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    A re-imagining of Benjamin Franklin you will not soon forget... - Walter Isaacson, Author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and Steve Jobs

    A grand and gorgeous book!  I devoured it! The pleasures of prose, passion, and intelligence pervade these pages... Fitzgerald is that rarest of birds: a great writer and a great soul. – Michael Zuckerman, PhD, Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania.


    Benjamin Franklin has been confined to a private apartment in the Plantation of the Unrepentant for the past two-plus centuries. Instead of contemplating his ‘errata,’ however, Ben has added 12 more volumes to his Autobiography. Toward forcing the issue, Ben is brought before a panel of examiners, one of whom, disconcertingly, is the man who was largely responsible for Ben’s undeserved womanizer rap: John Adams. By the end of Ben’s examination, in which the sins of the Patre Patriae are brought devastatingly to fore, Ben fully expects to be cast into the abyss. Instead, he’s invited to bear witness to what’s become of the United States in the two-plus centuries of his absence. Ben’s odyssey of witness begins at his birth site in Boston, passes through New York (where Ben upstages a conference at the Waldorf Astoria), and ends, with wrenching poignancy, at his gravesite in Philadelphia. Interwoven into the main story is a second, this one beginning in the red-carpeted parlors of the West Wing and ending in the bloodstained streets of West Philadelphia. Eventually, the paralleling stories collide, like massive tectonic plates, in a stunning series of shocks and aftershocks. Following in the traditions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, and Dante’s Divine Comedy, Poor Richard’s Lament, nine years in the writing, is an intricately woven, ultimately uplifting tale of hope and redemption, written in close consonance with the avuncular and aphoristic persona of Benjamin Franklin, Printer. Back Story...
    Please note: Poor Richard's Lament is available at Hobblebush Books. Click the blue "BUY BOOK" button which will re-direct you to the Hobblebush Books shopping cart page.
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    “In clear, simple prose, readers are advised to take stock of their own lives, trust but verify the good things they get from others, and keep their focus on the important things in life. A consistently interesting if occasionally frustrating collection of inspirational thoughts.” --Kirkus Reviews

    How did Tom Fitzgerald get inside my head and know exactly what I needed to be told? A thoughtful and thought-provoking book.
    -- Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People

    Beyond Chicken Soup is a delightfully penetrating book that lays the steps to wisdom at your feet. Reading Tom Fitzgerald is like having your own personal spiritual mentor at your side each day. -- Martin J. Wetherill, author of Eye of the Storm and You Make a Difference
    "Many of us who grew up in the Boomer Era were afflicted with a sort of chronic angst. Something not quite identifiable was ever not quite right. In an earnest effort to rid ourselves of our dis-ease, we tried all manner of remedies. We took the Road Less Traveled; we nurtured our Inner Child; we cared for our Soul; we ran with the Wolves; we illumed ourselves in Celestine light; we had conversations with God; we got tight with our Guardian Angel; we cavorted with the Goddess; we embraced the latest Diet; we pursued our Soulmate; we drummed in the Woods; we went on Vision Quests; we slurped Chicken Soup – by the bucketful; we squatted with the Buddha; we sat in Sweat Lodges; we recovered our Cheese; we rebalanced our Chi; we chanted in  Sacred Chambers; we followed our Bliss; even paid the toll for the car behind us. “Despite all these efforts, however, a sense of angst, both in ourselves and in the nation at large, would seem only to having gotten worse, as evidenced by a steady rise in such health-of-the-nation indicators as alcohol abuse, domestic violence, single motherhood,, absentee fatherhood, school shootings, road rage, teen suicide, personal debt, obesity, binge buying, clinical depression, device addiction, distracted driving, divorce, and opioid poisoning. “Why? How could such a wealth of remedies on the one hand lead to such dismal results on the other? One possible explanation – and the premise of this yet-one-more-book-on-the-subject – is that, instead of our having been encouraged by the self-help and mental-health communities to aim the arrow of our concern a bit more toward other people, we have been encouraged to keep the arrow of our concern disproportionately aimed toward ourselves.

    Seekers after the kind of life that will matter even when one is gone might want to keep one copy of this unique offering at their workplace, a second on their nightstand.

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    As its title suggests, Fitzgerald’s well-designed follow-up to his Beyond Chicken Soup (2019) takes its initial cues from Poor Richard’s Almanack, collecting the author’s wisdom and gentle humor on a wide variety of topics, ranging from ethics and morality to God to loneliness to sports. The author shifts easily from a tone of jocularity to one of serious concentration and back… The tone adopted throughout is that of inviting conversation; readers seeking practical reminders of everyday wisdom will doubtless respond. A friendly, all-purpose compendium of thought-provoking intellectual odds and ends. 
    -- Kirkus Reviews

    The wisdom in this unique offering will help guide and nourish you.
    -- Bernie S. Siegel, MD, author of Love, Medicine and Miracles and Prescriptions for Living

    Bread fills the belly; wisdom fills the mind; together they feed the soul. Tom Fitzgerald's Richard the Poorer’s Food 4 Thought is soul food like no other. I love this book
    -- Rabbi Dr. Rami, author of Recovery, the Sacred Art

    Richard the Poorer’s Food 4 Thought is a smorgasbord of thoughts and ideas carefully crafted to stimulate cogitation on all manner of topics and issues. For those cogitators who prefer snacky or hors-d’oeurvey kinds of fare in this regard, Food 4 Thought offers 880 bite-sized morsels in the form of what Ben Franklin referred to as ‘moral sentences, prudent maxims, and wise sayings.’ These tidy tidbits fall into 57 categories ranging from Anger to Men & Women to Hope & Happiness to Work & Career.

    “For those cogitators who prefer a little heftier fare, Food 4 Thought offers 69 mini-essays on a wide range of topics, from courtship to the state of manhood in America to the real cause behind the obesity pandemic. These ‘Buns & Biscuits,’ as they are herein referred, are a page or less in length and are meant to be partaken of one or two at a time. For those cogitators who prefer something heftier still, Food 4 Thought offers several hardy entrées. Rounding out Food 4 Thought’s salivating fare are several exotic confectionaries.

    “Bon appétit!”

    A must-have volume for the loo!

    Back Story...


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    Gabriel: King of Hearts is a moving, wise, and beautifully written retelling of the timeless spiritual lesson finding our own inner wisdom, and how one of our greatest gifts to ourselves and our world is to share this wisdom with all who seek it. By turns funny, heart-breaking, thought-provoking and tender, this is a book that will inspire you on your journey. — Ban Nyo Sho Shin, Zen student A meticulously-written, thought-provoking, massively-relevant, deeply-moving tale! Gabriel: King of Hearts should be required reading at the middle-school level and above. Bravo! – Paul Cooper, Former President, Southfield, Michigan Board of Education  The aptness of the name Gabriel is not lost on the reader. The original Gabriel was an archangel who served as God’s messenger. If you are of a religious or historical bent, you will like that echo. If you are not, it is enough to know that Gabriel brings us messages from the hidden parts of ourselves that we try to overlook as we chase after status. – Dori Hale, author of Disorientation and the Weather A warmhearted parable featuring a plucky squirrel who tackles life’s big issues. – Kirkus Reviews
    Gabriel, a pre-adolescent gray squirrel, is being tormented at school by the socially dominant letes, led by Chopper and Bammer, who are always finding new ways to humiliate Gabriel in front of their peers. Gabriel is estranged from a biological father who has lost all contact with his only son; alienated from a stepfather who seems to resent Gabriel’s very presence; and barely tolerated by a popular older sister, Cherice, who beats Gabriel time and again at video games. To the chagrin of his mother and stepfather, Gabriel is no longer welcome at the Church of the Sacred Elm, where Gabriel recently asked the Reverend Willow, in front of the entire congregation, if the Great Rodent could create an acorn so big he couldn’t eat it all. Curious and reflective by nature, Gabriel had meant no harm; he had simply been unable to resist the demands of an insatiable curiosity. Increasingly despondent and desperate, Gabriel sends a letter to Scurry McMurray, a celebrity pawnut player, requesting Scurry’s autograph. Gabriel hopes that possessing even a tiny piece of a celebrity pawnut player’s greatness will elevate his own stature in the eyes of his tormenters. When Gabriel does not receive a reply, he sets out, woefully unprepared, on a quest to get the great Scurry McMurray’s autograph in person. Venturing deeper into the forest than he had ever been before, Gabriel becomes hopelessly lost. What now?

    Adults and teens who have been bullied or marginalized in their lives, or who have contemplated taking desperate measures to end their pain, will find deep comfort in this poignant tale.

    Back Story...

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  • Share Your Thoughts & Ideas

    At Kingsley Books, we like to think of the space we have created as a place where thoughts and ideas can go to be shared. Ben Franklin, arguably one of the most creative thinkers of his time, shared his own thoughts and ideas, accumulated over eight decades, by a variety of means, including his famous almanacks. With a nod toward Franklin, Kingsley Books intends to publish a literary almanack every year dedicated to the dissemination and consideration of diverse thoughts and ideas, toward fostering a deeper understanding of the world we, of necessity, must all share. If you would like to be considered for publication in a KB almanack, please click GET PUBLISHED below. KB’s almanacks will be published in the style of Poor Richard’s almanacks, beginning in 2019 (for the year 2020). Each almanack will be offered for sale on the KB website, on a limited edition basis.
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