Book #28: Dreams from My Father

The book: Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

What is this book about: This book, which was written in 1995, is a memoir of where Barack Obama came from, and the struggles he faced in trying to determine exactly where it is he did come from. He had a pretty big identity crisis because he did not know who his father was, or where he came from, and the absence of his father left him with confusion about how to be a black man in this day and age. The book traces his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, his college years in LA and New York, his early work as a community organizer in Chicago, and finally, his trip to Kenya to see the family he had never met.

Why did I read this book: Well, to be perfectly honest, I thought that if Barack didn’t get the nomination in a few months, then there might not be much reason to read this book anymore, so I wanted to read it before it became less relevant. That thought may be true of The Audacity of Hope, but not so of this book, because it’s a really interesting look at race, and you could read it without caring that the person exploring these issue of race and class and identity was running for president or not. Well, it probably helps a little that he is.

What did I think of this book: It’s really well-written. The language really struck me. Sometimes I had a problem with the way one anecdote with a minor character was supposed to show how Barack understood something for the first time or how he changed his world view, but everyone does that in memoirs, I guess. Overall, it’s a really striking portrait of a guy that doesn’t know who he is or where he belongs (something that most people can identify with on some level) made all the more intense by the questions about race and class that he is confronting.

What was my favorite part of this book: On page 203 Barack used the word “legerdemain” and it’s a word you don’t see much in books (well, I don’t), and I really enjoyed that moment. There were several really well-written and poetic passages of the book that would probably constitute my favorite part, but it would be hard to find the best one now, so I have to use one that’s from near the end:
“They both disturbed and comforted me, those trees that looked as if they might uproot themselves and simply walk away, were it not for the knowledge that on this earth one place is not so different from another—the knowledge that one moment carries within it all that’s gone on before” (437).

What did I learn from this book: I learned a lot about where Barack Obama came from, but I was left struck by how much I didn’t know. How did this guy who was really only beginning to come out of a fog of self-doubt and just beginning to understand the concepts of hope and faith decide that he had what it takes to become president? To be fair, that wasn’t the question of this book; this book was written in 1995 and the political stuff came later. So next I will read The Audacity of Hope and let you know how it all turns out.

What grade do I give this book: B