Saturday, October 16, 2010

Book Review - "Dreams from My Father"

"Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama
My grade: A-

I suspect that the majority of you already know, or at least could guess, that Obama is a great writer and orator. It must be noted here. His style is neither poetic nor flowery, it is straightforward but full of emotion.

This autobiography covers Obama's, and his family's, history from before he was born up till his marriage to Michelle. I was pleasantly surprised by his candidness in discussing his life and upbringing. I have a feeling that were he writing this book today, as the U.S. president, at least half of the details would be omitted. I'm glad that such an artifact remains in print, however.

While I could virtually not relate to any part of Obama's story, I nonetheless found it extremely interesting and very telling of the person he is today. I am, likewise (if I am to be honest), shocked that a person with such a background could become a U.S. president. I am positive that his worldliness, among other things, greatly adds to his competencies. (I don't really want to start a political debate here. I'm speaking in very broad terms, and looking at an overall picture).

My only critique of the book is that Obama went quite in-depth about periods of his life, which I found to be quite boring. For example, a good chunk of the book is dedicated to his work as a city organizer in Chicago, where he worked on creating and implementing city programs to better the lives of African Americans living there. And while I obviously find his work to be important, I was still bored by the amount of detail he provided pertaining to the three years of his life that he spent there.

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