The Forgotten Founding Father

Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture

By: Joshua Kendall

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

America's own The Professor and the Madman: the story of Noah Webster, author of the first dictionary of American English-and a forgotten leader during a turning point in our nation's history.

Noah Webster's name is now synonymous with the dictionary he created, but although there is much more to his story than that singular achievement, his rightful place in American history has been forgotten over time. Webster hobnobbed with various Founding Fathers and was a young confidant of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, among others. He started New York City's first daily newspaper, predating Alexander Hamilton's New York Post. His "blue- backed speller" for schoolchildren, his first literary effort, sold millions of copies and influenced early copyright law. He helped found Amherst College and served as a state representative for both Connecticut and Massachusetts. But perhaps most important, Webster was an ardent supporter of a unified, definitively American culture, distinct from the British, at a time when the United States of America were anything but unified-and his dictionary of American English is a testament to that.

In The Forgotten Founding Father, Joshua Kendall, author of The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget's Thesaurus, gives us a well-researched and absorbing look into the life of Webster, another man driven by his obsessions and compulsions to compile and organize words. The result is a treat for word lovers and history buffs alike.

He did his best

The author’s ability to introduce Webster as a real person with flaws and genius, whom I could relate to and respect.

Eye opening

Very in-depth regarding Noah Webster. I think he is virtually unknown unless one comes in contact with a dictionary. Now they are known as Merriam-Webster making it even harder to know him. Sadly-these lesser known persons contributed a great deal to the formation of the American Republic. Thankfully-this book opens our eyes to what is easily taken for granted-an American English that brought all 50 states into conformity to a formal language.

A bit of a slog

While this particular rendition of Webster's life seemed well researched, it wasn't fun - at all. It was dry and too hung up on minutia that didn't drive the narrative. I listened to the first 5 chapters then skipped to the last one for some closure.

If you are a diehard historian and are keen to learn more on the early days of America, you'll probably love this book though.

The real Founding Fathers should sue

The part of this book that deals with the creation and aftermath of the dictionary -- roughly the second half -- is moderately interesting. But the rest of Webster's story is not especially compelling, and the man himself comes across as quirky, at best, and a miserable human being, at his worst. Compared to the traditional Founding Fathers, Webster was simply lacking in impact, spirit, temperament, outlook, optimism, complexity, generosity -- you name it. Kendall convincingly conveys the "obsession" part of Webster's life, and he repeatedly asserts that Webster created an American culture, but the latter claim is essentially undocumented and, therefore, unpersuasive. The narrator makes the most of the material he has to work with but ultimately, I'm afriad, it's much ado about very little.

Disappointing

The book does quite a bit of editorializing without providing more than a line to substantiate its claims.
As a person who references the 1828 daily, its my opinion that while Kendall obviously admires Webster, he has little idea of the value of what Webster produced.