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A review by avisholkoff
The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama by David Remnick
4.0
I wish I could give this 4.5 stars.
As someone who's teenage years were spent during the Obama presidency, I knew about his background but didn't know how truly radical it was that he became president, and for that reason I'm grateful for this book.
Further, as someone just beginning a career in organizing, campaigns and politics, I'm especially grateful for the insights that Remnick provided on Obama's Senatorial, State and Congressional campaigns. It illuminated the strategy and goals behind it as well as what worked and what didn't.
Learning about his background was incredibly fascinating. I mean the guy had an absentee father, a mother who loved him but was clearly focused on studying, and who didn't really directly care for him.
It's clear that Obama greatly benefited from specific institutions which provided him opportunities to succeed, but it's also evident that he wanted to help in some way seeking out community organizing roles and leading voter registration drives after law school. For someone in my place in my life, I appreciated Remnick's illuminating of Obama's mindset and atttidue toward seeking these opportunities.
Why 4.5 stars? I felt at times that the historical context at the beginning of many chapters was unnecessarily long. I came to read about Obama and while, as Remnick points out Obama "stood on the shoulder of giants" these parts seemed to run on when they could've been truncated. I liked the constant motif of John Lewis, a personal political hero of mine, but other parts I felt were long and were more suited for a political history of African Americans than a book on Obama.
Overall a great book and I learned a lot. Would recommend to anyone interested in Obama, beginning a career in politics and curious about African American History.
As someone who's teenage years were spent during the Obama presidency, I knew about his background but didn't know how truly radical it was that he became president, and for that reason I'm grateful for this book.
Further, as someone just beginning a career in organizing, campaigns and politics, I'm especially grateful for the insights that Remnick provided on Obama's Senatorial, State and Congressional campaigns. It illuminated the strategy and goals behind it as well as what worked and what didn't.
Learning about his background was incredibly fascinating. I mean the guy had an absentee father, a mother who loved him but was clearly focused on studying, and who didn't really directly care for him.
It's clear that Obama greatly benefited from specific institutions which provided him opportunities to succeed, but it's also evident that he wanted to help in some way seeking out community organizing roles and leading voter registration drives after law school. For someone in my place in my life, I appreciated Remnick's illuminating of Obama's mindset and atttidue toward seeking these opportunities.
Why 4.5 stars? I felt at times that the historical context at the beginning of many chapters was unnecessarily long. I came to read about Obama and while, as Remnick points out Obama "stood on the shoulder of giants" these parts seemed to run on when they could've been truncated. I liked the constant motif of John Lewis, a personal political hero of mine, but other parts I felt were long and were more suited for a political history of African Americans than a book on Obama.
Overall a great book and I learned a lot. Would recommend to anyone interested in Obama, beginning a career in politics and curious about African American History.