Barack Obama Dreams From My Father Audiobook Download

In 1995 he published his memoir Dreams from My Father, which became a bestseller soon after it was reissued in 2004. After returning to Chicago, he was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. Barack Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and later that year he was elected to the US Senate. You can listen to the full audiobook Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance for free at audibay.com Format: Abridged Written by: Barack Obama. Skip navigation Sign in.

Dreams from My Father
Author	Barack Obama
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Early life of Barack Obama
Genre	Memoir
Publisher	Times Books(1995) Three Rivers Press(2004)
July 18, 1995 August 10, 2004
Media type	Book
Pages	403 (1995) 442 (2004)
ISBN	1-4000-8277-3
OCLC	55534889
973/.0405967625009/0092 B 22
LC Class	E185.97.O23 A3 2004
Followed by	The Audacity of Hope

Barack Obama

Pre-presidency

Presidency

Policies

Foreign policy

Campaign for the Presidency

- Timeline: '09

Second term

Reelection campaign

- Timeline: '13

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995) is a memoir by Barack Obama, who was elected as U.S. President in 2008. The memoir explores the events of Obama's early years in Honolulu and Chicago up until his entry into law school in 1988. Obama published the memoir in July 1995, when he was starting his political campaign for Illinois Senate.^[1] He had been elected as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review in 1990.^[2] According to The New York Times, Obama modeled Dreams from My Father on Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man.^[3]

After Obama won the U.S. Senate Democratic primary victory in Illinois in 2004, the book was re-published that year. He gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and won the Illinois Senate seat in the fall. Obama launched his presidential campaign three years later.^[4] The 2004 edition includes a new preface by Obama and his DNC keynote address.^[4]

4Reception

Narrative[edit]

Obama recounts his life up to his enrollment in Harvard Law School. He was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Obama, Sr., of Kenya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas, who had met as students at the University of Hawaii. Obama's parents separated in 1963 and divorced in 1964, when he was two years old. Obama's father went to Harvard to pursue his Ph.D. in Economics. After that, he returned to Kenya to fulfill the promise to his nation.

Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents. He saw his father one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit.^[5] The elder Obama, who had remarried, died in a car accident in Kenya in 1982.^[5]

After her divorce, Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, a Javanesesurveyor from Indonesia who was a graduate student in Hawaii. The family moved to Jakarta. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his maternal grandparents (and later his mother) for the better educational opportunities available there. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at Punahou School, a private college-preparatory school, where he was one of six black students.^[6] Obama attended Punahou School from the 5th grade until his graduation from the 12th grade, in 1979. Obama writes: 'For my grandparents, my admission into Punahou Academy heralded the start of something grand, an elevation in the family status that they took great pains to let everyone know.' There, he met Ray (Keith Kakugawa), who was two years older and also multi-racial. He introduced Obama to the African-American community.^[7]

Upon finishing high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles for studies at Occidental College. He describes having lived a 'party' lifestyle of drug and alcohol use.^[8]^[9]^[10] After two years at Occidental, he transferred to Columbia College at Columbia University, in New York City, where he majored in Political Science.^[10]

Upon graduation, Obama worked for a year in business. He moved to Chicago, where he worked for a non-profit as a community organizer in the Altgeld Gardenshousing project on the city's mostly black South Side. Obama recounts the difficulty of the experience, as his program faced resistance from entrenched community leaders and apathy on the part of the established bureaucracy. During this period, Obama first visited Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which became the center of his spiritual life.^[10] Before attending Harvard Law School, Obama decided to visit relatives in Kenya. He recounts part of this experience in the final, emotional third of the book. Obama used his memoir to reflect on his personal experiences with race and race relations in the United States.

Book cover[edit]

Pictured in left-hand photograph on cover: Habiba Akumu Hussein and Barack Obama, Sr. (Obama's paternal grandmother and his father as a young boy, respectively). Pictured in right-hand photograph on cover: Stanley Dunham and Ann Dunham (Obama's maternal grandfather and his mother as a young girl).^[11]

Persons in the book[edit]

With the exception of family members and a handful of public figures, Barack Obama says in the 2004 preface that he had changed names of others to protect their privacy. He also created composite characters to expedite the narrative flow.^[12] Some of his acquaintances have recognized themselves and acknowledged their names. Various researchers have suggested the names of other figures in the book:

Actual name	Referred to in the book as
Salim Al Nurridin	Rafiq^[13]
Margaret Bagby	Mona^[14]
Hasan Chandoo	Hasan^[15]
Earl Chew	Marcus^[16]
Frank Marshall Davis	Frank^[17]
Joella Edwards	Coretta^[18]
Pal Eldredge	Mr. Eldredge^[19]
Mabel Hefty	Miss Hefty^[20]
Loretta Augustine Herron	Angela^[21]
Emil Jones	Old Ward Boss^[22]
Keith Kakugawa	Ray^[23]
Jerry Kellman	Marty Kaufman^[24]
Yvonne Lloyd	Shirley^[25]
Ronald Loui / Terrence Loui (composite)	Frederick^[26]
Greg Orme	Scott^[27]
Johnnie Owens	Johnnie^[28]
Mike Ramos	Jeff^[29]
Sohale Siddiqi	Sadik^[15]
Wally Whaley	Smitty^[30]

Reception[edit]

In discussing Dreams from My Father, Toni Morrison, a Nobel Laureate novelist, has called Obama 'a writer in my high esteem' and the book 'quite extraordinary.' She praised

'his ability to reflect on this extraordinary mesh of experiences that he has had, some familiar and some not, and to really meditate on that the way he does, and to set up scenes in narrative structure, dialogue, conversation—all of these things that you don't often see, obviously, in the routine political memoir biography. ... It's unique. It's his. There are no other ones like that.'^[31]

In an interview for The Daily Beast, the author Philip Roth said he had read Dreams from My Father 'with great interests,' and commented that he had found it 'well done and very persuasive and memorable.'^[32]

The book 'may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician,' wrote Time columnist Joe Klein.^[33] In 2008, The Guardian's Rob Woodard wrote that Dreams from My Father 'is easily the most honest, daring, and ambitious volume put out by a major US politician in the last 50 years.'^[34]Michiko Kakutani, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times, described it as 'the most evocative, lyrical and candid autobiography written by a future president.'^[35]

The audiobook edition earned Obama the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2006.^[36] Five days before being sworn in as President in 2009, Obama secured a $500,000 advance for an abridged version of Dreams from My Father for middle-school-aged children.^[37]

Time Magazine Top 100 List[edit]

In 2011, Time Magazine listed the book on its top 100 non-fiction books written in English since 1923.^[38]

Versions[edit]

New York: Times Books; 1st edition (July 18, 1995); Hardcover: 403 pages; ISBN0-8129-2343-X
- This printing is very rare. Only a few signed copies are known, and are estimated to be worth up to $13,000 (depending on condition).^{[citation needed]}
New York: Kodansha International (August 1996); Paperback: 403 pages; ISBN1-56836-162-9
New York: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (August 10, 2004); Paperback: 480 pages; ISBN1-4000-8277-3
New York: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (May 3, 2005); Audio CD; ISBN0-7393-2100-5; Includes the senator's speech from the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
New York: Random House Audio; Abridged edition on Playaway digital audio player ^[39]
New York: Random House Large Print; 1st Large print edition (April 4, 2006); Hardcover: 720 pages; ISBN0-7393-2576-0
New York: Crown Publishers (January 9, 2007); Hardcover: 464 pages; ISBN0-307-38341-5
New York: Random House (January 9, 2007); eBook; ISBN0-307-39412-3
Melbourne: Text Publishing (2008); Paperback: 442 pages; ISBN978-1-921351-43-3

Translations

Arabic: Aḥlām min abī : qiṣṣat ʻirq wa-irth, translated by Hibah Najīb al-Sayyid Maghrabī; Īmān ʻAbd al-Ghanī Najm; Majdī ʻAbd al-Wāḥid ʻInabah, (2009), OCLC460600393
Bosnian: Snovi moga oca : priča o rasi i naslijeđu, Sarajevo : Buybook (2008), OCLC488621036
Chinese: 歐巴馬的夢想之路：以父之名 (pinyin: Ōubāmǎ de mèngxiǎng zhī lù: Yǐ fǔ zhī míng; literally: 'Obama's road of dreams: from his father'), translated by Yao-Hui Wang (Chinese: 王輝耀) and Kuan-Lan Shih (Chinese: 石冠蘭). China Times Publishing Company [zh; zh-yue], Taipei, Taiwan, (2008), ISBN978-957-13-4926-8
Croatian: Snovi mojega oca : priča o rasi i naslijeđu, (2004), ISBN978-953-182-079-0
Czech: Cesta za sny mého otce : jedna z nejpůsobivějších autobiografických knih o sebepoznání a hledání vlastní identity, translated by Marie Čermáková, Praha : Štrob, Širc & Slovák, (2009), ISBN978-80-903947-6-6
Danish: Arven fra min far : selvbiografi, Gyldendals Bogklubber, (2009), OCLC488375191
Dutch: Dromen van mijn vader, translated by Joost Zwart, Atlas, (2007), ISBN978-90-450-0089-3
Finnish: Unelmia isältäni : kertomus rodusta ja sukuperinnöstä, translated by Seppo Raudaskoski and Mika Tiirinen, (2009), ISBN978-951-692-723-0
French: Les rêves de mon père, translated by Paris Presses de La Cité, Paris, France, (2008), ISBN978-2-258-07597-9
German: Ein amerikanischer Traum, Carl Hanser Verlag (2008), ISBN978-3-446-23021-7
Greek, Modern: Eikones tou patera mou : he historia henos genous kai mias klēronomias, (2008), ISBN978-960-6689-41-3
Hebrew: חלומות מאבי (Ḥalomot me-avi), translated by Edna Shemesh, Tel Aviv, Israel, (2008), OCLC256955212
Hindi: Pitā se mile sapane, translated by Aśoka Kumāra, Aravinda Kumāra Pabliśarsa, Guṛagām̐va,(2009), ISBN978-81-8452-017-0
Indonesian: Dreams from My father : pergulatan hidup Obama, (2009), ISBN978-979-433-544-4
Japanese: My Dream: An autobiography of Barack Obama (マイ・ドリーム: バラク・オバマ自伝), translated by Yuya Kiuchi, Mikiko Shirakura, (2007) ISBN978-4-478-00362-6
Korean: Nae abŏji robutŏ ŭi kkum (내 아버지로부터의 꿈), translated by Kyŏng-sik Yi, Random House Korea, Seoul, Korea, (2007), ISBN978-89-255-1014-9
Marathi: Ḍrīmsa phrôma māya phādara, translated by Yamājī Mālakara and Nītā Kulakarṇī, Ameya Prakāśana, (2009), OCLC515543205
Persian: Ruyāhā-ye pedaram, translated by Rītū Baḥrī, (2009), ISBN978-964-174-082-7
Persian: Ruyāhā-ye pidaram, translated by Manīzhih Shaykh Javādī, (2009), ISBN978-600-5253-09-2
Polish: Odziedziczone marzenia, translated by Piotr Szymczak, (2008), ISBN978-83-7278-333-2
Portuguese: A Minha Herança, translated by Artur Lopes Cardoso, Cruz Quebrada, (2008), ISBN978-972-46-1830-2
Portuguese: A Origem dos Meus Sonhos, translated by Irati Antonio, Renata Laureano & Sonia Augusto, (2008), ISBN9788573125948
Serbian: Snovi moga oca : priča o rasi i nasleđu, translated by Vesna Džuverović; Jasna Simonović, (2008),ISBN978-86-505-1029-2
Spanish: Los sueños de mi padre : una historia de raza y herencia, Vintage Español, New York City, New York, (2009), ISBN978-0-307-47387-5
Spanish: Los sueños de mi padre : una historia de raza y herencia, translated by Fernando Miranda; Evaristo Páez Rasmussen, Granada : Almed, (2008), ISBN978-84-936685-0-1
Swedish: Min far hade en dröm, Albert Bonniers förlag (2008), ISBN978-91-0-011728-3
Thai: Bārak ʻŌbāmā : phom likhit chiwit ʻēng, translated by Nopphadon Wētsawat, Krung Thēp : Samnakphim Matichon, (2008), ISBN978-974-02-0139-7
Turkish: Babamdan hayaller : [ırk ve kimlik mirasının öyküsü], İstanbul : Pegasus Yayınlar (2008), ISBN978-605-5943-32-5
Urdu: Obāmā kī āp bītī, translated by Yāsar Javvād, (2009), OCLC421024762
Vietnamese: Những giấc mơ từ cha tôi, translated by Quang Nguyễn, (2008), OCLC317713059

References[edit]

^Knapp, Kevin (July 5, 1995). 'Alice Palmer to run for Reynolds' seat'. Hyde Park Herald. p. 1. Talk of who might replace Palmer, assuming she wins the race, has already begun. One front-runner might be Palmer-supporter Barack Obama, an attorney with a background in community organization and voter registration efforts. Obama, who has lived 'in and out' of Hyde Park for 10 years, is currently serving as chairman of the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Obama said that even though the election would be years away, 'I am seriously exploring that campaign.'
Hevrdejs, Judy; Conklin, Mike (July 7, 1995). 'Hevrdejs & Conklin INC'. Chicago Tribune. p. 20. Retrieved February 10, 2010. Polpourri: ... Barack Obama will announce he's running for the state Senate seat occupied by Alice Palmer, who's running for Reynolds' U.S. congressional seat. Obama, who has worked with Palmer, is an attorney at Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland and newly published author of Dreams from My Father.
Mitchell, Monica (August 23, 1995). 'Son finds inspiration in the dreams of his father'. Hyde Park Herald. p. 10.
^Butterfield, Fox (February 6, 1990). 'First black elected to head Harvard's Law Review'. The New York Times. p. A20. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Ybarra, Michael J (February 7, 1990). 'Activist in Chicago now heads Harvard Law Review'(paid archive). Chicago Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Matchan, Linda (February 15, 1990). 'A Law Review breakthrough'(paid archive). The Boston Globe. p. 29. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Corr, John (February 27, 1990). 'From mean streets to hallowed halls'(paid archive). The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C01. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Drummond, Tammerlin (March 12, 1990). 'Barack Obama's Law; Harvard Law Review's first black president plans a life of public service'(paid archive). Los Angeles Times. p. E1. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Evans, Gaynelle (March 15, 1990). 'Opening another door: The saga of Harvard's Barack H. Obama'. Black Issues in Higher Education. p. 5. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Pugh, Allison J. (Associated Press) (April 18, 1990). 'Law Review's first black president aims to help poor'(paid archive). The Miami Herald. p. C01. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
^Greg Grandin, 'Obama, Melville, and the Tea Party.'The New York Times, 18 January 2014. Retrieved on 17 March 2016.
^ ^a^bTurow, Scott (March 30, 2004). 'The new face of the Democratic Party—and America'. Salon.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Cader, Michael (July 30, 2004). 'Publishers eyeing Obama'. The New York Sun. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Leroux, Charles (August 6, 2004). 'The buzz around Obama's book'(paid archive). Chicago Tribune. p. 1 (Tempo). Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Sweet, Lynn (March 17, 2005). 'Be-bop, Barack and bucks from book'(paid archive). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 39. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Scott, Janny (May 18, 2008). 'The story of Obama, written by Obama'. The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
^ ^a^bMerida, Kevin (December 14, 2007). 'The Ghost of a Father'. Washington Post. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
^Mendell, David (October 22, 2004). 'Barack Obama; Democrat for U.S. Senate; Catapulted into celebrity, the state senator from Hyde Park is seen as the voice of a new political generation, a leader for African-Americans and a devoted family man. But is it possible for anyone to meet all those expectations?'(paid archive). Chicago Tribune. p. 1 (Tempo). Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Kenneth T. (June 9, 2008). 'Running on 'Aloha Spirit'; How growing up in Hawaii influences Obama's political beliefs'. U.S. News & World Report. p. 16. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
Calmes, Jackie (January 3, 2009). 'On campus, Obama and memories'. The New York Times. p. A11. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
^Jake Tapper, 'Life of Obama's Childhood Friend Takes Drastically Different Path', ABC News, 30 March 2007; accessed 31 October 2016
^Obama (2004), pp. 93–94. see: Romano, Lois (January 3, 2007). 'Effect of Obama's Candor Remains to Be Seen'. Washington Post. Retrieved July 22, 2007.
^Seelye, Katharine Q (October 24, 2006). 'Obama Offers More Variations From the Norm'. New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2007.
^ ^a^b^c'Barack Obama '83. Is He the New Face of The Democratic Party?'Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine, Columbia College Today.
^'Q&A ON THE NEWS'. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. February 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
^Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father, pg. xvii. Three Rivers Press, New York City: 2004.
^'Facing the reality of deprivation'. Irish Times. January 23, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
^O'Neill, Sean; Hamilton, Fiona (March 23, 2008). 'The ascent of Barack Obama, Mr Charisma'. The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
^ ^a^bGoldman, Adam (May 18, 2008). 'Old friends paint portrait of Obama as young man'. Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
^Helman, Scott (August 25, 2008). 'Small college awakened future senator to service'. Boston Globe. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
^Thanawala, Sudhin (August 3, 2008). 'Advice dissent'. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 12, 2008.^{[dead link]}
^Calmes, Jackie (January 3, 2009). 'On Campus, Obama and Memories'. New York Times. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
^Hoover, Will (February 11, 2007). 'Obama's declaration stirs thrills at Punahou'. Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
^Essoyan, Susan (July 27, 2008). 'A teacher's Hefty influence'. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
^Springen, Karen (November 5, 2008). 'They knew him when: First impressions of Barack Obama'. Newsweek. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
^Wills, Christopher (April 1, 2008). 'Obama's 'godfather' an old-school Chicago politician'. Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
^Tapper, Jack (April 3, 2008). 'Life of Obama's Childhood Friend Takes Drastically Different Path'. ABC News. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
^Davidson, Phil (March 2009). 'Obama's mentor'. Illinois Issues. Archived from the original on 2015-08-28. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^Sweet, Lynn (February 20, 2007). 'Obama's research memo—on himself'. Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
^Ramos, Connie (2008). 'Our Friend Barry: Classmates' Recollections of Barack Obama and Punahou School'.
^Scharnberg, Kirsten (March 25, 2007). 'The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth'. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
^Lakshmanan, Indira A.R. (July 3, 2008). 'Obama Draws On Lessons From Chicago Streets to Propel Campaign'. Bloomberg. Retrieved July 26, 2009.
^Boylan, Peter (December 24, 2008). 'Obama Tries to Escape in Hawaii'. Time Magazine. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
^Jorgensen, Laurel (December 28, 2006). 'Ill. barber shop of Ali, Obama must move: Hyde Park Hair Salon will have to relocate after 80 years of business'. Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
^Ulaby, Neda (December 10, 2008). 'Toni Morrison On Bondage And A Post-Racial Age'. Tell Me More. NPR. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
^Brown, Tina (October 30, 2009). 'Philip Roth Unbound: Interview Transcript'. The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^Klein, Joe (October 23, 2006). 'The Fresh Face'. Time. Retrieved October 19, 2006.
^'Books Blog: Presidents who write well, lead well', The Guardian, November 5, 2008. Retrieved on November 8, 2008.
^Kakutani, Michiko (January 18, 2009). 'From Books, President-elect Barack Obama Found His Voice'. The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
^Joan Lowy, Presidential Hopefuls Publishing Books (Page 2), Washington Post, December 12, 2006
^Obama Secures $500,000 Book Advance, UPI, March 19, 2009
^Sun, Feifei. 'All-TIME 100 Nonfiction Books'. Time. ISSN0040-781X. Retrieved 2016-12-19.
^Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and InheritanceArchived August 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Playaway for Libraries, Random House Audio, 2005. ISBN978-0-7393-7471-9.

External links[edit]

Barack Obama interview, 1995 August from the Connie Martinson Talks Books collection in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library
All editions at WorldCat

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Preview — Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

Nine years before the Senate campaign that made him one of the most influential and compelling voices in American politics, Barack Obama published this lyrical, unsentimental, and powerfully affecting memoir, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller when it was reissued in 2004. Dreams from My Father tells the story of Obama’s struggle to understand the forces that shap...more

Published 2004 by New York: Three Rivers Press (first published July 18th 1995)

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Dreams Of Our Fathers Obama

Jan 19, 2008Sarah rated it really liked it

Recommended to Sarah by: Liz

As Super Tuesday approaches and we try to separate empty promises and strategic moves from real, actual thoughts and goals, I couldn’t have read a better book than Dreams From My Father.
Here’s why: even though I didn’t realize it when I picked it up, Obama wrote this book over ten years ago, when he was fresh out of law school and long before he was worrying about what people wanted to hear. It is, I think, a great way to “get to know” the candidate outside of the media, the hype, and the confus...more

Audiobook.....read by Barack Obama
An oldie but goodie:
It was wonderful listening to Obama. He’s so cordial......and.....
....ordinary and extraordinary!
I especially loved when Obama talked about his mother. I laughed when ‘mom’ forced Obama to eat his breakfast each day before school — with Obama rolling his eyes as if it was torture ( I could relate - I did everything I could to get out of eating breakfast as a kid)....... but where my mother just gave up and went back to bed — Obama’s mother...more

Aug 04, 2008Michelle rated it it was amazing

With Barack Obama running for president, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at who this candidate was. I had been warned by another friend (not a Obama supporter, I should note) that it was poorly written and its message unclear. This perplexed me a bit since that had been contrary to what it seemed like everyone had been saying.
Well, I, on the other hand, found it a completely absorbing read. It's well-written and an interesting story. I wish everyone could read it; there are so m...more

Feb 27, 2017Sam rated it really liked it

In early 2017, for many people in the U.S. and abroad, Obama nostalgia is real and rampant. I used the moment to look back at Barack Obama before he was president, before he was a US Senator and a state senator for Illinois, and discover the making of the man in his memoir Dreams from My Father. Overall, I'd give this 3.5 stars and round up to 4 stars. I very much enjoyed parts of Obama's journey to adulthood, especially his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia which I found interesting and well-wr...more

Great read!...about understanding and finding out his past upbringing,life and history....(paperback!)

Jun 13, 2008Lorenzo Pilla rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

Forget for a moment who the author has become. This is not a book written by a politician or a would-be president. It's a book that was written by someone who subsequently became those things. For that reason, it's a very honest account of an American coming to terms with who he is and where he's from. As a bonus, Obama happens to be an excellent writer. He has a good sense of how to fashion an interesting narrative, so his personal story is very engaging.
As a normal part of becoming an adult, a...more

Great read! about understanding and finding out his past upbringing,life and history etc (paperback!)

Dec 26, 2016Diane rated it really liked it

I listened to this audiobook in the waning days of Obama's presidency. Dreams from My Father is about Obama's family, his childhood, and how he got his start in community organizing in Chicago.
Some of my favorite stories were about Barack's grandparents, his memories of his mother and father, and finally, his visit to Kenya to meet his African relatives. It was interesting to read this memoir, first published in 1995, and to recognize all that Obama has accomplished since writing it.
The audio f...more

Jan 23, 2009Chris Van Dyke rated it it was amazing

This is one of those books that I want to buy for everyone I know. Apart from any of the political ideas in the book or whether or not one is excited by his presidency, Obama is a fantastic writer -- this is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. Apart from an occasional slip into melodramatic prose (very occasional, and certainly less than the average memoir), the prose balanced clarity and description, and Obama very consciously keeps from slipping into nostalgia or over-idealizing any time...more

Aug 02, 2007Patricia (theinfophile) rated it it was ok

Did Barack Obama write this book himself? Man, it was so full of cliches that I almost threw it against the wall, had it not belonged to the library. The most interesting parts take place out of the U.S. Too much concentration on frustrated-black-man syndrome, trying to find a black community and not enough (for me) on how he fared within this community as mixed. Even though HE chose one ethnicity over another, I want to know how he was treated because other people take notice of a mixture withi...more

Jun 15, 2008Siria rated it really liked it

Shelves: autobiography, nonfiction, current-affairs, by-poc

In the introduction, Obama writes that looking back on this book after the passage of over a decade, he winces at inelegant phrasing, and wishes that he could excise perhaps fifty of its four hundred and fifty pages. That's the kind of self-critique with which this book abounds—honest and very deliberately even-handed. It's a critique I agree with, by the way—Obama has a tendency to go off on slight rhetorical flights which may sound good when delivered in a speech, but which need to be tempered...more

Feb 01, 2017Antigone rated it really liked it

This is the first of the books written by Barack Obama. He was thirty-three at the time of its publication, a graduate of Harvard Law and practicing in Chicago. Thoughts of a run for the Senate were beginning to coalesce. He was, at this stage, an exacting man. So when he tells us this is a story of race and inheritance, we may be certain it is precisely that.
His is a strong and sometimes stiff accounting of life as the son of an African father and a white American mother - that straddle of our...more

What a thought-provoking book! The book is split into three sections (Origins, Chicago and Kenya). I tried splitting up my reading of it in roughly the same manner since it's easier for me to get through a non-fiction book if I intersperse it with fiction.
I think each section left me with a different series of questions. Origins left me thinking about community: its value, how we choose it, are chosen by it, and what it means to be within and without community. Origins also made me ponder how ch...more

Aug 21, 2014Luís C. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: casa-das-letras, reading-the-world, us-presidents, us-canada-author, 300-400

The first publication of this book dates from 1995, when its author was only 34 years, well before his presidential bid and before his first election as senator from Illinois, which limits the risk of hagiographic publications more recent since the text does not cover the real policy of his life. 34 would be short for an autobiography, but that's not really what this is, especially since the story gives an important place to the reflections of a man in search of his place, and his black identity...more

Okay, so full transparency? As a kid, I hated reading biographies. Like, legit, loathed them! Thankfully, life has changed that, and lately, I find myself gravitating towards them more than ever.
As an author, I’ve learned that sometimes the backstory is JUST AS if not (sometimes) MORE important than what’s happening presently. And as someone who’s always looked up to Barack Obama and read most of his other work, there was no way I would let this golden nugget pass me by, especially after seeing...more

Dec 11, 2018Debbie Zapata rated it really liked it

Yet another library sale shelf find, this was originally published in 1995, before Barack Obama became the man he was meant to be.
This is the story of how he became that man: the forces that shaped him over the years, the internal struggles to understand himself and his family and the world around him.
The Chicago chapters did drag a bit for me, but overall the book was wonderful. Next time I go to the library, I want to see which other titles of his are available. I am sure they will be worth re...more

Even if Obama weren't about to become President, this would be quite a worthwhile book. I wasn't crazy about his style, but he has a lot of interesting things to say, and comes across as a very sympathetic person.

This was the first book that I ever put in my To-Read folder when I joined Goodreads and now I have finally read it.
This was a great book. I finished it in one day, which is extremely rare for me.
'Obama opens his story in New York, where he hears that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has died in a car accident. The news triggers a chain of memories as Barack retraces his family’s unusual history: the migration of his mother’s family from small-town Kansas to the Hawaiian...more

Jan 21, 2009Cecily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biog-and-autobiog, canada-and-usa, politics

I started reading this a day after Obama's inauguration. Even though I'm not American, it seemed important to do so, and also I was told that the quality of the writing is at least as impressive and the story.
It was published in 1995, shortly after Obama graduated from Harvard Law School and covers his life, or rather his search for identity up till then, in three main sections: childhood in Hawaii, Indonesia and back in Hawaii; working in Chicago and visiting Kenya to visit his father's family....more

Aug 28, 2007Tasha rated it it was ok

Book was boring. Lots of redundancy, meaning it was the same topic over and over again…I wouldn’t recommend.

Dec 18, 2018Ravi Prakash rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
Rating- 5/5
It was obvious for me to read this memoir. I saw the book in the local library almost three years ago and right then I had decided that I will read it, but being busy in other works, couldn’t get the time. This year was also slipping, so at last I borrowed and knowing not much about it I posted a picture in the group and just asked , “How’s it?”. And this, “How’s it” stirred a heated political argument. Oh My God! It was so much that the admin had...more

Dec 01, 2012Mikey B. rated it it was amazing

This is quite a remarkable book considering that this individual is now President of the U.S. It was written when he was far removed from the Presidential radar.
It is well written and the narrative is very vivid. The book is divided into three sections with very little inter-connectedness between them.
The first is about his roots and growing up with his mother and grand-parents – in far flung regions of the world – Hawaii and Indonesia. The second is focused on Chicago and the community work he...more

Mar 26, 2007kxm

Barack Obama Audio Book

rated it really liked it

Shelves: poliphiltheohistory

Barack Obama's life not only makes for a great story, it shows a lot about the character of the man telling it--both in the way he tells it, but also in the events that happened and the way he handled them. I am impressed by his level of honesty about himself--he does not paint himself to be pristine, but makes himself very human. It is in this exposure of his vulnerabilities, his fears, his insecurities that he becomes like us--simply human. On that level, we can connect to the story of his lif...more

Nov 10, 2008Kaylam2012 rated it did not like it

Recommended to Kaylam2012 by: the school

Have you ever read a book that just made you flat out mad? Well the book “ Dreams of my Father ” by Barack Obama is one those books. This book lacks common sense that ever book should have. It pays so much attention to characters that do not deserve the time of day. Barack makes his life sound unbearable when in reality his life is really easy.
First, I feel that Obama is making too much fuss over whether he is white or black. As an interracial child that I am, I feel that all you should know wha...more

Dec 23, 2016Tanima rated it liked it

Shelves: biographical, nonfiction, politics, philosophy

3.5 stars. It’s difficult for me to rate this memoir because I deeply respect Barack Obama as a person. This comes at a time of deep division in the country and he remains widely appreciated by many yet politically ostracized by some. His legacy has greatly improved the lives of millions of people, but his politics leaves much to be desired. He has undeniably shaped my world views and I have come to regard him as one of the most intelligent men to ever hold that office. Dreams From My Father fee...more

May 08, 2009Eric rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Eric by: Lotsa peoples

Dreams from My Father
I give this a superlative rating because of its clear statement of what it means to be black in a racialized environment, and because of Obama's ability to confront the complexities of his own biracial/multicultural heritage without succumbing to romanticism or denying any aspect of his heritage. He opts for a black identity for the same reason nearly all black/white biracials do -- a white identity isn't possible when you're his color and being white requires a dimmed aware...more

Feb 11, 2017martin eden rated it it was amazing

I really enjoyed reading this book. Barack Obama is revealing his doubts, his fears and questions about who he really is. This book is a trip back to his origins to find answers.
My favorite parts were the chapters about his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia and his trip to Kenya to meet his family. His life was amazing! Neither black, nor white, trying to understand his mother and grandparents... But actually for some people more black than white... And searching for answers in his African orig...more

Mar 31, 2008Lula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The reviews I have perused are about people's feelings about their projections of what Obama means to them. Reviewers are sharing their feelings about the symbolism of Obama, and not reviewing the book. And as a symbol - wow - what a wide variety of feelings from far extremes he represents.
Thirteen years ago I read this out of curiosity. We just weren't sure what he would have to say. At the time it wasn't exactly a bestseller. But it was worth checking out to see if I recognized anyone. He mana...more

Nov 01, 2010Jeanette 'Astute Crabbist'

Obama Audiobook

rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: africa, audio, nonfiction, biography-memoir, america, four-star-nonfiction

I knew there was no way I'd ever read this whole thing in print, so I listened to the abridged audio book. It's read by the author, and it felt cozy to sit here right in my own home and have Mr. President tell me all about the first 20-some years of his life. This was written way back when 'Barry' was elected as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. I hadn't known it was that old.
I'm very glad I listened to this. It really helped me understand what shaped the man who b...more

Barack Obama Dreams From My Father Audio Book Downloads

Obama is cerebral and a very good writer. He went a lot of interesting places in this book, all worth following.

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UCAS English 11 R...:October Reading Assignment	1	2	Oct 31, 2018 06:43PM
Around the Year i...:Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama	2	34	Dec 14, 2017 02:06AM
North Yorkshire L...:Thoughts on the book	1	9	Mar 19, 2017 12:08PM
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Barack Obama Dreams From My Father Audio Book Download 2017

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Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States of America. He was the first African-American to be elected President of the United States and was the first to be nominated for President by a major U.S. political party. He was the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois from 2005 until he resigned on November 16, 2008, following his election to the Presidency.
Barack Obama is the son of Barack O...more

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