The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Book Review: A Must Read
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful way to learn more about the man who is the democratic candidate running for the President of the United States. It offers insight as to how Barack views the world, politics, and relationships. It provides the opportunity to understand how Barack approaches issues and obstacles and his general outlook on life. This book is both enlightening and inspiring. I would also recommend reading, Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama, first which gives the background of Barack's upbringing and puts his views and style into the context they originated from. Both books will remove any uncertainty readers may have about the man we see today.Book Review: A Must Read.
Summary: 5 Stars
Barack Obama has a message that is resonating with a huge number of Americans. He is a gifted orator who has ignited the interest of many college age students. He is also the author of this bestselling book. If you have not yet read the book, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of see what he has to say.
You might also want to read the following:Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama;Living History;The Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton;Worth the Fighting for: A Memoir; Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life
Book Review: A New Style, A New Hope
Summary: 4 Stars
Barack Obama's second book looks at the intricacies of American politics and looks at where it has all gone wrong. The book itself reads like an elongated speech, and in a way it is; Obama's first expressed many of these ideas in his keynote speech-also entitled, `The Audacity of Hope'- during the 2004 democratic convention. The book looks at a wide range of issues, from the constitution to education to the Iraq War. However, the portion of the book that really stuck out to me was his views on Republicans and Democrats and the toll their bickering is taking on the American public. Obama states that politicians and even the public need to look past the tag of Republican or Democrat and look at the best interest of the country. I completely agree with this assessment, because I feel that acts such as filibustering in the senate, is holding the US back from passing legislation, that could potentially benefit the American public. Obama's book has been criticized by someone people, because they believe the literature itself is not that great and that the book reads too much "like outtakes from a stump speech-NY Times". However, I believe that this a book that can be read in short spurts, because each chapter analyzes different issues, pertaining to American politics. This book may not be the best piece of literature, but it is very interesting, a characteristic I believe is more important than the writing techniques. In our growing cosmopolitan society, it is increasingly important for books to be captivating, because people only have time to read books that quickly grab their attention and don't waste time with the fancy language, that the reader then has to wade through in order to actually find the story. That is why The Audacity of Hope is such a great book for this day and age; it can be read for short periods of time and it doesn't waste any time, in getting the reader captivated.Book Review: A Progressive Leader's View of Politics and the World!
Summary: 4 Stars
'The Audacity of Hope' is one of the most thought-provoking books centered on world and domestic politics recently written. Barack Obama offers his paragon of politics for the 21st century built upon a foundation of old guiding principles that stretch back to our Nation's forefathers to recent political figures and events that have shaped our political discourse over the last several years.
Though stretched in some areas, Barack pulls off an eloquently written prose of ideas that offer perspectives that are more practical than fresh (a dissertation so to speak). From family, values, faith, race, world politics, opportunity, and the constitution, he remains consistent in his love for country; however, skeptical of its future course. Specifically, on family his opinions on the erosion of the traditional family cannot be argued. Two-parent working households that compete with time spent with children is not opinion - it is fact. To further complicate matters, he points out - painfully - the erosion of the black family with startling statistics that pose no easy answer. Barack's approach however is a good starting point. From review of welfare laws that have separated families to engaging children as role model adults in order to compete against a pop culture filled with distractions (perceived and real).
His economic views are his strong point. Obama is able to pin-point in simple terms how globalization of manufacturing jobs, the emergence of low-paying service sector jobs, the complications and trade-offs of NAFTA and CAFTA have depressed our Nation's earning power, stagnated wages, and provided Americans with a lower standard of living despite our dominance as a economic superpower - the results now being felt primarily because of our cavalier approach to deal with crumbling infrastructure, job re-training, funding disparities in secondary education, and lack of affordable college-level education. Though Obama points out the difficulty in bold, fresh terms, his solution is based on the foundation of the past - Clinton's loose-ends with regards to NAFTA, the fallacy of 'No Child Left Behind' for Bush, and the missing link between teacher merit pay and performance. The solutions have been offered before. What Obama advocates is an executed, sequence-based series of action steps - a step-result-step-result format (a practical, perfect world format).
Adding to the texture and the value of this book is how Obama is able to talk about the role of faith without sounding preachy. He navigates his way through the role of faith in our politics, recognizing the difference in our religious views, but upholding the common ground found in most organized religion - value of life, respect for fellow men and women, and execution of the Golden Rule - common characteristics that stretch across the religious spectrum. His view is that faith within politics should be embraced from a world-view with the nuances of the differences down-played to prevent the widening of the gap that unites us all as Americans (or Americans to be) - a difficult view that he effectively framed.
On Race, Obama cannot win with everyone, but can relate to almost all of us. Being bi-racial, Obama tip-toes on this issue so not to alienate or shun his black roots, while opening-up enough allowing him to embrace his white roots. He discusses Race with the authority of someone given a "pass" to speak from both sides while leveraging his world experience to offer insight on the Latino and Asian American experience. It comes up short rather than flat primarily because a topic so complicated deserves its own work in and of itself - from Barack (maybe?). The decay of the black family, the resentment (real or perceived) of whites, the earning power (or lack thereof) for Latinos (and blacks), and the emergence (and impressive escalation) of Asians cannot be condensed within a short chapter. He points out the crumbling infrastructure and support system of the black family; however, his solutions break from past civil rights leaders and aims toward social responsibility, inclusion, and a "make it happen" approach to life - again, a hard explanation to condense. Latinos and blacks have common ground, but Obama doesn't really go into the details of the breaking (tipping) point that keeps these two races apart (only pointing out the obvious blue collar-low paying job battle - however, it's a lot more complicated). Instead he simplifies this discussion to the common threads we all share, the progress made, and the challenges ahead.
Finally, on world politics, Obama demonstrates the skill of knowledge, mastery of geography and government, and a "big picture" view of resolving our world standing. To this day (and as evident within this work), Barack is comfortable that he both voted against and spoke out against the war and therefore is able to write with conviction on the faulty reasoning that led the U.S. to war. At the same time, he realizes the outcome and conclusion of our presence in Iraq and increasing our world standing will be anything but easy.
Engaging, straight-forward, and beautifully written, 'The Audacity of Hope' is a book to be shared and reviewed with the passage of time. Consistent in his view to this day - Barack Obama is able to acknowledge the past and offer insight on how to shape our future based on the framework of what we have and share as Americans and world citizens.
Book Review: A Thoughtful, Balanced Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Barack Obama is one of the few politicians who have the courage to speak about the full complexity of the world, the legitimacy of opposing views, the sincerity of those who hold them, and the need to act together, humbly and with hope, to make life better for Americans. This is one of the best analyses of the current situation in America that I have read.