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.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is in the public domain, so the complete text is free on Project Gutenberg and LoudReader has the entire Project Gutenberg catalog built in. To listen:

1. Download LoudReader for Mac or iPhone (free, no account).
2. Search for “Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” in the built-in catalog and add it to your library.
3. Press play. A natural offline voice reads the book while each word highlights on screen, and your place is saved between sessions.

LoudReader reads with natural offline voices, so the whole book works on a plane or underground. It is fully on-device and private, your library never leaves your device. Listening is unlimited on the free tier.