Barack Obama: Dreams From My Father

Autobiography of A Young Man

Unlike some of my fellow book club members, I was looking forward to this month's pick. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama is the first work that I have read by the Big O, and a logical starting point.

This autobiography focuses on Obama's first 25 years, prior to his political aspirations. The novel is structured into 3 parts: Origins, Chicago and Kenya. It tells of Obama's ancestry and upbringing. We see some influences and experiences that shape him into the man he becomes later in his life.

His Grandparents who Raised Him as a Teen

Obama is born in Hawaii, and after his father leaves his mother to pursue his education at Harvard, she divorces (although this term is never really used), and she remarries an Indonesian man. The family relocated to Indonesia for some time, but this relationship also ends, and Obama returns and begins living with his grandparents in Hawaii. While there, his biological father comes to visit him only once when he is approximately 10 years old. What a story this old family photo tells of his excitement to finally meet his father.

Barack's Biological Father

Obama's Mother

This novel really avoids any discussion of his mother. No fond memories, no funny anecdotes that demonstrate a warm relationship of sorts.  There is so little information about her, that this glaring omission left me wondering if there exists a rift in that relationship. Also, the total absence of information about Maya, his half sister by his mother and Indonesian step father, was curious. It's hard to believe that he wouldn't share any  stories of little childhood adventures with his sister at all?

There is a common challenge about the autobiographies of politicians: How to tell a story without compromising one's future, or offending the electorate. As such, the seedier, funnier and more painful bits are often left out, and the minutia of political wrangling is included to make up the bulk of a text. Name dropping is uses as a crutch and distracts from the intimate details that are omitted.

Obama's step dad, mom and sister

Refer back to Ken Dryen's autobiography The Game, and this is a critical fault of that work also. (Now if you want to read a gritty, tell all autobiography, try Life by Keith Richards!!! WOW!)

That being said, I was struck that Obama admitted to drug use (Yes, Bill Clinton, Barack inhaled and had the courage to admit it!!!) and I commend his honesty on this one. He also admits to drinking alcohol to excess and smoking cigarettes. These activities, while totally innocuous to most, are a major issue to the bible thumping, conservative southern states and I was impressed by his candour.

However, a glaring omission is his total lack of mention of any love interests, religious affiliations and the avoidance of admitting that his father had many wives, and innumerable children. I was tempted to start a family tree flow chart, but didn't know where to start!!!

Thanks to Wikipedia, here's the answer:

This is the Kenyan family portrait that
Obama refers to in his novel

"Barack Obama has six half-siblings. One half-sister from his mother, one half-sister from his father, and four half-brothers from his father. Abo and Bernard Obama are also alleged to be his half-brothers but it is stated in his book Dreams of My Father that the Obama family doubts that they are the biological children of Barack Obama, Sr." 

To be honest, I was really wanting the novel to talk about his time at Harvard, his more recent political aspirations, and his family life with Michelle and daughters. I guess I will have to read a different book for those stories.

I'd recommend it, but you can get by with skimming the political bits. A tough editor could have widdled the narrative down by at least 80 pages.