Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Dreams from My Father A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (based on 380 customer reviews)

(Paperback)
Author: Barack Obama
Publisher: Three Rivers Press

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Most useful review as voted by customers:
307 out of 344 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 8/31/04

Inspiring Life Story...Somewhat Less Than Complete

U.S. Senate hopeful Barack Obama has an inspiring story to share, and yet he doesn't simply rest on his laurels in this critical evaluation of his life and in his continuing search for himself as a black American. He wrote "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" almost ten years ago, but his stock has obviously surged since his star-making speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, perhaps to the chagrin of Hillary Clinton...unless she is dreaming of a Clinton-Obama ticket in 2008! Growing up mulatto in Hawaii and Indonesia, Obama discusses trying to come to grips with his racial identity through a period of rebellion that included drug use, becoming a community activist in Chicago and traveling to Kenya to understand his father's past. It is in Kenya where he discovers a nation with 400 different tribes, each of them saddled with stereotypes of the others. It is also in Kenya where he recognizes the dichotomy that has been his lifelong existence between the graves of his father and his grandfather. His description of this defining moment is worthy of a passage in Alex Haley's "Roots".

Obama is also candid about racism, poverty and corruption in Chicago, and he pulls no punches in his account of this period. Because the book stops in 1995, it does not get into much detail on his learning experiences, culminating in both missteps and triumphs, as a state legislator. For all the value the book provides on Obama's history, I would have appreciated a more substantive update than the preface on the last decade, as he gained political prominence in Illinois, so that we understand more why his time in the spotlight has come at this moment. Perhaps that will be Volume 2. I was also disappointed he spent so little time writing about his mother and the influence her side of the family has had on him, a narrative gap Obama acknowledges and over which he expresses regret in the preface. Perhaps inclusion of such details would have made for a less compelling story from his originally intended Afro-centric perspective; but at the same time, I think a more balanced look at his own racial dichotomy would have made his story resonate all the more given where he is now.

Obama is open in the preface about using changed names and composite characters to expedite the flow and ensure privacy of those around him, but it does somewhat lessen the impact of his story when one starts to wonder who was real and who was a fictionalized character. Regardless of these literary devices, this book is still a very worthwhile look into the background of someone who is on a major upward trajectory in the current national political scene.

256 out of 353 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/28/04

Eloquent, Insightful, Inspiring -- Just Like The Man

I've had the privilege to meet Barack Obama, and to read 'Dreams From My Father' several years ago. For those who have just discovered Barack after his convention keynote speech, what you saw was only the tip of the iceberg. This is an immmensely talented, complex, intelligent and inspiring man on so many levels. As eloquent as his speech was, his book is equally so, and offers insights into how, as he put it, 'the skinny boy with the funny name' has evolved. I can only hope there will be many more books from Barack, who promises to be one of the most exciting politicians of the 21st century.

56 out of 75 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 1/3/01

A Surprise Find

I highly recommend this book to almost everyone. It should really get more attention!

The writing is thoughtful and interesting, and the subject matter unique. The book follows Barack Obama as he grows up and defines himself and his view of the world, as he finds the community that he wants to count himself a member of. In the end that "community" is really the community of humanity, but this book takes you on Barack's journey.

The author examines his heritage of white, midwesterners on his mother's side and later in the book explores the world of his father, a Kenya of the Luo tribe who came to the U.S. to study. Three parts of the book I found especially well done. First, the evocation of what it was like to be in Barack's head as a young black man with few black role models in his life and the difficult philosophical (internal) conversation of the African-American community defining itself in white America. Second, his work as a community organizer in Chicago really dealt well with the complex problems of declining inner cities. Third, the idealization of his absent father by both himself and his mother and the gradual discovery of the real character of his father and grandfather.

Overall, this book was about his struggle to be true to himself and to figure out what that meant.

33 out of 40 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 5/30/06

Not What You'd Expect

So like any number of other American disaffected from the political process and the culture of corruption these days in Washington, I picked up Barack Obama's autobiography in hopes of finding someone to believe in for the future. I'm not going to say I was disappointed, but the book wasn't your typical "I'm going to run for President someday, listen to my ideas" story either. In fact, much of it isn't political at all, rather it is a well written, sometimes interesting, sometimes fascinating story about Obama's life from Hawaii to Indonesia to Chicago to Kenya.

Pay more attention to the subtitle than the title, as Obama very carefully develops his credibility on issues of race, and I was left with the impression that he may be one of the few who can speak with authority and eloquence on immigration, family, and the issue of black-white race relations that has haunted our country for so long. He just might be someone who can start the healing process if given the chance.

The other aspect of this book I enjoyed the most was how refreshingly honest it is. No political editing, no glossed over sections. Obama very clearly states what he did and didn't do, what his regrets are, and what he has learned from his mistakes.

And couldn't we all use a little bit of honesty and eloquence from our leaders about now?

Some say Obama is a rising star. I hope so. I gave it four stars because it gets a little long winded in places, but it is still a very good read.

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