I loved the last chapter ... which made the whole effort truly rewarding.Now I am not a usual fan of the "cut-n-paste" nonfiction genre where we get a journalist's "best" articles or columns repurposed as a stand alone book. This dislike has its roots in my disappointment at "Boss," Mike Royko's Pulitzer Prize winning 1972 book on Mayor Richard J. Daley (the father of the present hizzonor). Not only had I read most of the columns, but viewed together -- rather than over a significant span of tim...

Most of these pieces were written while Isaacson was an editor with Time magazine. I found most of the pieces well written and was left wanting to know more. I have read his book on Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin. Isaacson writes in a clear and precise fashion. I can see that he works very hard to write in the idiom of the day and is not far from his natural oral presentation. I highly recommend hime for a quick sense for any topic - he seems to be well balanced and attempts to present the fac...

so well written...and what an array of fascinating people this man has had the good fortune to be able to study and interview...

I have read and really liked several of Isaacson's bios (Franklin, Einstein, and I have Kissinger and Steve Jobs in the TBR pile), but this essay collection didn't do much for me. Like many of the other reviewers here, I agree that essay collections can reveal writers' weaknesses and unflattering tics. It is 2021. This book was published in 2009, and many of the essays are pre-2000. Isaacson does a great job when he's writing history, but these simply felt dated. Knowing what we all know now, re...

Brilliant writing by Isaacson, as always. Most collections are top shelf, the New Orleans epilogue, finding Bill Gates, Einstein’s God, everything on Ben Franklin, to name a few. Other topics that I thought would be really interesting and was excited to read (Regan/Gorbachev, Journalism) did not appear to have the same level of storytelling or the intellectual depth. Really enjoyable read overall. Isaacson really holds up, and now I want to visit New Orleans, stay by the river and dine at Tiptin...

I listened to this book and it was more like sitting down with someone at the kitchen table and having a really intellectual conversation rather than just listening to a book. The author is a great storyteller and his writing is humorous and thoughtful and his life experiences are varied and interesting. He has interviewed so many interesting people and written about so many more, I will definitely be reading more of his work.

If you are like me, and your idea of a good Friday night is googling old Walter Isaacson columns from Time Magazine then this book is a dream come true. This is his greatest hits. There must be plenty of people like me or this book would not have been published. This book saves so much time by compiling his greatest biographical narratives (which is what he is truly good at) into one succinct place.The part that surprised me the most about my own reaction to this book was that the most difficult...

Little disappointed in this. I know it's common to reuse pieces in books like this, but *all* of them are old. This wasn't so bothersome in the pieces on, say, Gandhi, Franklin and Einstein. But the Bill Gates and Woody Allen bits were hilariously out of date. The Bill Gates piece made me LOL by referencing Netscape. OH GEE I WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN THAR. Could at least add an update at the end. Ha.

It actually pains me to have to give this 2 stars. I guess essays aren't my cup of tea. I don't know why I even bothered to finish it.

American Sketches and parallels of time American sketches is a collection of American biographer Walter Isaacson’s writing of great people and great ideas of the Americans. I was intrigued by his sketches of idealistic Regan; the brilliant communicating Bill Clinton; the genius Albert Einstein and his elegant way of integrating religious beliefs and logistical principle of science; the brainy, highly competitive and somewhat aloof Bill Gates and various movers and shakes of our highest time. The...

Another 3 1/2 star read (really would like half star gradients). Mostly a b-sides and outtakes kind of compilation, but readable. There is more than a little sense of ‘contractual obligation’ to it as well. The tech and democracy optimism are of a flavor of Fukuyama style kool-aid that didn’t age well. And if you get that joke then you’ll probably get something out of reading it. Which is my primary criteria for non-fiction.

Mostly good - quite self-congratulatory. Felt like a money grab on Isaacson's part - hastily bundled together essays / articles, few of which got particularly deep into the subject matter. All the Kissinger selections were repetitive.Separate note - These types of collections need to clearly show the date the article/essay was initially published. That context is essential to reading the various pieces.

I guess Isaacson had to call this book "American" sketches because "Fawning Portraits of Rich White Men" wouldn't sell as well. Oh, there's a review of Hilary Clinton's autobiography thrown in for diversity, but as with most things written about her, it's mostly about her husband. Even the day-in-the-life sketch of Madeline Albright is mostly about Bill Clinton. The intro is 20 pages of Isaacson trying to convince us that, despite being a Harvard white man and a Rhodes Scholar who wrote for the

I think Isaacson is lucky in finding his calling early in life in that he wanted to be some sort of writer. Although his interest in people did not make him a stellar reporter, it did allow him to be CEO of CNN and the Aspen group because of his knack with people.I think he saw the future when the Berlin wall came down that totalitarian regimes cannot survive the information age. But at the same time it is interesting how he is both threatened and senses an opportunity in how technology will eff...

Very soothing and relaxing to listen too as you are driving. Cotter Smith does a wonderful job in the narration. He reads with such warmth and conviction that it would be easy to mistake him as the author himself!This book is more of a collection of essays, where Walter Isaacson reflects on lessons to be learned from Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, and others he has written about earlier both

I was appalled at the inability of the author to separate his political ideology from the historical work that he normally does in his books. That inability to separate the two is what true journalism is, what good historical writing is. This book is neither good journalism, nor a good work of history. I am a bit shocked, because I've read some of his other work, and didn't find them so tainted. Perhaps I misunderstood, and this book is more of a commentary than an offering of history.Honestly,

Walter Isaacson is one of my favorite biographers. I’ve read his Einstein, Jobs and Franklin bios. I’m currently reading Da Vinci. He has a clear way of presenting his subjects and delves deep not only into life details but the things about the person that proves his thesis: genius is not just about intelligence but about creative thinking. He picks out examples and situations that led the subject to make a mental leap that no one else did (or possibly could) and that is what makes these histori...

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A collection of profiles written by Walter Isaacson of famous Americans - ranges from entertaining to archaic, while being mildly repetitive. Isaacson's own reflections on journalism and post-Katrina New Orleans were probably the two best chapters. The book was worth reading for those 2 chapters. Walter Isaacson's treatment is decidedly judgmental and he does not even notice that nearly all the leaders/thinkers/heroes he covers are men. Indeed, while arguing who should be named "man of the 20th

I started this book with high hopes years ago. Earlier in 2022, when I saw that I'd never finished it, I wondered why. With no recollection of what I'd read, I began "American Sketches" again. I quickly understood why I'd not been able to finish it, nor recall what I'd read. Isaacson writes in a style that seems to make things about himself. For a credentialed journalist and editor, this man's perspective seems fairly narrow and his prose strives for wisdom or insight but rarely achieves it. The...