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American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Library Edition
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| Item Number |
1068367 |
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Item Description...
Product Description
For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight--and not only during his active political career. After 1809, his longed-for retirement was compromised by a steady stream of guests and tourists who made of his estate at Monticello a virtual hotel, as well as by more than one thousand letters per year, most from strangers, which he insisted on answering personally. In his twilight years Jefferson was already taking on the luster of a national icon, which was polished off by his auspicious death (on July 4, 1896); and in the subsequent seventeen decades of his celebrity--now verging, thanks to virulent revisionists and television documentaries, on notoriety--has been inflated beyond recognition of the original person.
For the historian Joseph J. Ellis, the experience of writing about Jefferson was "as if a pathologist, just about to begin an autopsy, has discovered that the body on the operating table was still breathing." In American Sphinx, Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams." For, at the grass roots, Jefferson is no longer liberal or conservative, agrarian or industrialist, pro- or anti-slavery, privileged or populist. He is all things to all people. His own obliviousness to incompatible convictions within himself (which left him deaf to most forms of irony) has leaked out into the world at large--a world determined to idolize him despite his foibles.
From Ellis we learn that Jefferson sang incessantly under his breath; that he delivered only two public speeches in eight years as president, while spending ten hours a day at his writing desk; that sometimes his political sensibilities collided with his domestic agenda, as when he ordered an expensive piano from London during a boycott (and pledged to "keep it in storage"). We see him relishing such projects as the nailery at Monticello that allowed him to interact with his slaves more palatably, as pseudo-employer to pseudo-employees. We grow convinced that he preferred to meet his lovers in the rarefied region of his mind rather than in the actual bedchamber. We watch him exhibiting both great depth and great shallowness, combining massive learning with extraordinary navet, piercing insights with self-deception on the grandest scale. We understand why we should neither beatify him nor consign him to the rubbish heap of history, though we are by no means required to stop loving him. He is Thomas Jefferson, after all--our very own sphinx.
Outline Review
Well timed to coincide with Ken Burns's documentary (on which the author served as a consultant), this new biography doesn't aim to displace the many massive tomes about America's third president that already weigh down bookshelves. Instead, as suggested by the subtitle--"The Character of Thomas Jefferson"--Ellis searches for the "living, breathing person" underneath the icon and tries to elucidate his actual beliefs. Jefferson's most ardent admirers may find this perspective too critical, but Ellis's portrait of a complex, sometimes devious man who both sought and abhorred power has the ring of truth.
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Item Specifications...
Binding MP3 CD
ISBN 1441717560
EAN 9781441717566
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Availability 1 units.
Availability accurate as of May 30, 2012 04:39.
Usually ships within one to two business days from La Vergne, TN.
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More About Susan O'Malley Joseph J. Ellis
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | light on scholarship, heavy on soppy metaphors Dec 18, 2009 |
| This biography is very readable, yet it glosses over fundamentally complex matters, or simply does not refer to them at all (such as Jefferson's reactions to the French Revolution). I recommend it to the arm chair historian, or a book to meander over whilst sitting lazily on a beach. More serious readers will be disappointed, not least with the frustrating tendency of Ellis (and other american historians lest I demonize just him) to label certain facets of Jefferson as typically Jeffersonian, a wholly academically redundant exercise because of course Jefferson was Jeffersonian! This is so patently obvious that it appears "self evident" to use the founding father's favourite term. Just like you are you, and me myself, so was Jefferson Jeffersonian.... It might seem a pedantic quibble, but this useless phrase is repeated so frequently that the initial friction caused rapidly escalates until one is left questioning the very utility of the book at all. Even worse, it feels rushed and disappointingly unacademic considering the author's scholarly credentials. Add to this half backed conjecture that pollutes many chapters and an unhealthy dose of intellectually uninspired metaphors. The net result is a mishap of a book, a premature baby that should have been aborted. | | |  | It was alright Nov 30, 2009 |
This was an alright book. I was looking forward to reading an in depth look at the life of Jefferson which this book did not fulfill. It was a very generalized story.
Maybe worth a rental if you have read everything else. | | |  | Ellis deconstructs Jefferson - enjoyable and illuminating Nov 24, 2009 |
| It's nice to be surprised by a book, and such was the case with this one. Rather than another description of the life and times of the statuesque Jefferson, Ellis peels back the layers of the onion, as best as can be done, to give us a glimpse of the complex thoughts, inherent contradictions, and eccentric nature of Thomas Jefferson. I have always highly regarded Jefferson, but this was the first time I felt connected to him and actually developed a fondness for him. A thorough, thought provoking, and enjoyable read, and a great addition to any Founding Fathers library. | | | | Not as boring as you might as expect Sep 23, 2009 |
This book, about Thomas Jefferson, was really interesting and clearly written for a layperson, although it didn't condescend, either. Although he's one of the more popular American presidents, most people only know two facts about Jefferson: that he wrote the Declaration of Independence and that he had an affair with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings, so Ellis decided to write a book discussing some of the major events in Jefferson's life, what we can learn about his character from those events, and what his legacy is.
The book was interesting and even managed to be pretty humorous in parts, which is sometimes difficult for history books. | | |  | THE COMPLETE JEFFERSON Sep 12, 2009 |
I found this book to be fascinating and it gave insight into the character and dichotomy in many people's favorite "founding father/" It explores Jefferson's friendships with many historical and obscure figures. The research done for this volume is amazing. You really need to read the book with 2 bookmarks...........one from where you are reading and the other for the extensive footnotes.
I recommend this highly for anyone who is intrigued by this amazing man who we all think we know, but do not. | | | Write your own review about American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Library Edition
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