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== Narrative == |
== Narrative == |
||
The autobiographical narrative tells the story of the life of Obama up to his entry in [[Harvard Law School]]. He was born in [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]], to [[Barack Obama, Sr.]] of [[Kenya]], and [[Ann Dunham]] of [[Wichita, Kansas]], who had met as students at the [[University of Hawaii at Manoa]]. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced in 1964. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents. He saw his father only one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit.<ref name="ghost">{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Merida |title=The Ghost of a Father |date=December 14, 2007 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/13/ST2007121301893.html |work=Washington Post |accessdate=June 24, 2008}}</ref> The elder Obama died in a drunk driving<ref>Karen Sirvaitis. 2009. ''Barack Obama: A Leader in a Time of Change''. USA Today Lifeline Biographies, 112 pages</ref> car accident in 1982.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/14/politics/washingtonpost/main3618311_page2.shtml | title=Father's Abandonment Molded Obama | publisher=The Washington Post | date=December 14, 2007 | accessdate=November 17, 2008}}</ref> |
The autobiographical narrative, ghost-written by terrorist Bill Ayers<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=112270</ref>, tells the story of the life of Obama up to his entry in [[Harvard Law School]]. He was born in [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]], to [[Barack Obama, Sr.]] of [[Kenya]], and [[Ann Dunham]] of [[Wichita, Kansas]], who had met as students at the [[University of Hawaii at Manoa]]. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced in 1964. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents. He saw his father only one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit.<ref name="ghost">{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Merida |title=The Ghost of a Father |date=December 14, 2007 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/13/ST2007121301893.html |work=Washington Post |accessdate=June 24, 2008}}</ref> The elder Obama died in a drunk driving<ref>Karen Sirvaitis. 2009. ''Barack Obama: A Leader in a Time of Change''. USA Today Lifeline Biographies, 112 pages</ref> car accident in 1982.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/14/politics/washingtonpost/main3618311_page2.shtml | title=Father's Abandonment Molded Obama | publisher=The Washington Post | date=December 14, 2007 | accessdate=November 17, 2008}}</ref> |
||
After her divorce, Ann Dunham married [[Lolo Soetoro]], an [[East-West Center]] student from [[Indonesia]]. The family moved to [[Jakarta]]. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his 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. Obama was one of three Black students among the majority Asian-American population at that school,<ref name="pundata"> |
After her divorce, Ann Dunham married [[Lolo Soetoro]], an [[East-West Center]] student from [[Indonesia]]. The family moved to [[Jakarta]]. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his 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. Obama was one of three Black students among the majority Asian-American population at that school,<ref name="pundata"> |
File:Dreams from my father.png | |
Author | Barack Obama |
---|---|
Genre | Autobiography |
Publisher | Three Rivers Press |
Publication date | 1995 (Re-released in 2004) |
Publication place | USA |
Pages | 442 |
ISBN | [[Special:BookSources/ISBN+1-4000-8277-3+%28Paperback+reprint%29%3Cbr+%2F%3EISBN+1-56836-162-9+%28Paperback+1st+ed%29 |ISBN 1-4000-8277-3 (Paperback reprint) ISBN 1-56836-162-9 (Paperback 1st ed)]] Parameter error in {{ ISBNT}}: invalid character |
OCLC | 55534889 |
973/.0405967625009/0092 B 22 | |
LC Class | E185.97.O23 A3 2004 |
Followed by | The Audacity of Hope |
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by United States President Barack Obama. It was first published in 1995 after Obama was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, and before his political career began. The book was re-released in 2004 following Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC). The 2004 edition includes a new introduction by Obama, then a Senator-elect, as well as his DNC keynote address.
The autobiographical narrative, ghost-written by terrorist Bill Ayers [1], tells the story of the life of Obama up to his entry in Harvard Law School. He was born 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 at Manoa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced in 1964. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents. He saw his father only one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit. [2] The elder Obama died in a drunk driving [3] car accident in 1982. [4]
After her divorce, Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an East-West Center student from Indonesia. The family moved to Jakarta. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his 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. Obama was one of three Black students among the majority Asian-American population at that school, [5] and he first became conscious of racism and what it means to be an African-American.
Obama attended Punahou School from the 5th grade until his graduation 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 also met Ray (Keith Kakugawa), who introduced him to the African American community. [6]
Upon finishing high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he enrolled at Occidental College, where he describes living a "party" lifestyle of drug and alcohol use. [7] [8] [9] After two years at Occidental, he transferred to Columbia College at Columbia University, in Manhattan, New York City, where he majored in political science. [9] Upon graduation, he worked for a year in business. He then moved to Chicago, working for a non-profit doing community organizing in the Altgeld Gardens housing project on the city's 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. It was during his time spent here that Obama joined Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. [9]
Before attending Harvard Law School, Obama decided to visit relatives in Kenya. He uses part of his experience there as the setting for the book's final, emotional scene.
As well as relating the story of Obama's life, the book includes a good deal of reflection on his own personal experiences with race and race relations in the United States.
Pictured in left-hand photograph on cover: Habiba Akumu Hussein and Barack Obama, Sr. (President Obama's paternal grandmother and his father as a young boy). Pictured in righthand photograph on cover: Stanley Dunham and Ann Dunham (President Obama's maternal grandfather and his mother as a young girl). [10]
With the exception of family members and a handful of public figures, Barack Obama is open in the preface about using changed names for privacy reasons and composite characters to expedite the narrative flow. [11] Various researchers have suggested that the following characters are based on real people Obama knew:
Real life person | Referred in the book as |
---|---|
Salim Al Nurridin | Rafiq [12] |
Margaret Bagby | Mona [13] |
Hasan Chandoo | Hasan [14] |
Earl Chew | Marcus [15] |
Frank Davis | Frank [16] |
Joella Edwards | Coretta [17] |
Pal Eldredge | Mr. Eldredge [18] |
Mabel Hefty | Miss Hefty [19] |
Loretta Herron | Angela [20] |
Emil Jones | Old Ward Boss [21] |
Keith Kakugawa | Ray [22] |
Jerry Kellman | Marty [23] |
Yvonne Lloyd | Shirley [24] |
Ronald Loui | Frederick [25] |
Greg Orme | Scott [26] |
Johnnie Owens | Johnnie [27] |
Sohale Siddiqi | Sadik [14] |
Mike Ramos | Jeff [28] |
Wally Whaley | Smitty [29] |
In discussing Dreams from My Father, Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison 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." [30]
The book "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician," wrote Time columnist Joe Klein. [31] 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." [32] 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." [33]
The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. [34]
Five days before being sworn in as President, Obama secured a $500,000 advance for an abridged version of "Dreams From My Father" for middle-school-aged children. [35]
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revert poorly sourced BLP violation; IP has been blocked |
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Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
== Narrative == |
== Narrative == |
||
The autobiographical narrative tells the story of the life of Obama up to his entry in [[Harvard Law School]]. He was born in [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]], to [[Barack Obama, Sr.]] of [[Kenya]], and [[Ann Dunham]] of [[Wichita, Kansas]], who had met as students at the [[University of Hawaii at Manoa]]. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced in 1964. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents. He saw his father only one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit.<ref name="ghost">{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Merida |title=The Ghost of a Father |date=December 14, 2007 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/13/ST2007121301893.html |work=Washington Post |accessdate=June 24, 2008}}</ref> The elder Obama died in a drunk driving<ref>Karen Sirvaitis. 2009. ''Barack Obama: A Leader in a Time of Change''. USA Today Lifeline Biographies, 112 pages</ref> car accident in 1982.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/14/politics/washingtonpost/main3618311_page2.shtml | title=Father's Abandonment Molded Obama | publisher=The Washington Post | date=December 14, 2007 | accessdate=November 17, 2008}}</ref> |
The autobiographical narrative, ghost-written by terrorist Bill Ayers<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=112270</ref>, tells the story of the life of Obama up to his entry in [[Harvard Law School]]. He was born in [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]], to [[Barack Obama, Sr.]] of [[Kenya]], and [[Ann Dunham]] of [[Wichita, Kansas]], who had met as students at the [[University of Hawaii at Manoa]]. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced in 1964. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents. He saw his father only one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit.<ref name="ghost">{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Merida |title=The Ghost of a Father |date=December 14, 2007 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/13/ST2007121301893.html |work=Washington Post |accessdate=June 24, 2008}}</ref> The elder Obama died in a drunk driving<ref>Karen Sirvaitis. 2009. ''Barack Obama: A Leader in a Time of Change''. USA Today Lifeline Biographies, 112 pages</ref> car accident in 1982.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/14/politics/washingtonpost/main3618311_page2.shtml | title=Father's Abandonment Molded Obama | publisher=The Washington Post | date=December 14, 2007 | accessdate=November 17, 2008}}</ref> |
||
After her divorce, Ann Dunham married [[Lolo Soetoro]], an [[East-West Center]] student from [[Indonesia]]. The family moved to [[Jakarta]]. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his 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. Obama was one of three Black students among the majority Asian-American population at that school,<ref name="pundata"> |
After her divorce, Ann Dunham married [[Lolo Soetoro]], an [[East-West Center]] student from [[Indonesia]]. The family moved to [[Jakarta]]. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his 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. Obama was one of three Black students among the majority Asian-American population at that school,<ref name="pundata"> |
File:Dreams from my father.png | |
Author | Barack Obama |
---|---|
Genre | Autobiography |
Publisher | Three Rivers Press |
Publication date | 1995 (Re-released in 2004) |
Publication place | USA |
Pages | 442 |
ISBN | [[Special:BookSources/ISBN+1-4000-8277-3+%28Paperback+reprint%29%3Cbr+%2F%3EISBN+1-56836-162-9+%28Paperback+1st+ed%29 |ISBN 1-4000-8277-3 (Paperback reprint) ISBN 1-56836-162-9 (Paperback 1st ed)]] Parameter error in {{ ISBNT}}: invalid character |
OCLC | 55534889 |
973/.0405967625009/0092 B 22 | |
LC Class | E185.97.O23 A3 2004 |
Followed by | The Audacity of Hope |
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by United States President Barack Obama. It was first published in 1995 after Obama was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, and before his political career began. The book was re-released in 2004 following Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC). The 2004 edition includes a new introduction by Obama, then a Senator-elect, as well as his DNC keynote address.
The autobiographical narrative, ghost-written by terrorist Bill Ayers [1], tells the story of the life of Obama up to his entry in Harvard Law School. He was born 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 at Manoa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced in 1964. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents. He saw his father only one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit. [2] The elder Obama died in a drunk driving [3] car accident in 1982. [4]
After her divorce, Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an East-West Center student from Indonesia. The family moved to Jakarta. When Obama was ten, he returned to Hawaii under the care of his 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. Obama was one of three Black students among the majority Asian-American population at that school, [5] and he first became conscious of racism and what it means to be an African-American.
Obama attended Punahou School from the 5th grade until his graduation 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 also met Ray (Keith Kakugawa), who introduced him to the African American community. [6]
Upon finishing high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he enrolled at Occidental College, where he describes living a "party" lifestyle of drug and alcohol use. [7] [8] [9] After two years at Occidental, he transferred to Columbia College at Columbia University, in Manhattan, New York City, where he majored in political science. [9] Upon graduation, he worked for a year in business. He then moved to Chicago, working for a non-profit doing community organizing in the Altgeld Gardens housing project on the city's 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. It was during his time spent here that Obama joined Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. [9]
Before attending Harvard Law School, Obama decided to visit relatives in Kenya. He uses part of his experience there as the setting for the book's final, emotional scene.
As well as relating the story of Obama's life, the book includes a good deal of reflection on his own personal experiences with race and race relations in the United States.
Pictured in left-hand photograph on cover: Habiba Akumu Hussein and Barack Obama, Sr. (President Obama's paternal grandmother and his father as a young boy). Pictured in righthand photograph on cover: Stanley Dunham and Ann Dunham (President Obama's maternal grandfather and his mother as a young girl). [10]
With the exception of family members and a handful of public figures, Barack Obama is open in the preface about using changed names for privacy reasons and composite characters to expedite the narrative flow. [11] Various researchers have suggested that the following characters are based on real people Obama knew:
Real life person | Referred in the book as |
---|---|
Salim Al Nurridin | Rafiq [12] |
Margaret Bagby | Mona [13] |
Hasan Chandoo | Hasan [14] |
Earl Chew | Marcus [15] |
Frank Davis | Frank [16] |
Joella Edwards | Coretta [17] |
Pal Eldredge | Mr. Eldredge [18] |
Mabel Hefty | Miss Hefty [19] |
Loretta Herron | Angela [20] |
Emil Jones | Old Ward Boss [21] |
Keith Kakugawa | Ray [22] |
Jerry Kellman | Marty [23] |
Yvonne Lloyd | Shirley [24] |
Ronald Loui | Frederick [25] |
Greg Orme | Scott [26] |
Johnnie Owens | Johnnie [27] |
Sohale Siddiqi | Sadik [14] |
Mike Ramos | Jeff [28] |
Wally Whaley | Smitty [29] |
In discussing Dreams from My Father, Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison 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." [30]
The book "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician," wrote Time columnist Joe Klein. [31] 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." [32] 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." [33]
The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. [34]
Five days before being sworn in as President, Obama secured a $500,000 advance for an abridged version of "Dreams From My Father" for middle-school-aged children. [35]
{{
cite news}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors=
(
help)
{{
cite news}}
: Check date values in: |accessdate=
(
help)