Dreams from My Father
By Barack Obama
- Release Date: 1995-07-18
- Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS
In this iconic memoir of his early days, Barack Obama “guides us straight to the intersection of the most serious questions of identity, class, and race” (The Washington Post Book World).
“Quite extraordinary.”—Toni Morrison
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.
Praise for Dreams from My Father
“Beautifully crafted . . . moving and candid . . . This book belongs on the shelf beside works like James McBride’s The Color of Water and Gregory Howard Williams’s Life on the Color Line as a tale of living astride America’s racial categories.”—Scott Turow
“Provocative . . . Persuasively describes the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to neither.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Obama’s writing is incisive yet forgiving. This is a book worth savoring.”—Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here
“One of the most powerful books of self-discovery I’ve ever read, all the more so for its illuminating insights into the problems not only of race, class, and color, but of culture and ethnicity. It is also beautifully written, skillfully layered, and paced like a good novel.”—Charlayne Hunter-Gault, author of In My Place
“Dreams from My Father is an exquisite, sensitive study of this wonderful young author’s journey into adulthood, his search for community and his place in it, his quest for an understanding of his roots, and his discovery of the poetry of human life. Perceptive and wise, this book will tell you something about yourself whether you are black or white.”—Marian Wright Edelman
Reviews
Dreams From My Father … Wow
5By Angelica812What an introduction to Barack Houssein Obama, the man who would become a Community Organizer, President of atheism Harvard Law Review, Junior Senator and President of The United States. So amazed with his journey of humble beginnings living in some of the most beautiful places as Hawaii and Indonesia and from the motherland in Africa. It seems his youth prepared him by being able to relate with people from all around the world, so that when he became President he was ready. Such a great and informing read. I enjoyed learning about the dynamics of his family on his Mother and Father’s side. Barack dealt with a lot as a child and his demeanor seemed to be steady, cool and always in thought. He’s a Thinker, Dreamer and a Doer. 🙏🏽 I am grateful to know more about our former #44 President and looking forward to reading his two other books. Thank you President Obama!!! 🇺🇸🇿🇦Great book!!
5By SsjaziSo impactful, must read!👍🏻
5By BenjaminAK Panda kid.Awesome 😎 bookWhat a journey!!! Amazing!!
5By KPaj23This story takes you to so many places in 44th’s narration!!Navigating Personal History
5By Richard BakareThe tapestry of experiences that are put together to form the life of a person is truly amazing. Often we try to create a formulaic life for ourselves and others. Painting by numbers to ensure a final canvass that looks just as we want it to. Doing so, we fail to remember that the fluidity of life and its challenges are character building themselves. Barack Obama’s life is a prime example of how disrupted plans and a myriad of circumstances can take you out of your comfort zone; molding a person worth admiring. I truly respect and admire Obama’s transparency and openness about his life. In particular, I valued the way he layered the nuance that is the complex experience of being a black man in America. Especially, when half of your family is white and couldn’t even begin to understand your struggles. Obama’s early life brings so many joyful and painful memories back for me. The later later experiences that reconnected him with his family, pull firmly on nostalgic threads in my own heart. It was truly inspiring reading a memoir that reminded me so much of the first quarter of my own life, minus the celebrity.Garbage book by a garbage person
1By henryyy.pBadDreams from My Father
5By EKluberIt's refreshingly on point and I can almost hear his voice while reading his written words. I didn't think I would enjoy this, and am quite pleasantly surprised that I did. He spoke(wrote) from the heart. Great insight into his life before he became our 44th President! Incomparable man and the epitome of decency!Good book
4By Sosososoososo awesomeThis book is so goodRead this book years ago
5By Marryme2This is Black History Month If the President of the U.S.A. wanted to write what he felt then I say the truth is like beauty (in the eyes of the beholder) I read all threw school about every Presidents in America and whatever they all was vote in, some was liked some was disliked, that life. I'm proud President Obama you were chosen,so if 100 years pass by my great grand children and their, and so fort will have Black History Month.Exceptional
5By Tamara IbezimI have a reluctance to reading autobiographies because the difficulty of being objective about your life is present. President Barack Obama is one of the most interesting figures of our time and his ability to tell his story with criticism and clarity was inspiring to read. Knowing that this man is our Commander-in-chief fills makes me proud of our potential as a nation and hopeful of the direction we can take-if we choose to do so.
