Wit and Wisdom from Poor Richard's Almanack

Dave Berry writes the Introduction to this edition of one of the first American classics, focusing primarily on what Franklin called entertaining remarks--such as Fish and visitors stink after three days and Poor Richard's explanation of why he started the almanack. Franklin's Autobiography is one of the most famous works in American literature. He started it as a private collection of anecdotes for his son, but soon it was transformed into a work of history, both personal and national, revealing Franklin as the man who, as Herman Melville said, possessed deep worldly wisdom and polished Italian tact, gleaming under an air of Arcadian unaffectedness.