other Peoples are so plenty? 'T is methinks a poor Excuse for the bad Entertainment of Guests that the Food we set before them, tho' coarse and ordinary, is of one's own raising, off one’s own Plantation, [etc.] when there is Plenty of what is ten times better, to be had in the Market. On the contrary, I assure ye, my Friends, that I have procur'd the best I could for ye, and much good may it do ye. I am thy poor Friend, to serve thee, Richard Saunders."

Since Ben Franklin would have been amazed at audiobooks, let these few details be added: unlike most editions of Poor Richard, this one includes essentially all of the text, not just the aphorisms and sayings. This gives you, Courteous Listener, a much better appreciation of how Franklin wrote and thought. In particular, you will find that the full body of the Poor Richard almanacs contains a great deal of religious and spiritual thought in which Franklin laid out and propounded his understanding of Christianity as it stood in his day. Last but not least, since a long parade of sayings, poems, etc., would be dull all strung together, this edition includes snippets of music between them, drawn from about four dozen Colonial-era tunes and imitating the sound of Colonial instruments such as flute, fife, lute, English guitar, music box, and harpsichord. May you enjoy it and draw benefit from it, as Ben himself would have wished!

Public Domain (P)2011 Robert Bethune

Some omissions

There were a couple times where the audio work omitted some potions of the book. One instance claimed it was because a table is boring to hear in audio form - I grant that may be true, but I've listened to it in other books and got through it.
A second instance was a reading of another authors work, I wished that hadn't been omitted. 1) The book had already read other authors accounts (Bitter Cold of Hudson Bay) and late in the book, Poor Richard admits that only 1/10 of the book was his own work, the rest being compiles from the wisdom of the ages.

There were a couple times when my iphone app hung up on a portion/section of the work. I'm not what caused it, but it was repeatable. I had to skip around to get it to work... frustrating... not sure if this is a problem with the file or the app or the phone.

There were times when the quotes repeated in different years - I'm not sure if this is bad editing on the Audio book, or the original book. There are quotes that repeat, with a twist from prior years, but specifically there are quotes interspersed that are identical.

Lastly, chapter 37 seems to be a copy from a section in the middle of the book... It wasn't introduces as a new year, it just jumped into a complete repeat of an almanac year.

I did like the Actor's voice and accent, I could imagine I was really listening to Ben Franklin. Also, the music in between the quotes and passages was a good addition... The book would have been too hard to digest as audio without them.

Intent to be good and sense of humor required

The narrator was chosen well, as he captured the playful and simultaneously sagacious spirit of the character of Richard well. The addition of the music likewise brings the listener into the simplicity of the times, and lightens the mood.

Terrible

The loud and obnoxious music is a distraction from the content. I want a refund.

lame music inbetween every quote

This book is wonderful, the voice is perfect accept for the music and sound affects. The music would fit for a book for a toddler.

Weird xylophone

The filler xylophone is so distracting it’s tough to finish the book. Very dramatic story telling but it’s tough to keep up with for sake of study

Content Good But Disappointing Production

Would you try another book from Benjamin Franklin and/or Robert Bethune?

The writings of Benjamin Franklin were very enjoyable. This production was ruined for me by the loud irritating music between each passage. I found it necessary to listen with one hand on the volume. Else the words were too soft to hear or the music so loud I would go deaf. Perhaps it would have been different if I were not using headphones. I might have tolerated or even enjoyed the music if it were not so loud.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The production was so bad I have not been able to finish it. I am talking about the very loud music between passages.

Would you be willing to try another one of Robert Bethune’s performances?

Yes I would. I presume he was not responsible for the loud music interspersed throughout the audiobook.

What character would you cut from Poor Richard's Almanac?

The musician or more likely the production audio engineer.

Any additional comments?

This is my first book from Audible that I have been truly disappointed in.

Flute

The flute is unbelievably annoying. I’m sure the content is great, but I can’t stick through it with this book.

Loud flute sounds ruined the experience for me

Was looking forward to listening to this but literally half the book is just annoying music that is way louder than the speaker!

this is unlistenable

I thought all of the bad reviews must've been over the top and didn't think it could be that bad. It is. The lutes and way it is delivered makes it nearly impossible to absorb what I'm sure is actually a worthwhile and solid book. I make it through almost every book audiobook that I get. I did not make it more than 20 minutes with this one, and that was pushing it