American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson,   ISBN:9780679764410

Customer Rating: 

I rather enjoyed this book. First of all, it wasn't long! In the amount of pages that it used, Ellis' did a great job of giving us a good idea of what made Jefferson who he was. Since Jefferson was a complete enigma (internally) in nearly every facet of his life, it probably wasn't easy for the author to come to some sort of conclusion about him. Ellis gave us the good and bad about Jefferson, allowing us to make up our minds about him and not letting the author's feelings on the subject cloud our unbiased viewpoint. The more I read about the presidents, the more I find this truly remarkable.
On the other hand, I had some issues with this work This may sound silly but he used the word "dichotomies" like one million times. Actually it was more like 10 times but in a 300 page book that word sticks out a mile and it bothered me that he continued to use it over and over again. Also if you plan on reading this book in the future, be aware that it is mainly a character study of Jefferson and not a simple biography. Since the book is character-based, Ellis can kind of pick and choose what aspects of Jefferson he wishes to discuss. For example, Ellis spends a whole chapter on Jefferson's first term of the presidency (which was a relatively good time for Jefferson) and then barely mentions his second term, a disaster for Jefferson. Now I don't think that Ellis did this because he loves Jefferson so much that he is willing to smudge the facts but I do think that maybe he didn't want to dwell on the second term and its effect on Jefferson character. As an unbiased reader, however, I would like to hear more about Jefferson's second term, good or not. It was, after all, an extension of Jefferson's policies and of himself.
In the end, though, I don't hate Jefferson as much as I used to. Although he was born to privilege and had a relatively cushy life, even during a national revolution and multiple disturbances, I think that he didn't have it easy at all. During Jefferson's lifetime, there was a strict code of conduct operating in Virginia and it left little room for error or, even, controversy of any kind. Southern gentlemen were held to a very high level of behavior that produced extreme indebtedness, enabling of disrespectable family members or friends, secrecy, double standards, and polite backstabbing. At that time, you did not talk about your problems and by all means, you had to prove that you were a propertied man, even if that meant going into debt. You were not allowed to show emotion or stoop to telling people what you actually wanted, thus you had to use backhanded channels of acquiring things (or of being elected.) If there was a black sheep in the family, it was up to you to save them, even if they got worse and worse; it was your responsibility.
It's easy to see how Jefferson turned out the way he did. There was much personal tragedy in his life, starting with the death of his mother and weaving its way through the loss of his wife and all of his children but one. He practically began life in debt because that was what you did to uphold public opinion. He had slaves because they were always there and he tried to make the United States into a viable country because he was well-read enough to realize it could be done. Most of Jefferson's delusions are a direct result of his upbringing--it was the only way he could bear life. The ultimate tragedy here though was that Jefferson bought into the southern way of life and remained an adherent to it even to the end when he had to sell his beloved Monticello.

Customer Rating: 

I thought the book was very good. It separates the myth from the man. The author does a good job of trying to explain the thought process of Jefferson as he dealt with issues on which he seemed to take positions on both sides such as slavery. We also know about his personal life and this man was truly a spent-thrift leaving nothing for his heirs and forcing the auction of Monticello after his death. Jefferson did not want to be remembered as president or primary author of the Declaration of Independence but the Founder of the University of Virgina.

If you think politics are messy today, his battles with the Federalists were fierce and as loud as the ones we hear today on CNN or C-Span.

The author also updated this edition of the book to present updated DNA evidence that verfies that Mr. Jefferson indeed fathered several and perhaps all of Sally Hemming's (his slave) children. Modern DNA testing verfied this from the samples taken from Sally's descendents.

Customer Rating: 

This biography is very readable, yet it glosses over fundamentally complex matters, or simply does not refer to them at all (such as Jefferson's reactions to the French Revolution). I recommend it to the arm chair historian, or a book to meander over whilst sitting lazily on a beach. More serious readers will be disappointed, not least with the frustrating tendency of Ellis (and other american historians lest I demonize just him) to label certain facets of Jefferson as typically Jeffersonian, a wholly academically redundant exercise because of course Jefferson was Jeffersonian! This is so patently obvious that it appears "self evident" to use the founding father's favourite term. Just like you are you, and me myself, so was Jefferson Jeffersonian.... It might seem a pedantic quibble, but this useless phrase is repeated so frequently that the initial friction caused rapidly escalates until one is left questioning the very utility of the book at all. Even worse, it feels rushed and disappointingly unacademic considering the author's scholarly credentials. Add to this half backed conjecture that pollutes many chapters and an unhealthy dose of intellectually uninspired metaphors. The net result is a mishap of a book, a premature baby that should have been aborted.

Customer Rating: 

This was an alright book. I was looking forward to reading an in depth look at the life of Jefferson which this book did not fulfill. It was a very generalized story.

Maybe worth a rental if you have read everything else.

Customer Rating: 

It's nice to be surprised by a book, and such was the case with this one. Rather than another description of the life and times of the statuesque Jefferson, Ellis peels back the layers of the onion, as best as can be done, to give us a glimpse of the complex thoughts, inherent contradictions, and eccentric nature of Thomas Jefferson. I have always highly regarded Jefferson, but this was the first time I felt connected to him and actually developed a fondness for him. A thorough, thought provoking, and enjoyable read, and a great addition to any Founding Fathers library.