Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama

I've gotten a bit behind on my blog again so I'm going to do a few condensed reviews of books!

It is my goal to read both of Obama's books as well as John McCain's book so I am fully informed by the time of the fall election. I tried to read Hilary's book when it came out a few years ago and found it unreadable. Fortunately a review on NPR told me that Obama and McCain had much better books.

Obama's book told the story of his youth and growing up, his college career in California and New York City, his work as a community organizer in Chicago, and about his trip back to Kenya to visit his family. Obama was born to a white American woman and a black Kenyan father. His parents got divorced when he was two and his father left. He only saw him one other time (when he was 10 or 11) before he died in a tragic car accident. The overarching theme of the book is who was Obama Sr.? What does it mean to be a half Kenyan, half white American man? I thought the book was very interesting to read as a book about a man facing identity struggles and not really a book about a politician at all. I really liked reading about his trip to Kenya and the discoveries he made there about his father as well as his work as a community organizer in Chicago. It was hard to read about his disillusioned youth, but it was a good point to see how he changed over time.

I thought the writing was fantastic and it was a very interesting book overall. I would like to read more about how he went to law school, became a lawer, state senator, etc. Is this book better than McCain's? I'll let you know after I read McCain's!