Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

A seventeen-year-old runaway apprentice walks into Philadelphia with three bread rolls and no prospects; he will end as a printer, inventor, scientist, and founding statesman of a new nation. Franklin tells the first part of that story himself, in plain, wry prose addressed to his son, covering the print-shop battles, the swimming tricks, the frugal schemes, the famous project of thirteen virtues by which he attempted, with charts and weekly audits, to make himself morally perfect (he reports honestly on how that went).

It is the founding document of the American self-improvement tradition, and far funnier than that description suggests: Franklin is candid about his errors, sly about his image-making, and endlessly practical. The narrative breaks off before the Revolution (history interrupted the author) which leaves you with the best part: the invention of Benjamin Franklin, by Benjamin Franklin.

At roughly 77,900 words, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin runs about 8½ hours at 1x narration speed. That figure is an estimate based on a typical narration pace. The exact length depends on the voice and the playback speed you choose.

The edition linked here is available from Project Gutenberg under its US public-domain listing. Check the edition, translation, completeness and copyright rules where you live. LoudReader lets you browse and download Gutenberg books; they are not all stored on installation. To listen:

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