Franklin biography, Atwood's newest

Books now read in ’07: 29
Title: Benjamin Franklin
Author: Walter Isaacson
Genre: Biography
Date Completed: 4-7
Pages: 493

Books now read in ’07: 30
Title: Moral Disorder
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction
Date Completed: 4-7
Pages: 225

Snow. In April. On the Saturday before Easter. Thus, a good day to curl up and read. Two books completed.

Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson is a serviceable biography of Franklin. Isaacson is not a bad writer, but he is no stylist. There isn’t much new here; the outlines of Franklin’s life are relatively well known. I do admit that I had no idea that his contributions in the area of electricity were so significant. It’s an enjoyable read.

Margaret Atwood’s Moral Disorder is an odd book. It’s not a novel so much as a collection of interlinked vignettes that add up to a larger story. This is not Atwood’s best work, but she is such a lyrical writer, so deft with the off-hand phrase or passage, that it is a delight to read her even when the sum doesn’t add up to much.