As I was finishing this book I had lots of mixed feelings and haven’t really been sure what I think of it. First things first – it is written as eloquently as you would expect and does indeed give you a real insight into the 44th president of the
But the thing that irked me was the focus on his father who was not there, and his ‘black’ heritage as opposed to his mother and grandparents, and ‘white’ heritage which he doesn’t (in this book) explore in more detail. Yes I get it – that’s the point, that because of his father that he is a black man and he knows nothing about him, but arguably a big (bigger?) part of him was the way he was actually raised, and the people he was raised by. Obama also recognises this, and in the introduction to the 2004 edition (following his mothers death) he considers whether if he had known she wouldn’t survive her illness he might have written a different book -
“…less a meditation on the absent parent, more a celebration of the one who was a single constant in my life……”
Do read it if you haven't, it's very good.
1 comment:
ive been wanting to read this for a while, almost bought it on audio book once, probably after i got back from obama mania couple years ago.
Dont know why i didnt try harder, s+d have it i think! kind of didnt want to ruin the idea and had reservations.
now my schedule will be rapidly reduced...its got to be a travel book and once read-ill be back to report my findings.
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