John Quincy Adams

A Public Life, A Private Life

By: Paul C. Nagel

Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach

A United States minister, senator, president, and congressman in turn, John Quincy Adams was one of the most prevalent and dedicated Americans in history. Drawing from Adams' 70-year diary, author Paul Nagel probes deeply into the psyche of this cantankerous, misanthropic, erudite, hardworking son of a former president whose remarkable career spanned so many offices. We learn about his passionate marriage to Louisa Johnson, his personal tragedies, including two sons lost to alcoholism, his recurring depression, exasperating behavior, and brilliant diplomacy. We see his frustration with the political life and the pleasure he drew from being a poet, critic, translator, essayist, botanist, and professor of oratory at Harvard. Nagel's great achievement, in this first biography of America's sixth president in a quarter century, is to finally portray Adams in all his talent and complexity.©1997 Paul C. Nagel (P)1999 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"An excellent book...Jeff Riggenbach beautifully narrates the story as interesting, vital historical biography....His inflections and vocal shadings urge you to listen further and to really appreciate this most accomplished public servant." ( AudioFile)
"With this excellent biography...Nagel focuses more on the private Adams, utilizing diary entries to provide keen insight into this extraordinary man....The result is a fascinating psychobiography. Highly recommended for all libraries." ( Library Journal)

Good Book, Narrow Focus

This biography by Nagel provides the reader with more of a character study of Adams than an historical biography. This is not a problem as long as you are expecting a biography focused more upon Adams' lengthy diary entries as opposed to a more objective analysis of Adams.

While this book had decent narration and production values, it is unlikely to enchant readers who do not already have an interest in John Quincey Adams.

Informative but...

This was a good book and I learned a lot, but sometimes it reads like a laundry list and it gets a bit tedious as does the subject. Still, it was definitely worth listening to. In fact I listened to it twice. The author is very hard on Abigail but I enjoyed the perspective.

Worthy of your time

I don't recall how I acquired this book, but am very glad that I did. Before this, I didn't know a thing about JQA. Based on his exceptionally detailed diary, it provides a captivating comprehensive look into how the world was right after our country was founded, and engendered great appreciation in me for a man who had both virtues and faults, and who I was entirely ignorant of. It is vocalized exceedingly well, and I appreciate having heard the story of one of our presidents of long ago.

Decent Tale, Robotic Delivery

Nagel's account of JQA is decent and will probably be sufficient for most readers/listeners eager to get a good summary and account of his life and times. Serious scholars should probably look elsewhere. As a relatively short work, Nagel has to make some arguably controversial prioritizations in his telling of JQAs life. For example, only one chapter is devoted to his presidency and the tone of the text is that it was such a dismal failure that one could be excused for ignoring it. (I don't necessarily agree with this.) On the other hand, Nagel does a good job of telling the tale of JQAs life in the House and how he shined in that setting even though it would be easy to miss this since some of his brilliance was in parlimentery tactics at key moments. The narrator is difficult to take at times. He sounds very robotic and occasionally pronounces words oddly or gives awkward phrasing to sentences.

Tedious President

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The depth of the research. Too limited to the diaries, and unbalanced.

What could Paul C. Nagel have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Read David Mccullough John Adams.

Which character – as performed by Jeff Riggenbach – was your favorite?

There was more than one character?

Could you see John Quincy Adams being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

Any additional comments?

I agree with other reviews that this book lacks scholarship. The author draws conclusions regarding Adams that appear to be difficult transitions. It seemed clear to me that JQA was ADHD. I would have enjoyed more color to the narrative, some context. The limited exposure to the Adams presidency in the book was because Adams chose not to write much about it, not because there is a lack of record.