Dreams from My Father

What Dreams from My Father is about

Barack Obama wrote this memoir at thirty-three, well before politics was part of his plans, and it traces his life from childhood in Honolulu through his years in Chicago, ending as he enters Harvard Law School in 1988. Raised by a white American mother after his African father left when he was two, he grows up wondering where he fits. A phone call from Nairobi announcing his father's death pushes him to look into the man he barely knew.

The book weighs race, family and belonging with a candid, reflective voice, and it has been admired for its writing. Obama says in his introduction that he used composite characters and rearranged some timelines, and critics have pointed to liberties taken with the facts. The 2004 reissue adds a new preface and his convention keynote speech. It will suit readers drawn to memoirs about identity, absent parents and the search for one's own history.

Questions about Dreams from My Father

When was Dreams from My Father published?

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama was first published in 1995.

Was Dreams from My Father one of the best books of 1995?

Dreams from My Father is #16 on BookWard's Best Books of 1995, out of 28 1995 books that cleared our data bar. 257 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (10 ratings).

Why is Dreams from My Father on the Best Books of 1995 list?

257 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (10 ratings).

More of the best books of 1995

• The Lost World Michael Crichton, #1
• Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman, #2
• Northern Lights Philip Pullman, #3
• Mindhunter John E. Douglas, #4
• Rose Madder Stephen King, #5
• Wicked Gregory Maguire, #6

See the full Best Books of 1995, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.