About this title: The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama was only two years old when his father walked out on the family. Many years later, Obama receives a phone call from Nairobi: his father is dead. This sudden news inspires an emotional odyssey for Obama, determined to learn the truth of his father's life and reconcile his divided inheritance. Written at the age of thirty-three, "Dreams from My Father" is an unforgettable read. It illuminates not only Obama's journey, but also our universal desire to understand our history, and what makes us the people we are.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781400082773ISBN:1400082773
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Almost as new. Very slight edgewear. No markings or creasing. Pages bright and tight. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 480 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004
ISBN-13:9781400082773ISBN:1400082773
Description: Gently used softcover. Very light wear. Clean throughout. No dog ear creases, no previous owner signature. Very Good. ISBN 9781400082773. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9781400082773ISBN:1400082773
Description: Fine. Slight shelf wear with slight scuffing to cover, corners and edges. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
"I don't even feel as if I should give this any type of star rating but I am required so I give it 2 stars. A bit disappointing for me and maybe it was because of Obama's narration...I'm just not sure. It just seemed to drone on and on for me and when I got to the part I was looking forward to (Obama travelling back to Africa) I realized I wasn't really listening anymore so I just decided to stop (and I only had 1.5 CDs to go). I was also a little turned off by the "unofficial" campaign blurb he gave in the first 3 tracks before the narration began--not necessary to the story. Too bad, I was looking forward to this one but maybe I just couldn't relate or perhaps I would have done better if I'd experienced this as a printed media rather than an audio one. Still, as he is our current president I would still recommend to others to read (but not listen to)."
"This is one of those books that I want to buy for everyone I know. Apart from any of the political ideas in the book or whether or not one is excited by his presidency, Obama is a fantastic writer -- this is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. Apart from an occasional slip into melodramatic prose (very occasional, and certainly less than the average memoir), the prose balanced clarity and description, and Obama very consciously keeps from slipping into nostalgia or over-idealizing any time in his life or place he visits. After his terms in office (note the optimistic plural!), he could easily have a career as an author. Had he never become president, or even entered politics, this would be a book worth reading, and one of the best modern coming-of-age stories out there.
Slipping from review into personal politics, reading this book was exhilarating. Like much of his base, I've been a fan of Obama's ever since the '04 Convention. I was actually voting for Richardson (yes, I was part of that 2% of the electorate) up until Obama gave his speech on race last March, when I decided not only would he make a good president, but that America NEEDED Obama. Still, I never read any of his writing -- didn't want to be too rabid, and even know I know that, over the next eight years he will disappoint me, make compromises, and have to be part of the political machine.
I was excited enough to travel do get out the vote on election day and to brave D.C. for the inauguration, and yet reading this book made me even MORE excited that this man is our president. Because he gets it: us, America, blacks, whites, working-class people, intellectuals, immigrants. The fact that a man who has had the thoughts he puts in this book, who has struggled with coming of age as a young black man, who has loved his white mother, organized in the projects of Chicago, struggled in school, and travelled to Africa is running our country is amazing. His insights on race, history, identity, and class are some of the most nuanced and astute I've read -- he understands how his white grandfather could be both a well-intentioned progressive and yet involuntarily racist at the same time; how young black men can be both victims of and perpetuators of the myths of masculinity and race that ensnare them; how most people are actually good but that being good isn't necessarily enough to escape the weight of history and mutual misunderstanding.
Whether you have a huge crush on Obama (like myself!), are more restrained, or even didn't vote for him, you owe it to yourself to read this book, to better understand where the man who is now our President is coming from."
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