Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance | 
 enlarge | Creator: Barack Obama
Publisher: Random House Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $15.16
You Save: $10.79 (42%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  281 reviews
Sales Rank: 6070
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.2 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0739321005
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780739321003
ASIN: 0739321005
Publication Date: May 3, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
Includes the senator's speech from the 2004 Democratic National Convention!
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 276 more reviews...
 I won't vote for him, but I vote for this true-life story. September 7, 2008
Every voter should read this book, because everyone should know who it is they are voting for or against. What defines this candidate? Not merely a set of position papers. In my case, I am voting against Senator Obama. That does not make his book any less valuable and compelling. Now more than ever I know why I am making another choice.
Some of Obama's musings in between the strictly narrative sections can be a bit ponderous. The scenes of his life, as described in this book, are full of detail, highly readable, novel-like. As such, they strike me as having been embellished, because only a man with photographic memory could accurately remember conversations and thoughts and feelings in such detail. However, I'll give Obama the benefit of the doubt that these scenes are truthfully described according to his overall memory. And frankly, I doubt the book would be as readable if such fine details were not included, whether they are strictly accurate to the letter or not.
I see a parallel between Obama's life history and his political philosophy. Obama longed to know his absent father. Obama looks to government as more than "Uncle Sam." Government is to be Daddy to us all. Progressives may sympathize with this view, and libertarians/conservatives will recoil from it. Nevertheless, Obama's early "community organizer" days are well-covered in this book, and from the start Obama looked upon government as a solution to nearly every problem (housing, schooling, jobs, health, etc.). It is unclear to me what evidence leads Obama to believe this can ever truly lift poor minorities out of their miseries, when it seems so clear that character and lifestyle choices can undermine any gifts or advantages the government may bestow on poor communities. And that without families -- read intact families with present, functional fathers -- most poor children will never reach their full potential, unlike Mr. Obama.
Also, it is clear from the description of Barack's first service in Jeremiah Wright's church in chapter 14 that Barack was fully aware of the reverend's "blame the white man" tendencies from the start. Those tendencies may not have been addressed then in the offensive manner that ultimately got so much media attention, but the die was plainly cast. Did Wright really bring Obama literally to tears with that first sermon? I believe he may have, as described in the book.
There's no way any of us can really walk in Obama's shoes, but this book is the next best thing. Barack describes an inside view of what it was like to grow up black in American society, yet also feeling an outsider because of his multinational, multiracial origins and upbringing. It is good for all of us, of all political persuasions, to understand those kinds of struggles, and to honor Senator Obama for all he has overcome, and for his intentions to try to change things for the better.
How the reader ultimately views Obama's methods for achieving such change will depend a lot on the philosophical premises he or she brings to the reading. Still, this book is an effective tool for understanding the origin of candidate Obama's personal ambitions and his politics, whether you like them or not. Further, it serves as a sore reminder of the mental and emotional plague that is inflicted on children when their fathers are distant or completely missing in action. If only all men could understand that before they become fathers!
Barack Obama is a rich man now. For writing this book, he deserves to be. There are lessons for all of us here.
Regina's Soul September 6, 2008
Barack Obama is an incredible story teller. Reading "Dreams from My Father" was a most enlightening experience. By the time we got to Africa I felt like Obama was a dear friend sharing his life with me. Meeting family for the first time in Africa felt like me going home to meet my ancestors. The reading was delicious and I didn't want it to end. I urge my family and friends to meet the man who is making history and spend some quality time with him. It feels honest and it's so obvious that it was written before there were any presidential aspirations. A documented story of a man before any publicity spin.
A peak inside the man. September 6, 2008
I have officially drank the cool-aide and think Obama is fantastic. Superbly written, wonderful insights into modern racial issues soulful and deeply honest. He has my vote!
 i loved it but it took me forever September 5, 2008
i love this book and i think the writing is amazing. idont know how he found time to write all of this but it was amazing. on the other hand it took me foreever. esepily the chacogo part. it was still amazing
 Disappointing September 5, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read this book because I wanted to know more about Obama. I wanted (and expected) to like him, but unfortunately I was disappointed. This book has a very whiny, "poor me" kind of tone. Not to say that black people don't have a tough time, but there seems to be a lot of blaming "the white man" and "white folks" in general. News flash: we "white folks" don't just sit around plotting how we can make black folks' lives difficult.
Recommended reading: The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes
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