Obama, the Dreamer’s Dream: A Memoir

No matter how poor his father was, his mother tells Obama , he was a man of integrity. Obama was raised to inherit the best characteristics of his father. Obama said he had no choice but to be a decent moral man - it was in his genes. Ohhhhh how I miss Obama being our President! View all 37 comments. Aug 04, Michelle rated it it was amazing Shelves: With Barack Obama running for president, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at who this candidate was. I had been warned by another friend not a Obama supporter, I should note that it was poorly written and its message unclear.

This perplexed me a bit since that had been contrary to what it seemed like everyone had been saying. Well, I, on the other hand, found it a completely absorbing read. It's well-written and an interesting story. I wish everyone could read it; there are so m With Barack Obama running for president, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at who this candidate was.

I wish everyone could read it; there are so many misunderstandings about Barack's life. While I'm sure there are parts that have been changed, dramatized, shifted around, the theme behind the events that Barack chronicles is evident.

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It's the story of a boy trying to comprehend who he is, to reconcile with the fact that he looks undeniably different than his mother and grandparents, to cope with the mysterious, absent figure that is his father. The book provides a better understanding of not only Barack Obama's life, but a greater understanding of who Barack Obama is and why he is the way he is. This book, of course, only presents one side of who Barack Obama is - and the side that Obama presents himself.

So, as with all autobiographies, I took it with a grain of salt. But after reading it, I had a much greater respect for him Barack Obama has led a life no one else could really understand, but everyone can relate to in some capacity. I know one of the arguments against him as president is that he doesn't have a lot of experience in office, but after reading this book, one might argue that he has plenty of experience in far more important areas that would serve him better if he were elected.

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Feb 27, Sam rated it really liked it Shelves: In early , for many people in the U. I used the moment to look back at Barack Obama before he was president, before he was a US Senator and a state senator for Illinois, and discover the making of the man in his memoir Dreams from My Father. Overall, I'd give this 3. I very much enjoyed parts of Obama's journey to adulthood, especially his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia which I found interesting and well-wr In early , for many people in the U.

I very much enjoyed parts of Obama's journey to adulthood, especially his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia which I found interesting and well-written, and while the later chapters detailing the consuming, difficult work of community organizing in Chicago and then meeting his extended family in Kenya prior to beginning law school also offer great insight, they are a bit less structurally sound, more peppered with rhetoric, less narrative oriented than the previous chapters. But it's a fascinating glimpse at the early life of the 44th president in his own words, and I enjoyed seeing the anecdotal threads that connected to Obama's personality and policies during his presidency.

And his meditations on race relations and his own personal struggle with identity were enlightening, and I personally found it intriguing and answered some questions I'd had about Obama's self-categorization as being black, and not biracial.

Above all though, you get a firsthand glimpse of the young "Barry" Obama becoming Barack, and what it meant to be a biracial and a black man coming of age in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. His writing and he are intelligent and compassionate, but sometimes the writing style can turn a bit self-indulgent or smug, a criticism lobbed during Obama's presidency but much more subdued than in Dreams with My Father , showing the progress and maturity of a man more comfortable in his own intelligence and skin.

He writes of his rage and his anger, but also his vulnerability and fear, of and for himself, and of and for the world he inhabits, and sometimes neither party knows quite what to do with each other. I both understood and was puzzled by some of his feelings of loathing and anger towards himself and US society: I too am a biracial American with a black father and a white mother, though female and with two American parents born and raised, and I personally could connect with various aspects of his struggle and the larger struggle of the black community.

But I've never had to face a choice or confusion over what race to be or how to identify myself: I was raised to think of myself as both black and white, as biracial. But reading his memoir, and seeing just how different it can be to be a biracial child of the 60s to late 70s, versus me, born in the late 80s coming of age in the 90s and 00s, I definitely got a much better, fuller, deeper understanding of how, where and why Obama came to his own self-identification that still allowed for the embrace of his diverse background.

I hadn't heard of Obama or Dreams from My Father when it was first published in like most Americans, plus I was nine , and while I was well aware of the book in when it was re-released just after his famous DNC keynote address, I just never ended up reading it. Reading it now, over two decades after it was first published, I've gained a much better appreciation both for Barack Obama, President, but even more so Barack Obama, person, and even if the version we meet in Dreams with My Father is simply a snapshot in time, the major elements of all the best attributes and actions of Obama are visible.

And even if I had some occasional issues with the writing, tone, pacing, I overall found this a worthy read, informative and entertaining and thought provoking. It was a privilege to read through Obama's very personal struggles and difficulties and feel his compassion for others, knowing what path that man would take, and it's a fantastic story: View all 23 comments. Apr 02, Diane rated it it was amazing. Jun 13, Lorenzo Pilla rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Forget for a moment who the author has become. This is not a book written by a politician or a would-be president.

It's a book that was written by someone who subsequently became those things. For that reason, it's a very honest account of an American coming to terms with who he is and where he's from. As a bonus, Obama happens to be an excellent writer. He has a good sense of how to fashion an interesting narrative, so his personal story is very engaging. As a normal part of becoming an adult, a Forget for a moment who the author has become. As a normal part of becoming an adult, a boy at some point begins to look critically at, and compare himself to, his father.

And if that father was physically or emotionally absent, it may be even more true and a more important rite of passage. Obama's account of his own search for his missing father is compelling and it is one that many men can relate to. And for that reason it is also a book that should be read by women who want to understand men. Beyond issues of men and their fathers, Obama also relates his struggle for identity as a black man in a white family in the s, as a boy being raised by his single mother and grandparents, as a teenager making decisions about drugs, and a host of other issues.

In short, this is a great 'book-club book' because there are so many broad themes that can be catalysts for discussion. Whether or not you're a fan of this president's politics, challenge yourself to look beyond that and discover the richness in this important memoir. View all 3 comments. May 23, Diane Wallace rated it it was amazing. Dec 26, Diane rated it really liked it Shelves: I listened to this audiobook in the waning days of Obama's presidency. Dreams from My Father is about Obama's family, his childhood, and how he got his start in community organizing in Chicago.

Some of my favorite stories were about Barack's grandparents, his memories of his mother and father, and finally, his visit to Kenya to meet his African relatives. It was interesting to read this memoir, first published in , and to recognize all that Obama has accomplished since writing it. The audio f I listened to this audiobook in the waning days of Obama's presidency. The audio file included Obama's keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, which is just as powerful as when I first heard it 12 years ago. It was inspiring to listen to Obama read his story, and I'd heartily recommend it.

Jan 23, Chris Van Dyke rated it it was amazing Shelves: 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 This is one of those books that I want to buy for everyone I know. 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! 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.

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. Because he gets it: 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! Aug 02, Patricia theinfophile rated it it was ok Shelves: Did Barack Obama write this book himself?

Man, it was so full of cliches that I almost threw it against the wall, had it not belonged to the library. The most interesting parts take place out of the U. Too much concentration on frustrated-black-man syndrome, trying to find a black community and not enough for me on how he fared within this community as mixed. Even though HE chose one ethnicity over another, I want to know how he was treated because other people take notice of a mixture withi Did Barack Obama write this book himself?

Even though HE chose one ethnicity over another, I want to know how he was treated because other people take notice of a mixture within a person. As a book, I think the writing was lacking greatly and overall, it just moved really slowly, especially, as I said, when he was in the U. View all 9 comments. Jun 15, Siria rated it really liked it Shelves: In the introduction, Obama writes that looking back on this book after the passage of over a decade, he winces at inelegant phrasing, and wishes that he could excise perhaps fifty of its four hundred and fifty pages.

That's the kind of self-critique with which this book abounds—honest and very deliberately even-handed. It's a critique I agree with, by the way—Obama has a tendency to go off on slight rhetorical flights which may sound good when delivered in a speech, but which need to be tempered In the introduction, Obama writes that looking back on this book after the passage of over a decade, he winces at inelegant phrasing, and wishes that he could excise perhaps fifty of its four hundred and fifty pages. It's a critique I agree with, by the way—Obama has a tendency to go off on slight rhetorical flights which may sound good when delivered in a speech, but which need to be tempered somewhat when confined to the page—but those quibbles aside, I thought this was an astoundingly well-written memoir, especially given the fact that it was written by someone then only in his thirties.

So few politicians have the ability to write with such vivid clarity and such honesty. I found his discussion of the intersections of race, politics, and culture in modern America to be very interesting, particularly since I am from a country which doesn't have a history of absorbing many people of other racial backgrounds, but which is beginning to be forced to face its own latent racism thanks to a growing tide of modern immigration.

It was compelling and thought-provoking; many times I caught myself thinking "But The opening half of the book, in which Obama describes his childhood and his experiences in college and working in Chicago, interested me the most; perhaps, I think, because he was very good at showing the ways in which he was situated within wider white American culture, and the difficulties and the confusions and the hurts that this had caused him and the black community.

I thought the latter half, set in Africa, wobbled a little because it displayed a self-indulgence that Obama had not previously been prone to, and because for all that Obama examined his relationship to Africa in terms of his own blackness, he seemed curiously unwilling to do so in terms of his own Americanness.

There's one strange thing I noticed: Obama, in what I've seen of him in interviews and on television, has always seemed to be very charming and very personable, with a ready wit. Very little of that came across in this book; he didn't seem to laugh at himself very much—intelligent and personable, yes, but some of the spark of charisma was missing. I wonder how much of that is selective editing, how much the influence of the topic of his memoir, and how much because he would slowly grow into the person we see now over the course of the last decade.

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Feb 01, Antigone rated it really liked it Shelves: This is the first of the books written by Barack Obama. He was thirty-three at the time of its publication, a graduate of Harvard Law and practicing in Chicago. Thoughts of a run for the Senate were beginning to coalesce. He was, at this stage, an exacting man. So when he tells us this is a story of race and inheritance, we may be certain it is precisely that.

His is a strong and sometimes stiff accounting of life as the son of an African father and a white American mother - that straddle of our This is the first of the books written by Barack Obama.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

His is a strong and sometimes stiff accounting of life as the son of an African father and a white American mother - that straddle of our nation's racial divide. It is the story of a man's cultural consciousness coming of age. And it is a form of testimony honed, through both its strength and stiffness, to passages possessed of a remarkably sharp and powerful edge. The following admittedly long passage is pulled as a sample of the quality of thought and self-reflection Barack Obama applies to the matters that concern him.

It is the middle of the night.

There are boys in a car on the street out front, their noise disrupting the sleep of the neighborhood. He has come down to ask them to move on. The four boys inside say nothing, don't even move. The wind wipes away my drowsiness, and I feel suddenly exposed, standing in a pair of shorts on the sidewalk in the middle of the night.

I can't see their faces inside the car; it's too dark to know how old they are, whether they're sober or drunk, good boys or bad. One of them could be Kyle. One of them could be Roy. One of them could be Johnnie. One of them could be me. Standing there, I try to remember the days when I would have been sitting in a car like that, full of inarticulate resentments and desperate to prove my place in the world. The feelings of righteous anger as I shout at Gramps for some forgotten reason. The blood rush of a high school brawl. The swagger that carries me into a classroom drunk or high, knowing that my teachers will smell beer or reefer on my breath, just daring them to say something.

I start picturing myself through the eyes of these boys, a figure of random authority, and know the calculations they might now be making, that if one of them can't take me out, the four of them certainly can. That knotted, howling assertion of self - as I try to pierce the darkness and read the shadowed faces inside the car, I'm thinking that while these boys may be weaker or stronger than I was at their age, the only difference that matters is this: The world in which I spent those difficult times was far more forgiving.

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These boys have no margin for error; if they carry guns, those guns will offer them no protection from that truth. And it is that truth, a truth that they surely sense but can't admit and, in fact, must refuse if they are to wake up tomorrow, that has forced them, or others like them, eventually to shut off access to any empathy they may once have felt. Their unruly maleness will not be contained, as mine finally was, by a sense of sadness at an older man's injured pride.

Their anger won't be checked by the intimation of danger that would come upon me whenever I split another boy's lip or raced down a highway with gin clouding my head. As I stand there, I find myself thinking that somewhere down the line both guilt and empathy speak to our own buried sense that an order of some sort is required, not the social order that exists, necessarily, but something more fundamental and more demanding; a sense, further, that one has a stake in this order, a wish that, no matter how fluid this order sometimes appears, it will not drain out of the universe And this, for me, is important.

Because a wall is a symbol. And I ask myself if I want to spend all my energy constructing a physical representation of my fear, or instead get to work on its cause. Isn't what I'm really after the development of a more rigorous and principled standard of order? Harder to build than a wall This is a book I recommend not only to those curious about the life of our former president, but to anyone seeking an entry point to a more comprehensive contemplation of race in modern-day America.

View all 4 comments. Jul 26, Shannon rated it liked it. What a thought-provoking book! The book is split into three sections Origins, Chicago and Kenya. I tried splitting up my reading of it in roughly the same manner since it's easier for me to get through a non-fiction book if I intersperse it with fiction. I think each section left me with a different series of questions.

Origins left me thinking about community: Origins also made me ponder how ch What a thought-provoking book! Origins also made me ponder how challenging adolescence is for anyone and how those challenges are compounded for someone who doesn't quite fit in to any one category. Chicago made me think about what I see as the big problems of our society today: Obama brings an interesting perspective to his work on the south side of Chicago because he is both within and apart from the community he is serving.

I was encouraged by his persistence in getting to know people who needed help and felt a desire to be more persistent in building relationships with those in my community who need help. Kenya made me think about family. I ended the book unsure whether family is blessing, burden or both.

Obama's relationship to his family differs vastly from mine. Yet I found myself thinking about family and what family's role should be in my life. Am I too quick to disengage from extended family because of the day to day challenges of raising three young children? What are my children losing if I don't make an effort to retain ties to family near and far, old and young? What am I losing? Is it about loss and gain or responsibility? It took me a while to read this book for several reasons: It was well worth my time to read Barack Obama's story and think about my own story - what it is now and what I'll choose to make it.

The first publication of this book dates from , when its author was only 34 years, well before his presidential bid and before his first election as senator from Illinois, which limits the risk of hagiographic publications more recent since the text does not cover the real policy of his life. The purposal brings a very interesting perspective on American society, on the place of blacks, all the vicious circles that trap people in poor suburbs on African culture and colonization.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book, by the sincerity, pragmatism and voluntarism that emerge. Oct 14, J. Kenyarta rated it really liked it. Okay, so full transparency? As a kid, I hated reading biographies. Like, legit, loathed them! Thankfully, life has changed that, and lately, I find myself gravitating towards them more than ever.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama

First off, let me say that this is such an fascinating peek into the world of Barack! Thankfully, by the end of the end, the story takes a happy turn in the form of Obama visiting Kenya and finally meeting the family he never knew. While some say the chapters devoted to detailing this visit were long and boring, personally I found them to be some of the most interesting! I also appreciated the chance to learn more about his life on the South Side of Chicago as a Community Organizer.

Despite the difficulties he faced by other politicians and citizens, he worked his butt of and managed to leave a loving mark on the local communities he helped service and support. You let him tell it, they left a loving impression on him, too. To say I was inspired and encouraged would be putting it lightly. This was a beautiful example of human beings being human beings during a time and in a place where many others were only seemingly thinking about themselves!

In the end, I think this is a fantastic read — well written and not drawn out or boring. Sep 13, Mariah Roze rated it really liked it. This was a great book. I finished it in one day, which is extremely rare for me. I started reading this a day after Obama's inauguration.

Even though I'm not American, it seemed important to do so, and also I was told that the quality of the writing is at least as impressive and the story. It was published in , shortly after Obama graduated from Harvard Law School and covers his life, or rather his search for identity up till then, in three main sections: He accepts a black identity before his teens, but never really feels he fits anywhere - until Kenya.

It's intensely personal, yet very private as well: It's generally very well written and in the Chicago sections in particular, I really felt I could "hear" the voices of those he quoted in a very literal and accented way. That said, some of the lengthy telling of his father's life, in the words of Kenyan relatives were much flatter. My only gripes are the lack of an index or a family tree of his complicated Kenyan family and a few photos might have been nice.

Overall, a very enjoyable and positive experience. He invariably sees the best in people though he's not blind to their weaknesses and there are strong echoes of what he said in the presidential election, which indicates to me a reassuring degree of insight, consistency and integrity. Aug 28, Tasha rated it it was ok Recommends it for: Dec 01, Mikey B. This is quite a remarkable book considering that this individual is now President of the U. It was written when he was far removed from the Presidential radar. It is well written and the narrative is very vivid.

The book is divided into three sections with very little inter-connectedness between them. The first is about his roots and growing up with his mother and grand-parents — in far flung regions of the world — Hawaii and Indonesia. The second is focused on Chicago and the community work he This is quite a remarkable book considering that this individual is now President of the U.

The second is focused on Chicago and the community work he attempts to do. I found the first section to be the most revealing and personal — it sets the tone for the overall book. There are confessions of his awkwardness, of anger and rebelliousness, of not fitting into society. These are common complaints of most young people but Mr. Obama is quite eloquent about them. We sense an intelligent person with a keen sense of worldly observation — an individual who can astutely look at people from multiple viewpoints. I did become somewhat confused during the Africa portion; it would have been good to have a kinship chart to keep track of all these people — the half-brothers, many aunts and uncles and grandparents.

One also gets the feeling that Mr. Obama is obsessed with finding the meaning of his long-lost father who was absent throughout his developing years his father spent two weeks with him when he was 10 years old. It is like he is looking for a lost ghost — trying to find a missing link — a replenishment. This is a rare instance in modern times where a President has written a book an autobiography at that years prior to becoming a President.

The only comparison I can think of coming from Canada is Pierre Eliot Trudeau who wrote several journalistic articles before becoming Prime Minister. Evans, Gaynelle March 15, The saga of Harvard's Barack H. Black Issues in Higher Education. Archived from the original on January 30, Associated Press April 18, Retrieved on 17 March Archived from the original on Cader, Michael July 30, The New York Sun.

Leroux, Charles August 6, Sweet, Lynn March 17, Scott, Janny May 18, Retrieved June 24, Senate; Catapulted into celebrity, the state senator from Hyde Park is seen as the voice of a new political generation, a leader for African-Americans and a devoted family man. But is it possible for anyone to meet all those expectations? Calmes, Jackie January 3, Romano, Lois January 3, Retrieved July 22, Dreams from My Father , pg. Retrieved June 6, Retrieved June 5, Archived from the original on October 10, Retrieved December 12, Retrieved June 4, First impressions of Barack Obama".

Archived from the original on September 7, Retrieved September 19, Archived from the original on January 23, Retrieved July 26, Hyde Park Hair Salon will have to relocate after 80 years of business". Retrieved January 21, Retrieved December 27, Retrieved October 19, Presidents who write well, lead well" , The Guardian , November 5, Retrieved on November 8, Retrieved January 19, Senator from Illinois — Illinois Senator from the 13th district — From Promise to Power Barack Obama: Obama Girl " I Got a Crush The Election of Barack Obama Change Kennedy Goddard Lieberson producer — John F.

Murrow — Edward R. Murrow - A Reporter Remembers, Vol. Retrieved from " https: Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from March Pages to import images to Wikidata All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text Interlanguage link template link number Articles containing Japanese-language text Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers.

Views Read Edit View history. In other projects Wikiquote. This page was last edited on 18 December , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Early life of Barack Obama. Times Books Three Rivers Press