Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson, Simon and Schuster, $30, ISBN 0684807610
Bolt of Fate by Tom Tucker, Public Affairs, $25, ISBN 1891620703
THE author of Benjamin Franklin: An American life draws his readers鈥� attention to something amiss with Benjamin West鈥檚 painting Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky. This depiction of the lightning snatcher out in a storm in the summer of 1752, says Walter Isaacson, 鈥渕istakenly shows a wrinkled sage, rather than a lively 46-year-old鈥︹�� Tom Tucker, author of Bolt of Fate, goes even further in his account of this quintessential event in American history. He suggests Franklin never flew the kite at all.
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Hero or hoaxer? And if hoaxer, how does that discredit the story of the boy from Boston who started out skimming rendered tallow in his father鈥檚 candle and soap shop, and ended up dining with kings and pictured on dollar bills? In Bolt of Fate, Tucker suggests that the episode with the kite was but one of many performances staged to charm the Americans and the French in the fight against the British 鈥� each one as skilfully executed as Franklin鈥檚 successes with the fairer sex. The trick with the kite, Tucker argues, may even have won the American Revolution. It certainly won celebrity for Franklin.
Isaacson remains closer to a traditional representation of Franklin as hero: the 鈥渨ry observer鈥� whose arrival in Philadelphia 鈥渋s one of the most famous scenes in autobiographical literature: the bedraggled 17-year-old runaway, cheeky yet with a pretence of humility鈥︹�� Franklin the showman is beginning to make an appearance, but Isaacson keeps racy celebrity in check, providing the narrative of a full life and describing Franklin鈥檚 influence on the defining of America鈥檚 national character. This is a Franklin whose entrepreneurial striving and political prowess are coupled with a passion for scientific enquiry, from weather prediction and catheter invention to analysing how leaking ships fill with water. Isaacson鈥檚 faithful narrative is full of detail, and comes with a cast list of characters.
Tucker鈥檚 account is aimed at the general reader. Bolt of Fate captures the life essence, but centres on 鈥渁rguably the most famous experiment in the history of science鈥�. Given the sometimes poetic resonance of Tucker鈥檚 descriptions 鈥� 鈥渃rackling noise resembling green leaves afire鈥� is his account of an early witness to electricity, he then invites the reader to 鈥減icture him [Franklin] after-hours about to sit down and pen a hoax鈥�. Tucker鈥檚 book also crackles with the pace of media culture. Franklin, who worked his way through the print trade to own his own newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, is described as an 鈥淎ge of Reason celebrity鈥�. This book is driven by a dynamic of sensation: Franklin, the multifaceted genius, as masterful hoaxer. His own words open the book, 鈥淚f there is no other use discover鈥檇 of Electricity, this, however, is something considerable, that it may help to make a vain man humble.鈥�
This sets up a pacy tale of media-grabbing deceit, which also finds a way to remain respectful to its subject. Indeed, Franklin emerges as his own spin doctor, 鈥渁 man altering the record, secretly editing the past, ducking questions from legitimate scientists, and anonymously spreading misinformation鈥︹��
Tucker also trawls through the 18th- century underworld of the 鈥渟park鈥� 鈥� the term for a young male looking for a sexual partner, savouring the detail of Franklin鈥檚 imaginary persona, Polly Baker, mother of five illegitimate children. 鈥淗er zest for sex was one Franklin could share.鈥� A quotation from an 18th-century contemporary, John Neale, illuminates Franklin鈥檚 鈥渟alty year鈥� of sex and electricity: 鈥淟et a person standing on the ground offer to kiss another electrify鈥檇 on the stand鈥︹��
As Tucker tellingly observes, 鈥淭he real electrical weapon that Benjamin Franklin invented was himself.鈥�