Wise and profound, Dreams from my Father is Barack Obama's 1995 memoir detailing his journey to understand his place as a man of mixed race and the place of the black race, in America.
Born to a Kenyan father and white mother and raised by his grandparents in Hawaii, Obama led an adventurous life, later moving with his mother to Indonesia when she remarried. After attending Occidental University in Los Angeles and then transferring to Columbia in New York, he finally ended up in Chicago where he started working as a community organizer in the toughest and poorest neighborhoods on Chicago's south side. Here one can really see where Obama got his passion for the issues he supports.
Haunted by the stories of his father, whom he only met once when he was 10, and fascinated by the issues of the black race, led Obama on an Odyssey to Africa to discover his roots in Kenya. Meeting many sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles and grandparents, these real life characters he met while there are some of the most interesting, strong and most resilient people one could ever hope to encounter, and also showcasing the struggles of the people of Kenya, along with the natural beauty of the African plains.
Written by his own hand and in his own voice and at times lyrical and poetic, this book is an in depth look at what made Barack Obama the man he is today.


Story ****
Readability ****
Overall rating ****

I was a bit hesitant to pick this book up, because I was concerned that it may be simply a book written by his PR agent, but it wasn't. It goes through the struggles that Obama had trying to live between the chasm of two worlds, being of mixed race.

I think anyone who has felt like they were part of two worlds, yet part of neither and anyone who has grown up in unusual circumstances, will get something out of this book. Obama deals with the paradoxes of his life in a very smart and human way. He talks frankly about the times he felt defeated, and the times he felt like he was soaring.

Obama seemed to know that he was destined for greatness, to write such a long autobiography at the age of 33. That is my one criticism of the book - it seems a bit overly-confident to write a book such as this before he became president. Perhaps he somehow just "knew".

Despite this, I would recommend reading it. Obama is one of the key figures of our time, and it is nice to know that he is "one of us" with a single mom and a mixed background trying to deal with the struggles, rather than part of some distant elite.

This book was written before Obama had aspirations of becoming President. It gives great insight into the life that made Obama the man he is today and why he has the ideas he does about which direction to take the country in and why he may be one of the best presidents the United states has ever had.

I read this book shortly after I saw an appearance by Barack Obama on public television. At the same time, I also purchased "The Audacity of Hope", his second book. Since the first book discussed Obama's early life, I decided that it was the first one to be read. This book provides numerous glimpses into a life and a family that was not, by any means, one which could be called normal. Perhaps it was this that gave Obama an edge, and a different perspective on life and government than most people have. Dreams From My Father, though somewhat difficult to follow because of sudden jumps in time, both backwards and forwards, certainly provides the reader with a somewhat intimate knowledge that those who have not read it would not have, and an understanding of a man who is currently president of the United States.

"Dreams From My Father" also provides a basis for reading "The Audacity of Hope", in which Obama goes into detail about government and what he feels it could accomplish with the right person in power. Together they reveal much about the man who is currently the most well-known face in the world, and highly respected by many different societies and cultures.

The story of what made the current president of the United States, Barack Obama, the man he is today.

A good read even for those who are not usually into politics.

Book Review of Obama's Dreams from my Father by Annette Dunlea
Dreams of my Father: a Story of Race and Inheritance is written by Barack Obama. It is a paperback published by Three Rivers Press and its ISBN is 1400082773. This was written pre 1995, a candid and insightful memoir of the president's childhood and early career. He discusses his maternal family who reared him and his struggle for identity as a black man in America. The absence of his father from his life left him lonely and isolated but he also received a legacy of a clever Kenyan to emulate. Obama ended up in Chicago as a community organiser. In the second half of the book after his father's death he travels to Kenya to meet his extended family. He visits his father and grandfather's graves. It contains deeply touching stories. It is an insightful book and a great read.
Reviewed by Annette Dunlea author of Always and Forever and The Honey Trap

Dreams From My Father is both an internal and external journey that is eloquently and sensitively written, a journey that questions cause, motive and effect. From the first moment you are captivated by Obama's narrative voice and what he has to say.

This is a life-changing book. You will never think the same way about race, humanity or American society ever again. Not since reading Black Like Me when I was an adolescent has a book had such a profound effect upon my social consciousness.

This is an interesting memoir written by Barack Obama in 1995 (before he was involved in politics). It outlines his youth up until he goes to Harvard law. He talks about his youth, living in Indonesia with his mother and step father, living in Hawaii with his white grandparents, trying to find an identity as a teenager, and tracing the roots of his father back to his family in Kenya. Very interesting and educational - many of the events of the past have so obviously shaped who he is now and his approach to public policy.

The most interesting parts of the book were about his relationships with the different members of his family and the people he worked with as a young organizer in Chicago. From his half brothers/sisters from Kenya, to his midwestern cacausian grandparents, to his Indonesian step father, to the African Americans in Chicargo's south side - it became apparent to me that all of these different people, of different backgrounds, races and socio-economic status, all taught Obama important life lessons and have made him the man he is today.

This book is intelligent and well written and highly recommended if you are interested in Barack Obama.

fascinating memoir that reads like a novel and reveals one man's search for racial, cultural, and personal identity. Wonderfully written, skillfully paced, and surprisingly candid with full-blown characters that live and breathe. Takes you from the author's boyhood in Hawaii and Indonesia to his young adult years on the south side of Chicago to the discovery of his extended family and ancestral roots in Kenya. A terrific book even if you are NOT obsessed with Barack Obama!

I found this book very good when talking of his youth and when in chicago but after that I thought the book ran out of steam.

Writings of Obama & his life's memories... before politics

i found this book absolutely stunning in so many ways, i thought he wrote it in a way that left you wanting more, wanting to know more about his life and the things that lead up to him becoming the person that he is today. i would recommend this book to anybody who is looking for a good read

The often used term 'broad appeal' would be an infinitive understatement if used to describe the intended readership of this poignant account of Senator Obama’s early years. Irrespective of your position in life; no matter where you live or what culture or religion you embrace; Baracks’ account of his struggles, battles and emersion is the essence of global harmony - for we all are connected. Humanity is the infinitive beneficiary of this remarkable and highly gifted man.