dreamsfather Description: In his memoir, Dreams From my Father, Obama describes his early childhood in Indonesia growing up with a mother who was as lost in the country as he was. Stepfather Lolo was a steady and guiding presence in those years. The sheer will of his mother Ann, set a solid grounding for young Barack. Convinced that Barack needed more education than what a primary school in Indonesia could provide, Ann sent off for an American correspondence course. Obama remembers waking up at 4:00 a.m. every morning for lessons. His mother, Obama recalls, almost never listened to his complaints. “This is no picnic for me either, buster,” she would retort when he whined about the early morning drills.

Believing that true success for her kid resided only in America, Ann sent Barack back to Hawaii to be raised by his grandparents—Toot and Gramps, and Obama writes colorfully about his adolescent years spent under their care.

Comment: This was an unexpectedly fantastic read: how could a man who (later)decided to go into politics be so honest, so self-searching, so willing to explore beneath the surfaces? The fact that the author is now the US president-elect makes it all the more intriguing, but the autobiography is wonderful even without that extra ‘icing on the cake’. Obama has a sensitivity to his own and others’ weaknesses and strengths; he sees through the facade but is forgiving of people’s foibles. What he has to say about being of mixed race is very much worth listening to: all those who just don’t get the problems in US ghettoes or African countries might learn something here. His search for his own identity–the archetypical hero’s journey to find the father–is both funny and very touching; the immense disappointment becomes a source of knowledge and wisdom. This is a man who crosses many bridges: between black and white, men and women, ‘West’ and ‘Third World’, past and present. Buy it–and enjoy it!