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American Sphinx
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
National Bestseller 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, 1826); 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. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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jimfields3
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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I worry that we are drawing ever nearer to this point again. May God have mercy on us, and may we have mercy on each other!

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jimfields3
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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I can certainly understand friends and colleagues among the Founding Fathers disagreeing on ideas and policies for the Republic they created, but this book fascinated me by showing they sometimes disagreed even on the meaning of what they did.

Lynnsoprano It‘s amazing all the things they disagreed about. When I read Founding Gardeners, I learned how different Jefferson‘s ideas for DC and the White House were. 2y
jimfields3 @Lynnsoprano I‘ll have to check it that title. Reading this also gives me hope that we in 21st-Century America *might* not have fallen quite as far away from the ideals of our founding as I thought. 2y
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jimfields3
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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Pickpick

Jefferson was a complicated person, and Ellis chips away at the marble to help us examine the real person in his context. “He seemed destined by fate to end up a disappointed idealist.”

It‘s a dense book I would have edited down a little, but I highly recommend it to anyone interested in America‘s Founding Fathers, U.S. presidents, or just interesting biographies in general.

My July #doublespin is done! @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
12 likes1 comment
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all_4_kb
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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Another gem from the “to be read” bookshelf

Merry Christmas Eve!

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AshleyHoss820
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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Pickpick

Joseph Ellis strikes again! His work is readable & his writing is gorgeous. “If Hamilton came at you with the saber, Marshall preferred the stiletto.” Jefferson was a confusing man but we cannot take him out of his time and put him under our 21st century microscope. It doesn‘t work like that. This book is less a biography & more a highlight on TJ as a human being, warts & all. If you haven‘t read Ellis yet, GET TO IT! #PresidentialBiographies 3/44

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8leagueboot
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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I had the opportunity to go to Monticello this week, a goal I have had for ages. Thomas Jefferson has always fascinated me the most among all of the founding fathers. Thank you so much to our tour guide who was extremely informative and thoughtful, encouraging our tour group to confront the great paradox of Jefferson's life: the man who penned "All men are created equal" and claimed that "slavery was a moral evil" was a slave owner himself.

JoeStalksBeck Oh I love American Sphinx! #TeamTJ 7y
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elawsan
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
Panpan

I'm the kind of person who reads a biography to learn about the subject. I honestly believe that the only thing I learned from this book was the author's biases and prejudices.

I've read other books about the era, The Revolutionary War, and I have already formed opinions of who Thomas Jefferson was. I was looking for a more factual and comprehensive read.

Thoroughly disappointed in this book.

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elawsan
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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I submit for consideration, a small glimpse into Jefferson's inaugural speech.

"I shall often go wrong through defect of judgement. When right I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask for your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional; and your support against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in all its parts. "

I dig it.

Unicornlucero77 Your book reviews are gold! 👍 8y
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JoeStalksBeck
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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My most favorite man ever! I adore President Jefferson❤️

bookishkai Fun Fact: I was in Prof. Ellis' seminar on Jefferson the year he won the National Book Award. 8y
Darthdad One of my favorite books about Jefferson. I also think Thomas Jefferson the art of power does an equally good job of working through the contrasting elements of Jeffersons thinking 8y
akfreeborn A Mount Holyoke Grad? Loved this book. I'm MHC '87 8y
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akfreeborn @bookishkris See above... 8y
JoeStalksBeck @bookishkris wow! That is amazing! I would love to take that class. 8y
bookishkai @akfreeborn yes, I'm MHC '99; I believe we are both sphinxes, yes? 8y
akfreeborn @bookishkris Yes, a sphinx! I visited Monticello this summer with my family and we bought a second copy of this book in the gift shop. Ellis is a very good professor. 8y
kspenmoll Wonderful informative tours last summer at Monticello - want to read this! 8y
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joanofarkansas1
American Sphinx | Joseph J. Ellis
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❤️❤️❤️