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Interviews | November 19, 2009

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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

by Barack Obama

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

Review:

"[A] poignant, probing memoir of an unusual life....Obama leaves some lingering questions — his mother is virtually absent — but still has written a resonant book." Publishers Weekly

Review:

"Obama argues with himself on almost every page of this lively autobiographical conversation....Obama is candid about racism and poverty and corruption, in Chicago and in Kenya. Yet he does find community and authenticity..." Hazel Rochman, Booklist

Review:

"Fluidly, calmly, insightfully, Obama guides us straight to the intersection of the most serious questions of identity, class, and race." Washington Post Book World

Review:

"Obama's writing is incisive yet forgiving. This is a book worth savoring." Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here

Synopsis:

The son of a black African father and white American mother discusses his divided ancestry and his place in America's racial society, analyzing the demands of racial identity and culture, multiculturalism, and the quest for his own racial identity.

About the Author

Barack Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991, where he served as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He has worked as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, and law professor. Since 1997, he has represented parts of Chicago's South Side in the Illinois General Assembly, and he is currently the Democratic nominee to become the junior U.S. senator from Illinois. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Michelle, and daughters, Malia and Sasha.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 6 comments:
stephen anderson, April 14, 2009 (view all comments by stephen anderson)
If you haven't read this you should! Imagine, we have a president that can write a book....let alone read one!
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(6 of 9 readers found this comment helpful)
sangar2006, January 29, 2009 (view all comments by sangar2006)
it is really a great book...
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(11 of 19 readers found this comment helpful)
Andrew Kaplan, December 24, 2008 (view all comments by Andrew Kaplan)
If Barack Obama weren't to become President -- if he hadn't been elected to a public office of any kind -- he still would have established his legacy as a great writer of our time. He enlightens us with his thoughts on race and identity. His prose is a finely measured cup of honesty, lyricism and insight. His skill at structuring a narrative matches that of any accomplished writer.
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(18 of 27 readers found this comment helpful)
View all 6 comments

Product Details

ISBN:
9781400082773
Subtitle:
A Story of Race and Inheritance
Author:
Obama, Barack
Author:
Obama, Barack
Publisher:
Three Rivers Press (CA)
Subject:
People of Color
Subject:
Race relations
Subject:
Racism
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General
Subject:
cultural heritage
Subject:
African Americans
Subject:
Obama, Barack
Copyright:
Edition Number:
1st
Edition Description:
Pbk
Publication Date:
August 2004
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
480
Dimensions:
8.03x5.16x1.05 in. .74 lbs.

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