Dreams from My Father A Story of Race and Inheritance

Dreams from My Father A Story of Race and Inheritance

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Moving and inspiring
A beautifully written memoir, offering a window into the life and inner thoughts of a truly remarkable man.

5 Stars Great book!!!
Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama, is great. I started reading the book so I could learn more about our president, which I did. Especially, I know more about Obama’s early life. For example I never knew that he spent some of his childhood in Indonesia. I also think that the way Barack Obama wrote this book is so personal I could imagine him speaking as I read. At the end of the book was part of Barack Obama’s other book, The Audacity of Hope, which I want to read (because I really enjoyed this book). I recommend this book to people that have any interest in Barack Obama, whether you’re democratic or republican. I would say that the youngest age to be reading this book is a 13 year old, because some of the material is difficult. This book reminds me of Crossing Jordan. I would compare Dreams from My Father to Crossing Jordan because they both deal with people growing up and dealing with racial issues in America.

This book is about Barack Obama’s life and it’s different stages. He grew up with his mom and grandparents, and had a very vague image of his father. As he grows up, goes to college, moves to Chicago to be a community organizer, he learns more about his family, and about his father. This book takes place in the last half of the 20th century (roughly between 1960′s and the 1990′s). This book doesn’t take place in just one place; it follows Obama’s travels, from Hawaii to Indonesia to Los Angeles to New York to Chicago and to Kenya. Barack Obama is the main character in this memoir. He’s a tall, skinny and black man. He is very intelligent; he went to Harvard Law School and was president of the Law Review.

Barack Obama’s conflict had a lot to do with his father’s presence in his life. Barack’s dad left his mom right after he was born, so he grew up without a father. His father’s absence led to Barack’s internal conflict and confusion about his origins and race. Once when Barack was still in elementary school his father came to Hawaii to visit him and his mom and his grandparents. This sudden appearance of his father seemed to disrupt Barack’s image of himself and his family. After his father left again for Kenya, Barack barely made any contact with him. All he knew was as much as his mom would tell him. As Barack grew up his knowledge of who he is grew too, but there were still questions left unanswered. Barack is in his first years of college in L.A. He’s in a caf