Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Description

In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father - a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man - has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey - first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother's family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father's life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

Authors Bio, not available

'Barack Obama...the Democratic Party's new rock star, is that rare politician who can actually write-and write movingly and genuinely about himself.' New York Times 'Beautifully crafted...moving and candid...this book belongs on the shelf beside works like James McBride's The Color of Water as a tale of living astride America's racial categories.' -- Scott Turow 'A beautiful reflection on an unusual background and a thoughtful analysis of what race means in America today.' Scotsman 'An honesty and self-awareness not always found in autobiographers, and more rarely in potential leaders of the free world.' Telegraph 'A remarkable story, beautifully told.' Observer