A Promised Land

Let me start off by saying that this Canadian loves and misses the Obamas. I respect both Barack and Michelle for what they accomplished (and tried to accomplish) in his two terms as President of the United States and Michelle's role as First Lady. I enjoyed seeing Barack balance being world leader and devoted husband and father. He seemed like an all-around nice guy who wanted (and still wants) to do good for his country.

So, it pains me to rate this book lower than expected (particularly because I adored Michelle's book, Becoming two years ago. Like, I totally fan-girled her!) When Barack began reading this audiobook, he made the comment that he struggles with brevity - ya, you can take that comment to the bank! This is a 29 hour and 10 minute audiobook (the longest I've ever listened to) and I enjoyed that he narrates his book himself. He's got a wonderful, smooth depth to his voice, but the man talks sooooo slow. So slow that I had to increase the playing speed to 1.4x.

This book is simply too long and not nearly as personal as I had hoped. While Barack includes some insight into his private life, the bulk of the book focuses on every political decision he made leading up to and during his first term as President of the United States. And it often feels like he spends most of the page time defending his decisions. For those well-versed in all things American politics, this is right up your alley. But for this non-politically savvy Canadian, the detail was too much, and it wasn't a good fit for my reading tastes. 

I enjoyed and respected how candid President Obama is with his opinions on people and events and was surprised that, at times, his writing is quite descriptive and almost poetic - the sights, sounds and even smells he remembers. But I wanted more insight into the man - not an overly detailed description of every political decision and each person he met along the way. He's an overthinker and I can empathize (believe me I can!), but in this autobiography I wanted to learn about the man behind the White House. I got snippets, but this was a much drier and less succinct read than I had expected. Even though there was a ridiculous debate about his birth certificate, you can rest assured that his middle name is not brevity.

In the end, I'm glad I listened to this book, but I wanted a more personal read. Did I enjoy it? Unfortunately, kind of but not nearly as much as I had hoped. But I continue to be a huge fan of his and Michelle's and I hope they continue to do great things to support their country, particularly in the aftermath of the last four years.  

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Barack Obama

Genre: Autobiography, Politics

Type and Source: unabridged eAudiobook from Audible.ca

Narrator: Barack Obama

Run Time: 29 hours, 10 minutes

Publisher: Random House Audio

First Published: November 17, 2020

Opening Lines: I began writing this book shortly after the end of my presidency - after Michelle and I had boarded Air Force One for the last time and traveled west for a long-deferred break. The mood on the plane was bittersweet.

Book Description from GoodReads: A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making - from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.

In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency - a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.

Obama takes listeners on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.

Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of US partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings listeners inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about US strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.

A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective - the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change”, and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.

This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.