- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition (April 15, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060858214
- ISBN-13: 978-0060858216
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Since his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Obama has captured attention as reporters, politicos, and ordinary citizens have wondered if he might be the nation's first black president. Chicago Tribune reporter Mendell argues that although Obama's rise to the national stage might seem unplanned, it is the outcome of a carefully calculated strategy by an ambitious man. Mendell chronicles Obama's personal evolution, from Barry, a biracial adolescent growing up in Hawaii, to Barack, the Harvard law school graduate. Obama's complex background—white midwestern mother and Kenyan father—has been both an asset and a liability to his search for acceptance among African Americans and voters in general as they have had to assess who he is and what he stands for. Mendell tracks Obama's rise through the frustrations of community organizing and the rough-and-tumble world of Chicago politics to the rarefied, if no less brutal, world of the U.S. Senate. Mendell draws on interviews with Obama, his wife, family, friends, aides, and rivals, as well as his own extensive coverage since Obama's days in the Illinois Senate, to offer a nuanced, compelling look at a man of idealism and ambition intent on making history. Bush, Vanessa --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
The single best source of background information on our new president. (National Review )
Product Description
Barack Obama is arguably the most dynamic political figure to grace the American stage since John F. Kennedy. His meteoric rise from promise to power has stunned even the cynics and inspired a legion of devout followers. For anyone who wants to know more about the man who would be president, David Mendell's Obama is essential reading. Mendell, who has covered Obama for the Chicago Tribune since the beginning of Obama's campaign for the Senate, had far-reaching access to the senator, the details of which he shares in this compelling biography. Positioning Obama as the savior of a fumbling Democratic party, Mendell shows how Obama conquered Illinois politics and paved the way brick by brick for a galvanizing, historic presidential run. With exclusive contributions by family members and advisers, and details on Obama's voting record, this is a complete, complex, and revealing portrait, a must read for anyone interested in American politics in general and Senator Barack Obama in particular.
About the Author
David Mendell, author of Obama: From Promise to Power, has been writing about politics and urban issues for the Chicago Tribune since 1998. Mr. Mendell lives in Oak Park, Illinois.
From AudioFile
This timely biography by a hard-bitten reporter from the generally conservative CHICAGO TRIBUNE covers the personal and political life of the man who may be president. The remarkable thing about Illinois Senator Barack Obama is--no doubt about it--charisma. People who encounter him react enthusiastically with statements such as: ÒI think he might be the one!Ó ObamaÕs main message, that people should come together for the common good, resonates with liberal and conservative alike, says the author. When quoting Obama, reader Dion Graham slips easily into a doppelganger-like vocal cadence and timbre, eerily accurate and compelling. In between quotes he reads with a measured, expressive intonation, sounding personally neutral and yet warm at the same time. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
