Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson shows how the
In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character—available on Encore at a great low price!Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constit
Drawn from the work of StoryCorps, the largest and most ambitious private oral history project in American history, comes this tapestry of the stories Americans have been sharing from their lives to l
A "vivid and devastating" (The New York Times) portrait of an indomitable girl--from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliott "From its first indelible pages to its rich and startling conclusion, Invisible Child had me, by turns, stricken, inspired, outraged, illuminated, in tears, and hungering for reimmersion in its Dickensian depths."--Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland ElegiesONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Atlantic, The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Library Journal In Invisible Child, Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani, a girl whose imagination is as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn shelter. In this sweeping narrative, Elliott weaves the story of Dasani's childhood with the history of her ancestors, tracing their passage from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani comes of age, New York City's homeless crisis has exploded, deepe
Muslims are required by their faith to perform prayers five times a day, preceded by a cleansing ritual and followed by physical prostrations facing Mecca. In a society not always understanding or accepting of these practices, how do Muslims navigate this ritualistic obligation? In this book, Rose Aslan seeks to answer this question and explores the complexities of maintaining devout Islamic rituals in post-9/11 America. Drawing on an original survey of 350 Muslims as well as examining literature, poetry, film, TV shows, and social media posts, Muslim Prayer in American Public Life provides an in-depth examination of the lived experiences of Muslim prayer practices in the United States today. It explores the various ways Muslims seek to navigate their ritual obligations within a predominantly secular society and the diverse challenges they confront regarding prayer in public settings such as schools, workplaces, media representations, religious debates, and protest movements. Aslan sho
From the beloved author of Mona in the Promised Land and The Love Wife comes this comic masterpiece, an insightful novel of immigrants experiencing the triumphs and trials of American life. Gish Jen
