Written before he launched his political career, Barack Obama describes his early life in Hawaii and Indonesia, his college career, and his days as a community organizer in Chicago - all influenced by the dreams of the father he never really knew.
My thoughts
I'm generally leery of political biographies or books by politicians in general, but I was interested in Dreams from My Father because it was written before Obama was elected to public office. I figured that meant it wouldn't be skewed by a political agenda. I'm glad I read it because it's a very honest, thoughtful book about a young man finding his place in the world and confronting some of the most divisive aspects of life in the United States.
Obama had a unique childhood. He was born in Hawaii to a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. His parents divorced when he was young and his father pursued a doctorate at Harvard before returning to Kenya. His mother stayed in Hawaii before moving with her son to Indonesia. Obama returned to Hawaii to attend Punahou, the top private school in the state. From there he decided to attend Occidental College in California and pursued an office career for a while before he pursued his impulse to change the world by becoming a community organizer. Throughout his childhood and young adulthood, Obama struggled with his identity, and the book closes with his poignant trip to Kenya to visit his father's family.
It's an amazing journey, one that makes his subsequent career from community organizer to president of the United States almost mundane by comparison.
Bottom line
This is an important book to read if you want to learn more about Barack Obama, American race relations, or white colonialism in Africa.
Fine print
Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama
Genre: memoir
Photo from Goodreads
I bought this book as a birthday present for myself ... in 2008 (and I just got around to reading it).
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