Here are some more reviews from our CWL Book Chain for Dreams From My Father.
From Mandarin 1: Have to agree with Obama's statement in his introduction that his memoir could be further edited by at least 50 pages. I say double or perhaps even triple.
As he charts his background growing up in a white household, struggling to find his identity as a righteous black man by resisting “the pure and heady breeze of privilege”, his story bogs down in discussions of racial exploitation without really shedding any new light on the subject.
Although I did find his trip back to Kenya, reuniting with his new found siblings and defining “what is a family?” intriguing.
Just a thought – I find it hard to believe that Obama wrote his first memoir in one year. I suggest that he may had major editorial help, even a ghostwriter. Successful politicians have sought this service with acknowledgment of their help. Why Obama has not, is perhaps due to his political persona built around his presumably superior intellect.
Mandarin 2: What makes someone become a president? Let alone coming from a mixed race background, American mother, African father, an Indonesian stepfather and growing up in different countries I really enjoyed reading this, discovering all about this boy growing up into a man who is wise beyond his years. It is quite detailed, the conversations he recalls and his thoughts about different events, like the advertisements for whitening skin. I found his real father fascinating even though Barack hardly knows him – he was brought to life. It is well written and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. When he became president I honestly didn't know much about him but now I feel I know him well and what life events have shaped his ideas.
Mandarin 3: This is an excellent read about race in modern society and his struggle to find where he fits in life. It is also about an absent father and discovering a family a world away….a real insight into the man of the moment the US President. Thank you “Mandarins”,
More reviews to come…………