Book Description
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.
Customer Reviews:
warning.......2007-10-09
great read, but once you're done there's no way you could look at this man the same way again.
"PT 109" for the 21st Century.......2007-10-08
As my readers will know, I am a tough critic, but I can find precious little about "Dreams from my Father" to criticize. Of course, the book will not appeal to those who don't care about race in America, or who have extremely fixed ideas about the subject. I like to think though that the majority of the reading public at least (if not the general public) are both engaged with and to some extent open-minded about our nation's central bugaboo/crisis/character flaw.
An editorial review mentioned that Obama's mother is almost absent from the book. To some extent he may have taken her somewhat for granted -- unlike his father or himself, he always had a good idea who she was and what she was about. In the preface to this edition, Obama mentions that she has died of cancer between the original publication and his nomination for U. S. Senate from Illinois, and that if he had known she would not be around to see that, he might have written a different book, spending more time hailing her for having stood by him. In the introduction to the first edition (written in 1995), he admits that he can't speak for everyone in the world. This is the most ironic part of the book, since it was only a year after that that he first ran for the Illinois state legislature. Thereafter, he has increasingly been compelled to try to do just that.
Although finding oneself has become a cliche, especially in the literary world, it was Barack Obama's mission for the first thirty years of his life. Defined as a black man, he sought to make his race more than a social construct, but something central and ineffable, and at the same time not cut off his ties to the rest of humanity, particularly his white mother and grandparents. He doesn't take his mother completely for granted -- he spends thirty to fifty pages talking about her background and that of her parents, who moved from Kansas to Hawaii, seeing it as the last frontier, when she was about to start college. Another one hundred pages or so explore his life with them in Hawaii (with a short stint in Indonesia, where his mother married a man who had studied in America and gave birth to Obama's half-sister Maya).
Readers of any race will be overwhelmed by the sheer power of Obama's writing. I choked up reading this several times. That is ultimately the best reason to read it, not the fact that Barack Obama has become a serious candidate for the presidency. This book also helps you figure out how he did that. The only thing he feels more keenly than his own hopes and fears are the hopes and fears of everyone around him. At the end of the book, having learned the whole story of his father's and grandfather's lives, he stands over their graves and weeps, feeling what they must have felt at each turning point of their lives. Although Obama is quintessentially American, I somehow would not be surprised, given the epiphany he had there, if he chose upon his death to be buried in Kenya alongside them. But perhaps my sympathy is making me romanticize the man.
This book leaves me with two regrets and one big hope. First, it is probably unfilmable. Second, there is one man running with even more vision and courage than Barack Obama, so I won't be able to vote for him in the primary election (although I will in the general if he is the candidate). My big hope is that Obama will write a third book in 2017, having waited eleven years between books as he did between his first and second, that will combine the autobiography he did with this book and the political manifesto he did with "The Audacity of Hope" (a phrase which you have to read "Dreams from my Father" to know Obama doesn't take credit for). Although I haven't finished the latter book, there is basically no way it could top this one. I give it my highest recommendation.
Moving, eloquent and inspirational..........2007-09-26
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama is a moving, eloquent and honest book that was originally published in 1995. This is an amazing story, and not just because he is a presidential candidate. Although autobiographical in scope, it is not intended to be a complete history of the author's life. Instead, it is "a boy's search for his father."
Barack Obama had a most unusual childhood. His mother was a white American living in Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was a brilliant black Kenyan who received a college scholarship to the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two, his father graduated college and received a scholarship to obtain his PhD at Harvard. Unfortunately, the scholarship did not include living expenses for his family, and this proved the end of the marriage. After that, Obama only saw his father one more time before being killed in an auto accident when Obama was 21. Obama's mother subsequently married a man from Indoesia, where Obama lived for several years. But that marriage also ended and Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Dreams from My Father also includes Obama's college experiences, as well as the work he did as an organizer in Chicago.
The most moving part of Dreams from My Father involves his trip to Kenya for the first time several years after his father died. As a youth, he describes the reaction of others when they discover his background "Privately, they guess at my troubled heart, I supposed--the mixed blood, the divided soul, the ghostly image of a tragic mulatto trapped between two worlds." In Kenya, he meets his African family including grandparents, half-brothers and sisters, step-mothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. At the Kenyan airport, an airport employee recognizes his name and knew his father. "For the first time in my life, I felt the comfort, the firmness of identity that a name might provide, how it could carry an entire history in other people's memories...My name belonged and so I belonged." I was also moved by Obama's discovery of faith.
Even if Obama was not a presidential candidate for the 2008 election, Dreams is still an eloquent and inspirational story about his search for his father and his efforts to reconcile the histories of this white and black families.
A worthy memoir of Obama's complicated early life.......2007-09-06
Due to its multi-section arrangement, falling into three precise stages, this book feels like a well-paced coming-of-age novel, an impression buoyed by the fact that, to a degree that is unusual for politicians, Obama can actually write well. If you are looking for information on what policies Obama would support as a presidential candidate, you should look elsewhere. However, the book does give the impression that the writer is unusually forthright, both about himself and his beliefs.
Watching Obama's attitudes on race evolve is one of the key points of interest in the book, and the reader comes away with a picture of a man who is both reflective and self-critical. It is somewhat apparent that the author was not running for office at the time the book was written, and yes, it (very briefly) mentions his now infamous flirtation with cocaine use. However, if you want to read a portrait of the man, if not his political platform, and interested in the struggles of someone growing up in between two different cultures, this book is well worth reading.
just great.......2007-08-17
Obama wrote his memoirs of his growing up some years ago (and with his political career I expect he'll be writing them again in twenty or so years). It is an honest book about a remarkable man who had a remarkable life. Nothing political about it.
Product Description
2 BARACK OBAMA Books - 1) - Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, Revised Edition, (Softcover) / 2) - The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, (Hardcover) , in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one
package to save on shipping costs.
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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.(Book Review) : An article from: Florida Bar Journal
C.D. Rogers
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Release Date: 2005-11-10 |
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Citation Details
Title: Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.(Book Review)
Author: C.D. Rogers
Publication:
Florida Bar Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 79
Issue: 9
Page: 83(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Weekly Standard, published by Thomson Gale on February 12, 2007. The length of the article is 3888 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Literary Obama; From eloquent memoir to Democratic boilerplate.(Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama)(The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama)(Book review)
Author: Andrew Ferguson
Publication:
The Weekly Standard (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 12, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 12
Issue: 21
Page: NA
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
Original Contributions to Intelligence Reform Dialog.......2003-01-04
I stumbled across the reviews of this book by chance, and was quite stunned to see what almost appears to be an orchestrated trashing of what I regard as a useful barometer of informed professional opinion.
Yes, some of the authors and some of the views of the authors are relatively conventional, but by and large I am not only quite pleased to have this book in my library, I find that the thoughts of Jennifer Sims, Douglas MacEachin, and Robert Kohler, and Britt Snider, to name just four--I like the others as well--are as essential a starting point for reform as the more radical ideas of myself, Senator Shelby, Senator Rudman, or others.
Bottom line: Roy Godson and these people have been troubled by intelligence ineffectiveness, and have done more than most to publish in this arena, than anyone else I know. This book is not the end all, but it is a vital historical reference point for any serious professional. I would not reprint it, but I would certainly recommend it as a used book acquisition, and I hope that a new set of authors comes together to provide a 21st Century "second look" in the aftermath of 9-11. In the meantime, I would point folks toward Godson's "Dirty Tricks or Trump Cards," Allen's "None So Blind," and Zegart's "Flawed by Design," inter alia. If you want a list of my top 20 recommended books, send me an email.
"Intelligence Guys Are Us" and Without Original Thought.......1998-06-03
Insightless read for even current civilian, military intelligence or academia. All of the authors are FORMER intelligence officials, and as the saying goes-even if you reshuffel a deck of card, the same cards, or in this case, the same thoughts will remain. This book speaks out for only one clear reform-new blood in the United States and Allied Nations Intelligence Services. Can the authors all say- "original thought"? I think not.
National Security with Dust. Good history but DOA.......1998-05-28
Roy and Ernie-professors of intelligence think the Cold War is raging, and given the sorry refocus they provide for even the Intelligence professional, this book is not going to help anyone in understanding how the U.S. Intel Services can best redistribute there efforts.
Don't try this one unless you are a student of the Intelligence process. And, if you are under 50 with your brain one line, you will quickly see these Cold Warriors sre simply trying to reinvent theselves. While the Soviet Dragon was slain at the end of the Cold War, the authors claim the rather harmless snakes in the grass are just that. Enter Saddam. These snakes have grown legs and are dangerous. Fossil-write will note solve current national security problems.
StupidHuhIdiotTrash.......1996-09-02
This books really bit the dust. Crappy stuff and not that well written. I wish it was more inclusive of the JFK involvement, at least that is somethng we have learned from. Don't buy
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U.S. Intelligence at the Crossroads: An Agenda for Reform
Manufacturer: New Discovery Books
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- A Wonderful Book
- In the name of Iran
- Lessons from Machiavelli
- The complete works of a man we all know - or do we?
- Humour and Virtue from Machiavelli?
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The Portable Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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ASIN: 0140150927 |
Customer Reviews:
A Wonderful Book.......2006-09-19
Here it is, Machiavelli's work in its sinister glory for all to behold. The truth of man's corruption and dishonesty is exposed for all the world to see.
The wise Florentine is not to be blamed and scandalised for lifting the veil on the
cesspool of politics, religion and royalty. No, he is to be congratulated for summarising the dastardly deeds committed by Popes, Princes, Kings and Emperors. Without Machiavelli to set us right, some of us may believe politics is a noble profession.
Use "The Portable Machiavelli" to see through the hazy rhetoric used by spin doctors, or as a tool to aid effective management strategies, or simply for entertainment purposes.
If you are unfamiliar with Machiavelli's work then prepare yourself for a shock. It's not a guidebook for tyrants, as many commentators may suggest, it's more of a literary equivalent of smelling salts. Once we have read Machiavelli's work we awaken with a clearer idea of the reality around us.
In the name of Iran.......2006-04-04
Machiavelli was only political philosopher who introduced political doctrines to a ruler.
He had a famouse statement: a prince must have qualities of two beasts, a fox to identify deception and a lion in order to engage confrantion with a enemy.
Lessons from Machiavelli .......2005-02-24
Lessons from Machiavelli
1)He who hesitates as a ruler is lost
2) Mercenary armies are never to be trusted. To rule securely one must have a defense force made of one's own people.
3) Christian virtue is the opposite of political wisdom.
4) A government of one type, whether it be monarchy, oligarchy, or democracy will become corrupt. 'Mixed government is good government.'
5) A ruler must be ruthless with his enemies.
6) Inflexibility for a ruler will inevitably lead to failure.
7) There are times it is wise to negotiate. Machiavelli felt his beloved Florence was conquered by the Spaniards only because the Florentines refused at a time propitious to them , negotiations.
8) The ancient Greeks and Romans ruled at times more wisely than the city- state Italians of his own times.
9) 'Courage does help make ' Fortune' but Fortune is nonetheless fickle and unreliable even to the brave.
10) It is better for a ruler to be feared than to be loved.
11) Political murder is justified when it leads to the preservation of the polity.
12)Even the greatest of men are subject to Fortune.
13) The study of ancient socieites and history gives relevant lessons for present political behavior.
14)If one does not have an Army one cannot preserve one's power.
15)The political task of Religion is inspiration of public loyalty.
16) The commonwealth, the political entity is more important than the individual.
17)
The complete works of a man we all know - or do we?.......2004-11-17
We all learned about him in elementary school: some author in the early Renaissance who wrote a book on governing that included such phrases as "the end justifies the means" and "it is better to be feared than love." From that education, one would think this is a man who would adore such leaders as Hitler who used their political prowess to get to the top. After purchasing and reading this collection, however, I have come to one conclusion: any one who speaks of Machiavelli that way has never read Machiavelli.
Edited and translated by Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa, "The Portable Machiavelli" not only gives the casual reader a chance to read different personal and professional works of Machiavelli, but also strives to do away with many of the myths that have plagued the man's posthumous fame. For example, the famous "the ends justifies the means" quote is actually a gross exaggeration of what Machiavelli originally wrote, which was "in the actions of all men...when there is no impartial arbiter, one must consider the final result." The biggest counterargument Bondanella and Musa can supply is the simple fact that they include a less famous piece Machiavelli did called "The Discourses." This piece is often not mentioned or even casually footnoted because it presents the true Machiavelli - a man who was supportive of a Republic government run by the citizens. Any one who believes Machiavelli is a supporter of despots will be surprised to read him speaking in support for fair and public trials and a balance of power between rulers and their people.
Even if you already know the above, this is still a good read. Machiavelli presents some fine insight into government not only in the Renaissance (which, in fact, "The Prince" was meant to do) but also for the future. "The Discourses" offers insight into how to manage a Republic and its laws, while presenting past examples (many times from the ancient Romans or even Medieval history) and arguments against those that might protest a Republican form of government. Footnotes and editor notes through out the book offer insight into what Machiavelli refers to or means in specific passages - even pointing out a half-truth in one chapter. Even if you disagree with Machiavelli or the purpose he stands for, he presents his points in a well-meaning, educated manner and you can't help but read and be fascinated.
This is a wonderful collection and I would highly recommend it to either fans of Machiavelli, as well as those interested in government or Medieval history. It was certainly worth my money and time.
Humour and Virtue from Machiavelli?.......2004-07-08
In the course of my political science training, I studied at great length the modern idea of realpolitik. In that study I came to realise that it was somewhat incomplete, without the companionship of 'The Prince', by Niccolo Machiavelli, a Florentine governmental official in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. 'The Prince' is an oft quoted, oft mis-quoted work, used as the philosophical underpinning for much of what is considered both pragmatic and wrong in politics today. To describe someone as being Machiavellian is to attribute to the person ruthless ambition, craftiness and merciless political tactics. Being believed to be Machiavellian is generally politically incorrect. Being Machiavellian, alas, can often be politically expedient.
Machiavelli based his work in 'The Prince' upon his basic understanding of human nature. He held that people are motivated by fear and envy, by novelty, by desire for wealth, power and security, and by a hatred of restriction. In the Italy in which he was writing, democracy was an un-implemented Greek philosophical idea, not a political structure with a history of success; thus, one person's power usually involved the limitation of another person's power in an autocratic way.
Machiavelli did not see this as a permanent or natural state of being -- in fact, he felt that, during his age, human nature had been corrupted and reduced from a loftier nobility achieved during the golden ages of Greece and Rome. He decided that it was the corrupting influence of Christianity that had reduced human nature, by its exaltation of meekness, humility, and otherworldliness.
Machiavelli has a great admiration for the possible and potential, but finds himself inexorably drawn to the practical, dealing with situations as they are, thus becoming an early champion of realpolitik carried forward into this century by the likes of Kissinger, Thatcher, Nixon, and countless others. One of the innovations of Machiavelli's thought was the recognition that the prince, the leader of the city/state/empire/etc., was nonetheless a human being, and subject to all the human limitations and desires with which all contend.
Because the average prince (like the average person) is likely to be focussed upon his own interests, a prince's private interests are generally in opposition to those of his subjects. Fortunate is the kingdom ruled by a virtuous prince, virtue here not defined by Christian or religious tenets, but rather the civic virtue of being able to pursue his own interests without conflicting those of his subjects.
Virtue is that which increases power; vice is that which decreases power. These follow Machiavelli's assumptions about human nature. Machiavelli rejected the Platonic idea of a division between what a prince does and what a prince ought to do. The two principle instruments of the prince are force and propaganda, and the prince, in order to increase power (virtue) ought to employ force completely and ruthlessly, and propaganda wisely, backed up by force. Of course, for Machiavelli, the chief propaganda vehicle is that of religion.
Machiavelli has been credited with giving ruthless strategies (the example of a new political ruler killing the deposed ruler and the ruler's family to prevent usurpation and plotting is well known) -- it is hard to enact many in current politics in a literal way, but many of his strategies can still be seen in electioneering at every level, in national and international relations, and even in corporate and family internal 'politics'. In fact, I have found fewer more Machiavellian types than in church politics!
Of course, these people would be considered 'virtuous' in Machiavellian terms -- doing what is necessary to increase power and authority.
Perhaps if Machiavelli had lived a bit later, and been informed by the general rise of science as a rational underpinning to the world, he might have been able to accept less of a degree of randomness in the universe. Perhaps he would have modified his views. Perhaps not -- after all, the realpolitikers of this age are aware of the scientific framework of the universe, and still pursue their courses.
Bondanella and Musa, professors at my university, use 'The Prince' at the centrepiece of this collection, which also includes excerpts from 'The Art of War', 'The History of Florence', and 'The Discourses'. They also include in their entirety 'Belfagor', 'The Mandrake Root', and 'The Life of Castruccio Castracani of Lucca'. There's also a remarkable and humourous collection of personal correspondence of Machiavelli, showing he had quite a sense of humour. These are only seven out of 250 of his letters known to exist - a collection of all these letters would also be worthwhile reading.
This is a great collection, introduced by an essay by Bondanella and Musa, and a very good bibliography, divided into subjects.
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Infrared Atlas of the Arcturus Spectrum, 0.9-5.3 Microns:
Kenneth Hinkle
Manufacturer: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
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ASIN: 188673304X |
Books:
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- Esencia de Mujer: Rompiendo Barreras Culturales
- Everyday Pediatrics for Parents: A Thoughtful Guide for Today's Families
- Family Affairs: A History of the Family in 20th Century Britain
- Family & Class in a London Suburb
- Father Knows Best: The Expectant Father, Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be; The New Father, A Dad's Guide to the First Year; A Dad's Guide to the Toddler Years (The New Father)
- Finding a Job After 50: Reinvent Yourself for the 21st Century
- First Aid for a Mother's Soul (Charming Petites Series)
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