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Dreams from My Father

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Dreams from My Father
AuthorBarack Obama
LanguageEnglish
SubjectEarly life of Barack Obama
GenreMemoir
PublisherTimes Books (1995)
Three Rivers Press (2004)
Publication date
July 18, 1995
August 10, 2004
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeBook
Pages403 (1995)
442 (2004)
ISBN1-4000-8277-3
973/.0405967625009/0092 B 22
LC ClassE185.97.O23 A3 2004
This article is part of
a series about
Barack Obama
Personal
Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator from Illinois
44th President of the United States
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
Presidential campaigns
Barack Obama's signature
Seal of the President of the United States

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995) is a memoir by Barack Obama that explores the events of his early years in Honolulu and Chicago until his entry into Harvard Law School in 1988. Obama originally published his memoir in 1995, when he was starting his political campaign for the Illinois Senate.[1]

After Obama won the U.S. Senate Democratic primary victory in Illinois in 2004, the book was re-published that year. He gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and won the US Senate seat in the fall. Obama launched his presidential campaign three years later.[2] The 2004 edition includes a new preface by Obama and his DNC keynote address.[2]

According to The New York Times, Obama modeled Dreams from My Father on Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man.[3] The book, frequently praised for its literary qualities, has also been criticized for inaccuracies and over-use of artistic license. Obama acknowledges using composite characterizations and adjusted timelines in the book's introduction, writing that the "hazards" of autobiography could not be fully avoided.

Narrative

Further information: Early life and career of Barack Obama

Childhood

Barack Obama recounts in his book of how his parents met, and his own life until his enrollment at Harvard Law School in 1988. His parents were Barack Obama Sr. of Kenya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas, who had met while they were students at the University of Hawaii. In the first chapter, speaking of his father and namesake, Obama states "[h]e had left Hawaii back in 1963, when I was only two years old."[4] Obama's parents separated in 1963 and divorced in 1964, when he was two years old. The elder Obama later went to Harvard to pursue his PhD in economics. After that, he returned to Kenya to fulfill the promise to his nation. Obama himself formed an image of his absent father from stories told by his mother and maternal grandparents. He saw his father one more time, in 1971, when Obama Sr. came to Hawaii for a month's visit.[5] The elder Obama, who had remarried, died in a car accident in Kenya in 1982.[5]

After her divorce, Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, a Javanese surveyor from Indonesia who was also a graduate student in Hawaii. The family moved to Jakarta when Obama was six years old. At age ten, Obama returned to Hawaii under the care of his maternal grandparents for the better educational opportunities available there. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at Punahou School, a private college-preparatory school, where he was one of six black students.[6] Obama attended Punahou from the fifth grade until his graduation in 1979. Obama writes in his book: "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 met Ray (Keith Kakugawa), who was two years older and also multi-racial. He introduced Obama to the African-American community.[7]

Adulthood

Upon graduating from high school, Obama moved to the contiguous United States for studies at Occidental College. He describes having lived a "party" lifestyle of drug and alcohol use.[8][9][10] After two years at Occidental, Obama transferred to Columbia College at Columbia University, where he majored in Political Science.[10] After graduation, Obama worked for a year in business. He moved to Chicago, where he worked for a non-profit as a community organizer in the Altgeld Gardens housing project on the city's mostly black 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. During this period, Obama first visited Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which became the center of his religious life.[10] Before attending Harvard, Obama decided to visit relatives in Kenya for the first time in his life. He recounts part of this experience in the final and emotional part of the book. Obama acknowledged his entire memoir to reflect on his personal experiences with race relations in the United States.

Reception

A contemporary review in the New York Times was mostly complimentary. The reviewer, novelist Paul Watkins, wrote that Obama "persuasively describes the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to neither." However, Watkins questioned whether Obama's narrative suggested that people of mixed backgrounds must choose only one culture, which seemed at odds with America's diverse nature, writing "[i]f this is indeed true, as Mr. Obama tells it, then the idea of America taking pride in itself as a nation derived of many different races seems strangely mocked."[11]

After Obama achieved greater national prominence in 2007, Dreams found renewed critical attention. Speaking in 2008, Toni Morrison, a Nobel Laureate novelist, 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.[12]

In an interview for The Daily Beast, author Philip Roth said he had read Dreams from My Father "with great interests", and commented that he had found it "well done and very persuasive and memorable."[13] The book "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician", wrote Time columnist Joe Klein.[14] 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."[15] 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."[16] Writing for the Guardian, literary critic Robert McCrum wrote that Obama had "executed an affecting personal memoir with grace and style, narrating an enthralling story with honesty, elegance and wit, as well as an instinctive gift for storytelling." McCrum had included the book in his list of the 100 best non-fiction books of all time.[17]

In 2011, Time magazine listed the book on its top 100 non-fiction books written in English since 1923.[18] The audiobook edition earned Obama the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2006.[19] Five days before being sworn in as President in 2009, Obama secured a $500,000 advance for an abridged version of Dreams from My Father for middle-school-aged children.[20]

Accuracy

Obama acknowledges using composite characterizations and adjusted chronology in the book's introduction, writing that the "hazards" of autobiography could not be fully avoided. Noting the book's considerable number of alterations from reality, invented composite characters, and restructured timelines, scholar David Garrow described Dreams as "a work of historical fiction" in his 2017 biography of Obama, Rising Star.[21][22] David Remnick, another Obama biographer (The Bridge, 2010), described Dreams as "a mixture of verifiable fact, recollection, recreation, invention, and artful shaping."[23] A number of factual inaccuracies or exaggerations in Dreams were also discussed by David Maraniss in his 2012 work Barack Obama: The Story; Maraniss describes the book as more akin to fictional literature than true autobiography.[24][25]

People in the book

With the exception of family members and a handful of public figures, Barack Obama says in the 2004 preface that he had changed names of others to protect their privacy. He also created composite characters to expedite the narrative flow.[26] Some of his acquaintances have recognized themselves and acknowledged their names. Various researchers have suggested the names of other figures in the book:

Actual name Referred to in the book as
Salim Al Nurridin Rafiq[27]
Margaret Bagby Mona[28]
Hasan Chandoo Hasan[29]
Earl Chew Marcus[30]
Frank Marshall Davis Frank[31]
Joella Edwards Coretta[32]
Pal Eldredge Mr. Eldredge[33]
Mabel Hefty Miss Hefty[34]
Loretta Augustine Herron Angela[35]
Emil Jones Old Ward Boss[36]
Keith Kakugawa Ray[37]
Jerry Kellman Marty Kaufman[38]
Yvonne Lloyd Shirley[39]
Ronald Loui / Terrence Loui (composite) Frederick[40]
Greg Orme Scott[41]
Johnnie Owens Johnnie[42]
Mike Ramos Jeff[43]
Sohale Siddiqi Sadik[29]
Wally Whaley Smitty[44]

Versions

  • New York: Times Books; 1st edition (July 18, 1995); Hardcover: 403 pages; ISBN 0-8129-2343-X
  • New York: Kodansha International (August 1996); Paperback: 403 pages; ISBN 1-56836-162-9
  • 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 [45]
  • 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 0-307-38341-5
  • New York: Random House (January 9, 2007); eBook; ISBN 0-307-39412-3
  • Melbourne: Text Publishing (2008); Paperback: 442 pages; ISBN 978-1-921351-43-3
Translations

References

  1. ^ Knapp, Kevin (July 5, 1995). "Alice Palmer to run for Reynolds' seat". Hyde Park Herald. p. 1. Talk of who might replace Palmer, assuming she wins the race, has already begun. One front-runner might be Palmer-supporter Barack Obama, an attorney with a background in community organization and voter registration efforts. Obama, who has lived 'in and out' of Hyde Park for 10 years, is currently serving as chairman of the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Obama said that even though the election would be years away, 'I am seriously exploring that campaign.'
    Hevrdejs, Judy; Conklin, Mike (July 7, 1995). "Hevrdejs & Conklin INC". Chicago Tribune. p. 20. Retrieved February 10, 2010. Polpourri: ... Barack Obama will announce he's running for the state Senate seat occupied by Alice Palmer, who's running for Reynolds' U.S. congressional seat. Obama, who has worked with Palmer, is an attorney at Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland and newly published author of Dreams from My Father.
    Mitchell, Monica (August 23, 1995). "Son finds inspiration in the dreams of his father". Hyde Park Herald. p. 10.
  2. ^ a b Turow, Scott (March 30, 2004). "The new face of the Democratic Party—and America". Salon.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
    Cader, Michael (July 30, 2004). "Publishers eyeing Obama". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on April 28, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
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    Sweet, Lynn (March 17, 2005). "Be-bop, Barack and bucks from book" (paid archive). Chicago Sun-Times. p. 39. Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2010.
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  3. ^ Greg Grandin, "Obama, Melville, and the Tea Party" Archived 2018-11-06 at the Wayback Machine. The New York Times, 18 January 2014. Retrieved on 17 March 2016.
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  17. ^ McCrum, Robert (31 December 2017). "The 100 best nonfiction books of all time: the full list". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
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  20. ^ Obama Secures $500,000 Book Advance Archived 2009-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, UPI, March 19, 2009
  21. ^ Staples, Brent (2017-05-09). "A Take-No-Prisoners Biography of Barack Obama Examines His Early Love Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
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  24. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (2012-06-04). "The Young Dreamer, With Eyes Wide Open". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  25. ^ Karl, Jonathan (2012-06-15). "The Hidden Obama". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
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  27. ^ "Facing the reality of deprivation". The Irish Times. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on October 26, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  28. ^ O'Neill, Sean; Hamilton, Fiona (March 23, 2008). "The ascent of Barack Obama, Mr Charisma". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  29. ^ a b Goldman, Adam (May 18, 2008). "Old friends paint portrait of Obama as young man". Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  30. ^ Helman, Scott (August 25, 2008). "Small college awakened future senator to service". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  31. ^ Thanawala, Sudhin (August 3, 2008). "Advice dissent". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 12, 2008.[dead link]
  32. ^ Calmes, Jackie (January 3, 2009). "On Campus, Obama and Memories". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
  33. ^ Hoover, Will (February 11, 2007). "Obama's declaration stirs thrills at Punahou". Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  34. ^ Essoyan, Susan (July 27, 2008). "A teacher's Hefty influence". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Archived from the original on November 29, 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  35. ^ Springen, Karen (November 5, 2008). "They knew him when: First impressions of Barack Obama". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
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  38. ^ Davidson, Phil (March 2009). "Obama's mentor". Illinois Issues. Archived from the original on 2015-08-28. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
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  40. ^ Ramos, Connie (2008). "Our Friend Barry: Classmates' Recollections of Barack Obama and Punahou School".
  41. ^ Scharnberg, Kirsten (March 25, 2007). "The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 25, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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  44. ^ Jorgensen, Laurel (December 28, 2006). "Ill. barber shop of Ali, Obama must move: Hyde Park Hair Salon will have to relocate after 80 years of business". Charleston Daily Mail. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  45. ^ Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance Archived August 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Playaway for Libraries, Random House Audio, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7393-7471-9.
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