Dreams from My Father : A Story of Race and Inheritance

Before Barack Obama became a politician he was, among other things, a writer. Dreams from My Father is his masterpiece: a refreshing, revealing portrait of a young man asking the big questions about identity and belonging.

The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama recounts an emotional odyssey. He retraces the migration of his mother’s family from Kansas to Hawaii, then to his childhood home in Indonesia. Finally he travels to Kenya, where he confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

Praise for Dreams from My Father:

‘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