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Dreams from My Father
Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004. 442p., ISBN 1-4000-8277-3 (pa), $14.95. Includes excerpt of The Audacity of Hope.
The is the first book by the Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who is currently a Senator from Illinois. The project to write Dreams from My Father was originally instigated after Obama became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, and multiple publishers approached him with offers. The book has been reprinted for a second time since the first edition of 1994 because of Obama's newfound fame resulting from his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The original edition was published in hardcover by Times Books, which, like Three Rivers Press, is a division of Random House. Obama has since written a second book, The Audacity of Hope, which is excerpted at the end of this paperback edition.
In this memoir, Obama makes a definite contribution to the realm of the bildungsroman, albeit autobiographical. His story of his struggles growing up as a black young man in a white family ring throughout the book of overwhelming nostalgia and dissolutionment. The overall tone of the book leaves one feeling like the slighted child who has grown up and discovered that the world of grownups is neither orderly nor fair. His memoir has been compared to other similar life stories of boys growing up with white mothers and black fathers in America: The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (Riverhead, 1997), Divided To The Vein: A Journey into Race and Family by Scott Minerbrook (Harcourt, 1996), and Life on the Color Line : The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black by Gregory Howard Williams (Dutton, 1995).
Although the book often reads like a youthful cry of indignation, we can see ourselves in the trials Obama faces throughout his coming-of-age. We are Obama's young friends in Indonesia, running free and barefoot in the fields and dirt roads, ignorant of political unrest and the implications of economic status. We are his grandparents in Honolulu, whispering in the corners of the house about money and public slights and the fulfilled dreams Punahou can bring to its own. We are Obama as a teenager on the Punahou campus, settling into his place in the power structure and lashing out in indignation at the injustices that lurk below the surface of this "hang-loose" cultural melting pot. And we are his mother and father, attempting to make the best future for the next generation despite the realities of the world we live in. And sometimes, although we hate to admit it, we are even his grandmother at the bus stop, alarmed and frightened when faced with our own discrimination and bias.
I had planned to check the book out from the library, but the current popularity of Obama and his local celebrity ruled out that possibility. All copies at the UH Manoa library were checked out or lost, and the public library system had a waiting list over 50 patrons long. When I decided to purchase the book, I was pleased that it was less expensive than I originally expected. The paperback edition is the only edition currently being stocked by bookstores selling new books, so the binding is not particularly durable. The book is unfortunately not printed on acid-free paper.
I think that the value of this book would enhance many library settings, particularly ethnic studies and political science collections. It would also be valuable for young adult collections for mixed-ethnicity patrons struggling with the same sense of self as Obama. The focus on his early years in Hawaii and Indonesia make the book appropriate for Pacific collections. Obama's national visibility make this a suitable choice for any public, school or academic library.
The is the first book by the Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who is currently a Senator from Illinois. The project to write Dreams from My Father was originally instigated after Obama became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, and multiple publishers approached him with offers. The book has been reprinted for a second time since the first edition of 1994 because of Obama's newfound fame resulting from his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The original edition was published in hardcover by Times Books, which, like Three Rivers Press, is a division of Random House. Obama has since written a second book, The Audacity of Hope, which is excerpted at the end of this paperback edition.
In this memoir, Obama makes a definite contribution to the realm of the bildungsroman, albeit autobiographical. His story of his struggles growing up as a black young man in a white family ring throughout the book of overwhelming nostalgia and dissolutionment. The overall tone of the book leaves one feeling like the slighted child who has grown up and discovered that the world of grownups is neither orderly nor fair. His memoir has been compared to other similar life stories of boys growing up with white mothers and black fathers in America: The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (Riverhead, 1997), Divided To The Vein: A Journey into Race and Family by Scott Minerbrook (Harcourt, 1996), and Life on the Color Line : The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black by Gregory Howard Williams (Dutton, 1995).
Although the book often reads like a youthful cry of indignation, we can see ourselves in the trials Obama faces throughout his coming-of-age. We are Obama's young friends in Indonesia, running free and barefoot in the fields and dirt roads, ignorant of political unrest and the implications of economic status. We are his grandparents in Honolulu, whispering in the corners of the house about money and public slights and the fulfilled dreams Punahou can bring to its own. We are Obama as a teenager on the Punahou campus, settling into his place in the power structure and lashing out in indignation at the injustices that lurk below the surface of this "hang-loose" cultural melting pot. And we are his mother and father, attempting to make the best future for the next generation despite the realities of the world we live in. And sometimes, although we hate to admit it, we are even his grandmother at the bus stop, alarmed and frightened when faced with our own discrimination and bias.
I had planned to check the book out from the library, but the current popularity of Obama and his local celebrity ruled out that possibility. All copies at the UH Manoa library were checked out or lost, and the public library system had a waiting list over 50 patrons long. When I decided to purchase the book, I was pleased that it was less expensive than I originally expected. The paperback edition is the only edition currently being stocked by bookstores selling new books, so the binding is not particularly durable. The book is unfortunately not printed on acid-free paper.
I think that the value of this book would enhance many library settings, particularly ethnic studies and political science collections. It would also be valuable for young adult collections for mixed-ethnicity patrons struggling with the same sense of self as Obama. The focus on his early years in Hawaii and Indonesia make the book appropriate for Pacific collections. Obama's national visibility make this a suitable choice for any public, school or academic library.
Submitted in May 2007 by Margot Hanson, LIS Student, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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