Sample
  • Ben & Me

  • In Search of a Founder's Formula for a Long and Useful Life
  • By: Eric Weiner
  • Narrated by: Eric Weiner
  • Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)

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Ben & Me  By  cover art

Ben & Me

By: Eric Weiner
Narrated by: Eric Weiner
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Publisher's summary

New York Times bestselling author Eric Weiner follows in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin, mining his life for inspiring and practical lessons in a book that’s part biography, part travelogue, part personal prescription.

Ben Franklin lingers in our lives and in our imaginations. One of only two non-presidents to appear on US currency, Franklin was a founder, statesman, scientist, inventor, diplomat, publisher, humorist, and philosopher. He believed in the American experiment, but Ben Franklin’s greatest experiment was…Ben Franklin. In that spirit of betterment, Eric Weiner embarks on an ambitious quest to live the way Ben lived.

Not a conventional biography, Ben & Me is a guide to living and thinking well, as Ben Franklin did. It is also about curiosity, diligence, and, most of all, the elusive goal of self-improvement. As Weiner follows Franklin from Philadelphia to Paris, Boston to London, he attempts to uncover Ben’s life lessons, large and small. We learn how to improve a relationship with someone by inducing them to do a favor for you—a psychological phenomenon now known as The Ben Franklin Effect. We learn about the printing press (the Internet of its day), early medicine, diplomatic intrigue and, of course, electricity. And we learn about ethics, persuasion, humor, regret, appetite, and so much more.

At a time when history is either neglected or contested, Weiner argues we have much to learn from the past and that we’d all be better off if we acted and thought a bit more like Ben did, even if he didn’t always live up to his own high ideals. Engaging, smart, moving, quirky, Ben & Me distills the essence of Franklin’s ideas into grounded, practical wisdom for all of us.

©2024 Eric Weiner (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

What listeners say about Ben & Me

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Ben & Me & Me

As a Franklin enthusiast, I am always interested in anything related to Benjamin Franklin, and Ben & Me delivered on its promises.

Eric Weiner does an excellent job of maintaining a narrative flow while juxtaposing anecdotes from Franklin’s life with those of a 21st-century American. He skillfully crafts his language in Franklin’s witty and charming style, creating a parallel narrative that resonates with me and others like me.

While the book could be more concise, as many books could be, it provides a useful and enjoyable journey with Ben Franklin that flows swimmingly.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It really brought this historical figure to life for me.

it was a great pleasure to learn about Ben Franklin and all of the great adventures and misadventures that made up his life.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Terrible squeaky voice

Dissapointed in the annoying voice. Ben was a master, and I am so disappointed this is was not well represented.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Annoying voice

The story was boring as well two pegs down from Socrates express, and a downgrade from his previous titles.

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