American Sphinx
by Joseph J. Ellis
Jefferson's character: the idealist who owned slaves, the democrat who lived like an aristocrat, the author of the Declaration who could not balance his accounts. Ellis's National Book Award winner and the best study of a contradiction.
Read it if…
you want to understand how a person holds contradictory ideals.
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Skip it if…
you want a hero.
Try instead: To America →
Three things you will actually use
- Ideals and practice can diverge for a lifetime.
- Self-deception is the sphinx's riddle.
- Judge the words and the life separately, then together.
Do this first
Read the chapter on Monticello.
Our verdict
A contradiction, studied.
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Compare with other Character books
Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War
Bob Greene · Character
Fathers and duty.
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