Totally fascinating. Amazing.A friend had recommended I listen to this on CD. Obama reads it himself, and he won for a Grammy for it. I ended up reading it because I don't spend enough time in my car to get through the CD in a reasonable time. But I would love to go back and listen to it.
It's incredible to see Obama's history, especially knowing where he is now. The difficulties he had to navigate, the complexity of his life. He wrote this in 1995, before getting into politics, so it feels less polished and packaged than campaign memoirs do. And I'm amazed at how unsentimentally he's able to write about his past - about issues he was struggling with, about actions he is now embarrassed by. I know I couldn't be so dispassionate about my own history.
The book has greater resonance than just the story of the man who became President. It talks about identity formation and group connection and finding one's way in the world.
Plus, wow he can write.
Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Barack Obama
1995, 2004
Available from Amazon
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