Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

President-elect Obama writes as well as he speaks. This book helps us to understand his background and is a must-read for all who would like to know more about Barack Obama, his values and dreams. I was touched by his note on his Mother in the Preface to the 2004 edition.

This is the most extraordinary book I have read in years! It is a magnificent autobiography, beautifully written and absolutely fascinating! It should be required reading in every school in the nation, and I can't see any teenager procrastinating about reading it once he has read the very first page.

After the November presidential election I became interested in reading Obama's own words as told by him long before he was constantly in the spotlight and before he had seriously considered running for President of the United States. I'm glad I did. "Dreams From My Father" is extremely well written, a necessary trait for any President regardless of who their speechwriters are, and flows like a novel. Obama's tale and life struggles are those that many people face as someone torn between two cultures and heritages, hoping to find where they fit in. Born and largely raised by his mother's parents in Hawaii, the most unique of all fifty states, he learns what it is like to be a Black American at a time when the country was seriously confronting the issue of race. But unlike many Black Americans, his roots to Africa were direct and contemporary, as his father was a Kenyan immigrant to the United States, even if he was absent for almost all of Obama's life. After high school at Punahou and college at Columbia, he chose to work in the south side of Chicago helping strengthen and rebuild communities. Prior to law school, he traveled to Kenya for several weeks to discover his father's side of his family. His description in the book of his African trip, while long and filled with characters, is insightful and moving.

This is all prior to entering Harvard Law School, mind you, where he was the first ever black Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Law Review, not a small feat by any measure. This is an extraordinary man with an excellent mind, numerous talents and a pragmatic approach and view of the world. I am proud to have this man lead my country as I finally feel that the leader of this country represents who America is and what it can become. This is an excellent book for those torn between two cultures or anyone else interested in finding who they are.

I found a lot of it boring. Enjoyed beggining and ending of book and Obama's time in Africa.

This book has shed much light on the upbringing and life of President elect Barack Obama. Very interesting to read, and enjoy how he survived many obstacles and tragedies throughout his life. I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted background information concerning Barack Obama.