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    Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
    Unavailable
    Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
    Unavailable
    Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
    Ebook528 pages8 hours

    Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

    By Barack Obama

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS

    In this iconic memoir of his early days, Barack Obama “guides us straight to the intersection of the most serious questions of identity, class, and race” (The Washington Post Book World).
     
    “Quite extraordinary.”—Toni Morrison 
     
    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.
     
    Praise for Dreams from My Father
     
    “Beautifully crafted . . . moving and candid . . . This book belongs on the shelf beside works like James McBride’s The Color of Water and Gregory Howard Williams’s Life on the Color Line as a tale of living astride America’s racial categories.”—Scott Turow
     
    “Provocative . . . Persuasively describes the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to neither.”—The New York Times Book Review
      
    “Obama’s writing is incisive yet forgiving. This is a book worth savoring.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here
     
    “One of the most powerful books of self-discovery I’ve ever read, all the more so for its illuminating insights into the problems not only of race, class, and color, but of culture and ethnicity. It is also beautifully written, skillfully layered, and paced like a good novel.”—Charlayne Hunter-Gault, author of In My Place
     
    “Dreams from My Father is an exquisite, sensitive study of this wonderful young author’s journey into adulthood, his search for community and his place in it, his quest for an understanding of his roots, and his discovery of the poetry of human life. Perceptive and wise, this book will tell you something about yourself whether you are black or white.”—Marian Wright Edelman
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateJan 9, 2007
    ISBN9780307394125
    Unavailable
    Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
    Author

    Barack Obama

    BARACK OBAMA is the 44th President of the United States. He is the author of the books Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.

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    Reviews for Dreams from My Father

    4/5

    1,881 ratings99 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I think I read this around 2008 prior to the election. I remember it was very good about his early years. I enjoyed his writing and his life story.
    • 4/5
      Even without knowing the author, this is a very good story, especially in the first half. (The trip to Kenya is a bit overdrawn.) Knowing the author, I think it gives a good perspective on the origins of Obama's values and insecurities.
    • 5/5
      In the Preface to this 2004 edition of Obama's 1995 memoir, he admits to an "urge to cut the book fifty pages or so." Me, too. I wished the book was one hundred pages shorter, yet I wouldn't know what to leave out. Though the pace definitely slowed from the middle onwards, I appreciated the opportunity to read every word of it. Perhaps it seemed slow because of my sense of urgency to know everything I can find out about this enigmatic and charismatic new personality who looks to be the Democratic Party's next presidential nominee. Or maybe it's because I'm anxious to move onto Obama's second book, The Audacity of Hope. Whatever the reason, I'm tempted to say the book is just too long, but there is not a single word I could wish I hadn't read. Obama is a skilled and graceful writer. I look forward to the other books that will surely sprout from his pen in the coming years. (July 2008)
    • 5/5
      Barack Obama shows himself to be an African American, a citizen of the world, a student of history and a worker for human rights. No wonder republicans hate him so.
    • 5/5
      An inspiring American success story.
    • 4/5
      This is a book about racism and heritage, not politics. Published in 1995 when he had just been elected junior senator from Illinois and before any aspirations of political ascendency to the Presidency, the book is a very candid autobiography of Obama's coming of age through the fog of racism and his struggle to find his identity as a mixed race individual. It is remarkably well written and maintains the reader's interest through the account of his early years in Hawaii, three years in Indonesia, his infrequent but important link to his Kenyan father, and his mother's strong influence. It is a story of breaking away. My only criticism is the amount of detail given to Obama's visit to Kenya as a young adult and his visits with family and friends as he sought more information about a father that he never really knew. Though a bit tedious wading through the family tree at the end, the detail helps to define the Obama that would later make a successful run for the Presidency. Overall, an excellent book.
    • 4/5
      I'd been meaning to read this for ages, but all 27 copies were checked out for months around the election, and I only recently came back to it. I'm glad I did, though. It's a good book in its own right - Obama's family history and childhood were about as crazy as you get, really - but reading it now adds an extra layer. I just hope he writes another memoir after his stint in the Oval Office.
    • 4/5
      Interesting but a little depressing at times. He's very honest and the thought that he might get to be US President had obviously never entered his head. There is too much detail at some points but it is meant to be a memoir and not a novel.
    • 2/5
      Disappointed.
    • 1/5
      annoying & boring. Couldn't even finish it.
    • 5/5
      Obama rocks!
    • 4/5
      Written years before Obama's presidency, this was an interesting book to read as Obama's final term in the White House ended and Donald Trump's began. This story provides clues to Obama's early life, loosely covering his birth through his entrance to Harvard Law School, and tackles the subjects of racial identity and family. As a man of both white and black ancestry, Obama's search for identity and his ultimate embrace of the American black community are especially poignant. A good read and one which helps to provide a better understanding of the man who was the first black president.
    • 4/5
      Narrated by President Barack Obama. I enjoyed this book more than "Audacity of Hope" which to me was just the presidential campaign all over again. This was much more personal: he describes his life growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia, his college years, the community iorganizing in Chicago, and significantly, his trip to Kenya to meet his father's people. Through his retrospective he tries to gain an understanding of his various identities: as a man of color, as a black man who didn't really understand what being black in America meant, as a boy growing up without a father. Entertaining highlight: Obama imitates the Kenyan accent. Bonus material: his speech at the 2004 Democrat convention.
    • 2/5
      I was really looking forward to reading this but just couldnt really get myself to keep reading it. Read about 1/2
    • 5/5
      A well-written book by a possible future president. Because it was written before his political aspirations were realized at any level, it is surprisingly open and honest about his experiences during his childhood and adolescence. it is also an interesting story simply from the perspective of cultural understanding and the challenges facing any community. I would certainly recommend it it to those who are curious about who Barack Obama is, and would also suggest it to those who are dealing with inter-cultural challenges and questions about raising children with mixed racial backgrounds.
    • 3/5
      Certainly a better than average memoir, and shows striking self-awareness.
    • 4/5
      This is a much better book than his follow on Audacity book. He paints an enlightening picture of race, politics and life in America.
    • 4/5
      I take Obama much more seriously as a potential president after reading this book. He has a depth of experience, and a thoughtfulness, that I never would have expected. Growing up a mixed-race child in Hawaii and Indonesia, organizing in Black projects of Chicago, visiting his relations in Kenya -- he has seen a lot. And he writes about it in a compelling narrative.
    • 4/5
      Obama does a good job of explaining how he got to be the candidate we see today; it's tough to believe that he didn't have politics in mind when he wrote the book back in the early 90's. First section on Hawaii shows his caucasian-influenced background, with lack of any real black role models except one friend of his grandfather's. Second part on his time as an organizer in Chicago goes directly to the "Yes, we can!" theme of this year's campaign. The final third, on exploring his roots in Africa, is more personal than candidate-related; the "third world" wouldn't be an abstract for him as his closest relatives are there.
    • 5/5
      The autobiography of Barack Obama, is an introduction to the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee. Obama lived an interesting life and this book tarces his life. It is amazing how some in the media mislead what Obama has written. And blame him for decision his parents made. The fact that despite all that Obama had going against him he worked hard to make his life mean something to himself and others.
    • 4/5
      Regardless of your political leanings, this book is a great insight into a man who has led a truly extraordinary life. The book is simply Obama's story, and has very little politics within it. I found it refreshing to hear so much voice from a politician, as usually their books tend to fall a little flat.Obama's book could have used a little better editing, but ultimately it doesn't seem to matter very much as you'll get caught up in the story. I loved this book because of the sheer honest, straightforwardness of it, and it's one of my favorite reads this year, even though I don't think it's quite deserving of 5 star rating.
    • 5/5
      For those who are looking for an Obama political tract, forget it, try the Audacity of Hope, or read his speeches on the Obama website. This book is something different, something special. He is a wonderful writer, who occasionally travels unnecessarily off on tangents. Dreams from My Father is intensely autobiographical and breathtakingly honest, as Obama shares his unusual (for a politician) childhood, his drug use, and his experience as a community organizer in the South Side of Chicago. The last part of the book shares his visit to Kenya and the search for his father's past, meeting his brothers and sisters, his father's other wives, and coping with the bitterness and disappointment of his father and grandfather as they tried to improve themselves in the white man's world. I think we learn a lot about Barack Obama in this book. His experiences, his views, his life's journey are not simple. His understanding of himself, and his very unique life journey is filled with bumps, disappointment and even failure, but always he seemed to marshal his strengths, his intelligence and his ability to understand and learn from these drawbacks, and move on. Dreams From Our Fathers should give hope to all that read it that should this man be elected president, his tenure will not be filled with sound bites and partisan rancor. Rather, in his writing we see a man who can see multiple perspectives and assemble the support to solve problems.
    • 4/5
      Written long before Obama was elected to the senate, this is a memoir of his early years growing up bi-racial. I found his detailed account of his exploration of race and identity to be fascinating. It was a thoughtful look at how we unconsciously accept both internal and external stereotypes.
    • 5/5
      I should have read this a long time ago! This thoughtful and lovely description of the author's life helps convey his careful articulation of growing up as a person of many heritages in a globalized world. Reading this book makes you think in a nuanced way about our society even as you enjoy the story.
    • 4/5
      Barack recounts life growing up with and without his father, of moving to different places, and of growing up. His work in the communities and his time at Harvard. All while making grand discoveries about himself and his world.
    • 4/5
      In the summer of 2004, we had just returned to the U.S. after 4 years in England. Those years had been a time of change and turmoil in my home country. We were eager to reconnect with, and understand, the political landscape and the people who would shape the future. At the Democratic National Convention in August, a "young" (my age) politician named Barack Obama gave an inspired keynote address that left me both awestruck and hopeful. When I came across Obama's book at a library book sale recently, I thought it was time to learn more about the man behind the powerful rhetoric. First published in 1992, Dreams from my Father describes Obama's childhood, his early career as a community organizer, and his first visit to Kenya, his father's homeland. In one respect, this book is about a search for identity, with Obama exploring his "uneasy status: a Westerner not entirely at home in the West, an African on his way to a land full of strangers." (p. 301) As part of this search, Obama gains an increasing awareness of race issues in American society: - A friend of his grandfather's, as Obama was preparing to leave his home in Hawaii for college: "They'll give you a corner office and invite you to fancy dinners, and tell you you're a credit to your race. Until you want to actually start running things, and then they'll yank your chain and let you know that you may be a well-trained, well-paid nigger, but you're a nigger just the same." (p. 97). - Describing a campaign by the Nation of Islam to sell branded products: "The the POWER campaign sputtered said something about the difficulty that faced any black business -- the barriers to entry, the lack of finance, the leg up that your competitors possessed after having kept you out of the game for over three hundred years." (p. 201) - On those in Chicago who had marched for civil rights and yet, "...at some point had realized that power was unyielding and principles unstable, and that even after laws were passed and lynchings ceased, the closest thing to freedom would still involve escape, emotional if not physical, away from ourselves, away from what we knew, flight into the outer reaches of the white man's empire -- or closer into its bosom." (p. 277) And then, we gain insight into Obama's ideals and his motivation for studying law after his visit to Kenya: "The study of law can be disappointing at times, a matter of applying narrow rules and arcane procedure to an uncooperative reality ... But that's not all the law is. The law is also a memory; the law also records a long-running conversation, a nation arguing with its conscience. ... I hear the voices of Japanese families interned behind barbed wire; young Russian Jews cutting patterns in the Lower East Side sweatshops .... I hear the voices of people in Altgeld Gardens, and the voices of those who stand outside this country's borders ... all of them asking the very same questions that have come to shape my life ... What is our community, and how might that community be reconciled with our freedom? How far do our obligations reach? How do we transform mere power into justice, mere sentiment into love? The answers I find in law books don't always satisfy me ... And yet, in the conversation itself, in the joining of voices, I find myself modestly encouraged, believing that so long as the questions are still being asked, what binds us together might somehow, ultimately, prevail." (p. 437-438). Obama keeps the "plot" moving along. Although many of the characters are not fully developed. I had to keep reminding myself this is a memoir, not a novel. And since this book was written long before Obama's run for the U.S. Presidency, it has a certain authenticity. I found it an extremely well-written and interesting portrait of an emerging political leader. It also offers insight into issues of race in America, and African American culture, and is a worthwhile read for this reason alone.
    • 5/5
      Dreams of my father was published ten years ago, but this year it is a piece of campaign literature. Obama is very frank about the characterics of his African family as well as his American family. Certainly no other presidental candidate in the history of the United States could or would have written such a document. Even if he is neither the ultimate Democrat candidate or elected president this book will remain an important document of American history and instructional for future generations in understanding the American people in the 20th and early 21st centuries.
    • 4/5
      While the book went on too long in some areas for my liking, this is a well written, no holds barred, moving account of the early life of Barack Obama. I couldn't help thinking, just one chapter in, how remarkable it is that this man talking so openly and honestly about race in america is about to be the president of the united states. Unprecedented.
    • 4/5
      Purchased from a remainder table at my Australian favorite bookshop just as the race for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election was hotting up. I enjoyed this account a lot and found it illuminated for me some of the issues for young African-Americans.Most importantly Obama comes across as essentially honest. He is insightful and intelligent and together with his unequivocal stand against the Iraq war is my clear preference for the nomination and the presidency.
    • 5/5
      I purchased this book with the hope that it would give me some insight into a person I believe may be the best candidate for the office of President of the United States of America I have seen in my lifetime. I didn't expect to find a book so well written that I would find it hard to put down; an autobiography that reads like a best-selling novel. I found the insights I was hoping for and developed a profound sense of respect for Barack.... for his accomplishments, for his experiences, for his dreams. I do not know what the future holds for this man, but I hope, for all our sakes, that he accomplishes just one percent of his goals in his lifetime. If he does, the world will be a better place for it. To those of you who doubt Mr. Obama's capabilities, question his experience, oppose him for whatever reason.... I implore you to take the time to read this book and then make an informed decision. Don't write this book off as political propaganda, realize that he wrote this before he displayed political ambitions and that it is likely quite accurate in the portrayal of his personality and beliefs. Come at this with an open mind and it may just be that you'll come away with your mind changed about Barack. Then again, perhaps not. Either way, you'll definitely learn a few things along the way.