Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir written by United States President Barack Obama.

In 453 pages, Mr. Obama brings us through his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, his work as a community organizer in Chicago’s south side and a trip to Kenya. He very briefly describes his time at Harvard Law School, his courtship and marriage to Michelle and a second trip to Kenya.

I really, really enjoyed this novel. Mr. Obama’s struggle to find answers in a racially polarized America is probably familiar to many black youth growing up in North America. As I read through several passages, I found myself shaking my head in agreement or recognition of a situation that is reminiscent of an experience I have lived through.

This memoir really humanized Mr. Obama for me. I’ve been a fan every since he hit the international stage, during his campaign for the democratic leadership. (I really struggled with who to root for. I’m a Hillary Clinton fan, but at last I had to support my black brother.) Anyways, back to the memoir.

Mr. Obama’s characteristic eloquence made this novel an enjoyable read. He recreates scenes, analyzes situations and shares his feeling without pretension. I felt like he was sitting across the table sharing his story with me. I didn’t have to reach for the dictionary too often. His story is so absorbing, it almost doesn’t seem real. Two or three times, I found myself wishing for a sequel from the perspective of one of the secondary characters. I would love to learn more about Ruth (Obama’s father’s third wife), and Obama's paternal grandmother.

In this novel, Mr. Obama demonstrate his ability to analyze both sides of issues without letting emotions cloud his judgment. It could have been very easy to have several ‘bad’ guys in this true story, yet there are very few.

Mr. Obama is very brave to write so honestly about his family’s history. It’s not all roses. Once the facts are laid bare, Mr. Obama’s father is revealed to be a near-do-good, adulterous, alcoholic with high ideals and no staying power (he goes through many families before his premature death as a result of a car accident).

This book was written and published after Obama graduated from Harvard Law School, where he made history as the first black editor of The Harvard Review. That’s about 10 years before he entered politics. I wonder if the story would have changed any, had he realized that one day he would be the President of the United States.

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