Dreams from My Father: Difference between revisions
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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 (classification of human beings)|race]] and [[race relations]] in the [[United States]]. |
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 (classification of human beings)|race]] and [[race relations]] in the [[United States]]. |
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==Quotes== |
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Highlights from the book include: |
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{{cquote|Black Nationalism provided that history. An unambiguous morality tale that was easily communicated and easily grasped: a steady attack on the White race, the constant recitation of black people's brutal experience in this country served as the ballast that could prevent the ideas of personal responsibility into an ocean of despair. "Yes," the nationalists would say, "Whites are responsible for your sorry state, not any inherent flaws in you." |
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"In fact," the nationalists would continue, "whites are so heartless and devious that we can no longer expect anything from them. Rid them for your mind and find your true power liberated. Rise up, ye mighty race!" |
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All this was painful to consider. It's painful now as it had been years ago. It contradicted the morality my mother had taught me a morality of subtle distinctions between individuals of goodwill and those who wished me ill between active malice and ignorance or indifference. I had a personal stake in that moral framework. I discovered that I couldn't escape it if I tried.}} |
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{{cquote|It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned. People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied. They were revealed. Such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn't seem angry all the time.}} |
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{{cquote|Eventually a consulting house to a multinational corporation agreed to hire me as a research assistant. Like a spy behind enemy lines, I arrived every day at my mid-Manhattan office and sat at my computer terminal.}} |
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==Recognition and awards== |
==Recognition and awards== |
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The [[audio book]] edition earned Obama the 2006 [[Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album]].<ref>Brooks Boliek, [http://www.entertainment-news.org/breaking/54592/sen-obama-finally-gets-his-grammy.html Sen. Obama finally gets his Grammy], ''Reuters/Hollywood Reporter'', September 6, 2006</ref> |
The [[audio book]] edition earned Obama the 2006 [[Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album]].<ref>Brooks Boliek, [http://www.entertainment-news.org/breaking/54592/sen-obama-finally-gets-his-grammy.html Sen. Obama finally gets his Grammy], ''Reuters/Hollywood Reporter'', September 6, 2006</ref> |
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Revision as of 17:13, 11 October 2008
| File:Dreams from my father.gif | |
| Author | Barack Obama |
|---|---|
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Three Rivers Press |
Publication date | 1995 |
| Publication place | United States |
| ISBN | [[Special:BookSources/ISBN+1-4000-8277-3+%28Paperback+reprint%29%3Cbr%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 |
| Followed by | The Audacity of Hope |
| ||
|---|---|---|
|
Personal
Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator from Illinois 44th President of the United States Tenure
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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by current United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama of Illinois. It was first published in 1995 after Obama was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, but before his political career began. The book was re-released in 2004 following Senator Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC); the 2004 edition includes a new introduction by Senator Obama as well as his DNC keynote address.
Narrative
The autobiographical narrative tells the story of the future Senator's life up to his entry in Harvard Law School. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. of Kenya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas, both students at that time at the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and divorced when he was four. Obama formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and her parents.
Stanley Ann Dunham Obama then 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 in Hawaii. 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.[1] In an American school, Obama first became conscious of racism and what it means to be an African-American. At this point, his father came to visit him and his family; it was the last time that Obama would see him before his father's death in a car accident in 1982.[citation needed]
Upon finishing high school, Obama enrolled at Occidental College, where he describes living a "party" lifestyle of drug and alcohol use.[2][3] He transferred to Columbia College at Columbia University, where he majored in political science.[3] Upon graduation, he worked for a year in business. He then moved to Chicago, where he took up 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.[3]
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.
Recognition and awards
The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.[4]
Columnist Joe Klein stated in an article about Obama for Time that the book "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician."[5]owever, based on stylistic comparisons, the Americanist Jack Cashill has suggested that Obama's autobiography Dreams From My Father was ghostwritten by Bill Ayers.[6]
The Chronicle of Higher Education listed the book as the # 1 bestseller at college campuses during the Spring 2008 semester. [citation needed]
Publication history
- New York: Times Books; 1st edition (July 18, 1995); Hardcover: 403 pages; ISBN 0-8129-2343-X
- This printing is now very rare. Only a few signed copies are known, and are estimated to be worth up to $5,000 (depending on condition).
- New York: Kodansha International (August 1996); Paperback: 403 pages; ISBN 1-5683-6162-9
- New York: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (August 10, 2004); Paperback: 480 pages; ISBN 1-4000-8277-3
- New York: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (May 3, 2005); Audio CD; ISBN 0-7393-2100-5; Includes the senator's speech from the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
- New York: Random House Audio; Abridged edition on Playaway digital audio player [7]
- New York: Random House Large Print; 1st Large print edition (April 4, 2006); Hardcover: 720 pages; ISBN 0-7393-2576-0
- New York: Crown Publishers (January 9, 2007); Hardcover: 464 pages; ISBN 0-3073-8341-5
- New York: Random House (January 9, 2007); eBook; ISBN 0-3073-9412-3
References
- ^ National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education. "Punahou School Data". www.schooldigger.com. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
- ^ Obama (1995), pp. 93–94. see: Romano, Lois (January 3, 2007). "Effect of Obama's Candor Remains to Be Seen". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-07-22. Seelye, Katharine Q (October 24, 2006). "Obama Offers More Variations From the Norm". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c Barack Obama ’83. Is He the New Face of The Democratic Party? Columbia College Today.
- ^ Brooks Boliek, Sen. Obama finally gets his Grammy, Reuters/Hollywood Reporter, September 6, 2006
- ^ Klein, Joe (2006-10-23). "The Fresh Face". Time. Retrieved 2006-10-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Who Wrote Dreams From My Father? American Thinker, October 10, 2008.
- ^ [1]
