- Audio CD
- Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (Nov 6 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0739366416
- ISBN-13: 978-0739366417
- Product Dimensions: 13.9 x 2.4 x 15.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 159 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #204,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Obama reads his own words with the conviction and strength that listeners would expect from the Ilinois Democratic senator. The audacity of his hope echoes in each sentence he speaks as he lays the groundwork for reclaiming the values and inner strength that makes the United States so grand. While Obama is a great public speaker, those same skills could be overwhelming within the confines of an audiobook. Listeners will rejoice that he does not turn this reading opportunity into a six-hour speech. Instead, his cadence, speed and tone work to bring the listener from point to point, building inspiration through provocative thought rather than intense voice and personal charisma. Political inclinations will determine whether Obama's solutions or intentions are valued or disregarded. However, in his sincerest moments, he seizes hold of the problems plaguing the nation while criticizing both sides' failure to grasp the actual problem and to become bogged down in petty politics. He emphasizes the complexity of politics in a pluralist country spread out over millions of square miles. But even in his exploration of the political landscape, he does not hesitate to admit to his own limitations within the system.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"He is one of the best writers to enter modern politics."
—Jonathan Alter, Newsweek.com
"[Barack Obama] is that rare politician who can actually write- and write movingly and genuinely about himself...In these pages he often speaks to the reader as if he were an old friend from back in the day, salting policy recommendations with colorful asides about the absurdities of political life...[He] strives in these pages to ground his policy thinking in simple common sense...while articulating these venomous pre-election days, but also in these increasingly polarized and polarizing times."
—Michiko Katutani, New York Times
"[Few] on the partisan landscape can discuss the word 'hope' in a political context and be regarded as the least bit sincere. Obama is such a man, and he proves it by employing a fresh and buoyant vocabulary to scrub away some of the toxins from contemporary political debate. Those polling categories that presume to define the vast chasm between us do not, Obama reminds us, add up to the sum of our concerns or hint at where our hearts otherwise intersect...Obama advances ordinary words like 'empathy', 'humility', 'grace' and 'balance' into the extraordinary context of 2006's hyper-agitated partisan politics. The effect is not only refreshing but also hopeful...As you might anticipate from a former civil lawyer and a university lecturer on constitutional law, Obama writes convincingly about race as well as the lofty place the Constitution holds in American life...He writes tenderly about family and knowingly about faith. Readers, no matter what their party affiliation, may experience the oddly uplifting sensation of comparing the everyday contemptuous view of politics that circulates so widely in our civic conversations with the practical idealism set down by this slender, smiling, 45-year-old former sate legislator who is included on virtually every credible list of future presidential contenders."
—Los Angeles Times
"What's impressive about Obama is an intelligence that his new books diplays in aubundance."
—Washington Post Book World
"An upbeat view of the country's potential and a political biography that concentrates on the senator's core values."
—Chicago Tribune
“The self-portrait is appealing. It presents a man of relative youth yet maturity, a wise observer of the human condition, a figure who possesses perseverance and writing skills that have flashes of grandeur. Obama also demonstrates a wry sense of humor…His particular upbringing gives him special insights into the transition of American politics in the 1960s and ’70s from debates over economic principles to a focus on culture and morality, and into the divisiveness, polarization and incivility that accompanied this transition.”
—Gary Hart, The New York Times Book Review
“America’s founders set a high standard for political writing, and most contemporary efforts fall woefully short. How nice, then, to have a politician who can write as well as U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. … The Audacity of Hope … is fascinating in its revelation of Obama as someone who considers and questions, rather than asserts and declares. In nine focused chapters, Obama shows himself an agile thinker. This is an idea book, not a public-policy primer.”
—Elizabeth Taylor, Philadelphia Daily News
“Not only is Obama a good writer, his mind is top-shelf, his heart tender.”
—Les Payne, Newsday
“A thoughtful, careful analysis of what needs to be done to preserve our freedoms in a time of terror.”
—Newton N. Minow, Chicago Tribune
From the Hardcover edition.
—Jonathan Alter, Newsweek.com
"[Barack Obama] is that rare politician who can actually write- and write movingly and genuinely about himself...In these pages he often speaks to the reader as if he were an old friend from back in the day, salting policy recommendations with colorful asides about the absurdities of political life...[He] strives in these pages to ground his policy thinking in simple common sense...while articulating these venomous pre-election days, but also in these increasingly polarized and polarizing times."
—Michiko Katutani, New York Times
"[Few] on the partisan landscape can discuss the word 'hope' in a political context and be regarded as the least bit sincere. Obama is such a man, and he proves it by employing a fresh and buoyant vocabulary to scrub away some of the toxins from contemporary political debate. Those polling categories that presume to define the vast chasm between us do not, Obama reminds us, add up to the sum of our concerns or hint at where our hearts otherwise intersect...Obama advances ordinary words like 'empathy', 'humility', 'grace' and 'balance' into the extraordinary context of 2006's hyper-agitated partisan politics. The effect is not only refreshing but also hopeful...As you might anticipate from a former civil lawyer and a university lecturer on constitutional law, Obama writes convincingly about race as well as the lofty place the Constitution holds in American life...He writes tenderly about family and knowingly about faith. Readers, no matter what their party affiliation, may experience the oddly uplifting sensation of comparing the everyday contemptuous view of politics that circulates so widely in our civic conversations with the practical idealism set down by this slender, smiling, 45-year-old former sate legislator who is included on virtually every credible list of future presidential contenders."
—Los Angeles Times
"What's impressive about Obama is an intelligence that his new books diplays in aubundance."
—Washington Post Book World
"An upbeat view of the country's potential and a political biography that concentrates on the senator's core values."
—Chicago Tribune
“The self-portrait is appealing. It presents a man of relative youth yet maturity, a wise observer of the human condition, a figure who possesses perseverance and writing skills that have flashes of grandeur. Obama also demonstrates a wry sense of humor…His particular upbringing gives him special insights into the transition of American politics in the 1960s and ’70s from debates over economic principles to a focus on culture and morality, and into the divisiveness, polarization and incivility that accompanied this transition.”
—Gary Hart, The New York Times Book Review
“America’s founders set a high standard for political writing, and most contemporary efforts fall woefully short. How nice, then, to have a politician who can write as well as U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. … The Audacity of Hope … is fascinating in its revelation of Obama as someone who considers and questions, rather than asserts and declares. In nine focused chapters, Obama shows himself an agile thinker. This is an idea book, not a public-policy primer.”
—Elizabeth Taylor, Philadelphia Daily News
“Not only is Obama a good writer, his mind is top-shelf, his heart tender.”
—Les Payne, Newsday
“A thoughtful, careful analysis of what needs to be done to preserve our freedoms in a time of terror.”
—Newton N. Minow, Chicago Tribune
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A prelude to the White House,
By
This review is from: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Hardcover)
Barack Obama's latest book reads like a hopeful springboard to the Presidency; indeed, the only concern he's voiced recently about a run for the White House is what his family might have to endure. Other than that, he sure looks and sounds like a confirmed candidate, and The Audacity of Hope only fuels that speculation.Obama is my senator. I honestly can't tell you what he's accomplished for Illinois. Nothing particularly major or memorable- given his short tenure- but that's not to say he hasn't been successful; everyone in Washington seems to want him on this or that committee, and that's certainly good for Illinois. The more powerful and influential your senator, the more attention (and money) flows to your state. His voting record is what you might expect from a young freshman Democrat, but that's not a knock; he's been true to his word, and that's a plus. He tries hard in Audacity to show he would be a builder of bridges and a healer of political wounds, and that might be true; time will tell. He's spot-on in the section titled Politics when he bemoans what modern politicking has become- far less about the issues than about how inherently evil your opponent is. Mudslinging has replaced party platforms as the main election tool, with orchestrated outrage and assertions of moral superiority at the top of the campaign agenda. Obama's call to return some integrity to politics by offering solutions rather than automatic fear and hatred of the other side is both timely and refreshing. It would be easy to argue that the polarization of the political right and left is complete and irreversible, but that's both the Audacity and Hope of the book's title. What's not so convincing in Audacity is his portrayal of himself as a political Everyman. While he clearly demonstrates genuine empathy for those who don't share his beliefs, the middle ground he tries to capture seems more like quicksand- when you try too hard to be everything to everyone, you run the risk of being nothing instead, a perpetual question mark without a solid base to stand on. That's a risk he's obviously willing to take, but the centrist policies he then suggests are not only nothing new, they carry their own considerable risks and problems which he barely weighs. That's a concern, a surprise, and a shortcoming. Good, effective politicians are like a good stew- there's substance in the pot, and it's well seasoned. While Obama clearly has the substance, the seasoning simply isn't there yet, which makes the Audacity in the title fitting in a way Obama hadn't intended. Americans sure are enamored of fresh, unknown faces in politics- maybe because we love Cinderella stories- but that's voting with your heart rather than your head. Now there's something to be said for intuition and "gut feeling" when selecting leadership, but when the fresh face is untested in so many ways, perhaps it would be best to go with the proven commodity- even if it isn't all that exciting- rather than the raw recruit, no matter how intelligent or charismatic he (or she) might be. Charisma is great, but experience counts for so much more, especially in the troubled, difficult times ahead. All that said, Audacity of Hope is an interesting look into the mind and heart of a young senator as he formulates his early political policies and tests the political waters. -Mark Wakely, author of An Audience for Einstein
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A well-written and good book, but too often muddled in policitical comprimise,
By
This review is from: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Paperback)
Sen. Obama is more of a pragmatist than an idealist -- contrary to his inspired speeches. At best, he seeks to heal the partisan divide of U.S. politics for the common good. At worst, he comprimises too often (as I Canadian, I can relate to that) and he sometimes appears to want to please everyone.It is frustrating that his particular political mixture (a warmed-over Clintonism) is the only one realistically possible for Democrats to be electable in the U.S. at this time... Whether that is good or bad that depends on one's political views. That said, the book is well-written and thought out. An interesting chronicling of a major politic figure finding his way... I just hope he continues the quest forward, instead of getting muddled...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dreams from my father,
This review is from: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Mass Market Paperback)
It was fun reading it and I started reading second time.Though I am busy and rarely get enough time many things i enjoy reading.
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