<P> In 1860 Baltimore, Benjamin is born with the physical appearance of a 70 - year - old man, already capable of speech . His father Roger invites neighborhood boys to play with him and orders him to play with children's toys, but Benjamin obeys only to please his father . At five, Benjamin is sent to kindergarten but is quickly withdrawn after he repeatedly falls asleep during child activities . </P> <P> At the age of 18, Benjamin enrolls in Yale College, but is sent home by officials, who think he is a 50 - year - old lunatic . When Benjamin turns 20, the Button family realizes that he is aging backwards . </P> <P> In 1880, when Benjamin is 20, his father gives him a control of Roger Button & Co . Wholesale Hardware . He meets the young Hildegarde Moncrief, a daughter of General Moncrief, and falls in love with her . Hildegarde mistakes Benjamin for a 50 - year - old brother of Roger Button; she prefers older men and marries him six months later, but remains ignorant of his condition . Years later, Benjamin's business has been successful, but he is tired of Hildegarde because her beauty has faded and she nags him . Bored at home, he enlists in the Spanish--American War in 1898 and achieves great triumph in the military, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel . He retires from the army to focus on his company, and receives a medal . </P> <P> In 1910, Benjamin, now looking like a 20 - year - old, turns over control of his company to his son, Roscoe, and enrolls at Harvard University . His first year there is a great success: he dominates in football and takes revenge against Yale for rejecting him years before . However, during his junior and senior years he is only 16 years old, too weak to play football and barely able to cope with the academic work . </P>

The curious case of benjamin button amazon book