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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Unavailable
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Unavailable
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Audiobook (abridged)6 hours

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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About this audiobook

In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. Now, in The Audacity of Hope, Senator Obama calls for a different brand of politics-a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the "endless clash of armies" we see in Congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of "our improbable experiment in democracy." He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating humor, about settling in as a senator, seeking to balance the demands of public service and family life, and his own deepening religious commitment.

At the heart of this audiobook is Senator Obama's vision of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. Underlying his stories about family, friends, members of the Senate, and even the president is a vigorous search for connection: the foundation for a radically hopeful political consensus.

A senator and a lawyer, a professor and a father, a Christian and a skeptic, and above all a student of history and human nature, Senator Obama has written a book of transforming power.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 17, 2006
ISBN9780739334096
Unavailable
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

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Reviews for The Audacity of Hope

Rating: 3.8841708893125357 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very enjoyable. I loved hearing how Barack and Michelle met. If you like President Obama this is a nice book. I listened to the audio and Barack read the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Obama talks about what's wrong with America and what he thinks it will take to fix it. His tone is indeed strong with hope, a hope for which the American people are hungry. This is the book that launched a popular clamor to claim Barack Obama as the country's next leader. Its popularity also resulted in the re-release of his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father, which originally drew almost no readership. With both books on the bestseller list, people want to hear more, see more and know more about Barack Obama. His first two books not only paid off his and his wife's student loans left over from their Harvard Law School days, but it made them millionaires. (August 2008)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Inspiring. Politicians who can think ahead of their times, write clearly, and give readers a vision of a desirable future are indeed rare. Only time will tell if racism and raw capitalism, plus a few errors of personal judgement, will deny him the fruition he deserves.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am constantly pleased that the President of my country is smarter than me, and he proves it with this book. It is obvious that Obama is a scholar of government and all it's systems and is intimately aware of what needs to happen in order for intentions and ideas to become reality. However, for the layperson who picked up this book with the intention of finding out a little more about the President and how he thinks, the book can be a little...dry, I guess. The spark comes when Obama relays anecdotes about his life and family, as well as entertaining facts about the other politicians he has come into contact with. His long discourses on partisanship, the constitution, and pleas for cooperation and compromise are more difficult to retain focus during. I didn't want to be yawning, but it kept happening. This book is much more for people who are either themselves involved in politics or who have an intense interest in the subject, i.e. CSPAN junkies. I am glad I read it, though. It gives me a lot more faith in the President and what he's doing, and I learned quite a bit about the political system that I did not know.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A clever mix of political positioning and heartfelt personal revelations. Perhaps the most effective and most important acheivement of this book is his presentation of what he thinks about issues like abortion, the Iraq war, immigration, prayer in schools, etc. The first part I liked for its description of the life of a senator. I disliked the part on the economy only because it was so obviously a position statement and fit poorly with the rest of the book. There are some places where he opens up so much it shocked me, like his description of the first kiss he had with his wife, "it tasted like chocolate." He has a casual voice, connects well, and presents ideas that liberals will cheer. He does his best to reach out to the other side of the political spectrum, and if I were a Republican I could tell you how well this works. But since I'm not, you'll have to read it for yourself.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    disappointing. reads like a treatise. the first half was worth reading. that was enough.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It is difficult to write a review of this book so long after having read it given all that has happened with Obama and his rising to become Democratic nominee (it is June 08 now and I read this in December 06). I am still a fan of Barack, but his message of hope has been overplayed in a dumbed-down version and necessarily spoon fed to the masses. However, when I read this book, I remember finding it refreshing as I had not heard this message before. It was inspirational in the sense of it called me out on my own deeply entrenched views that preventing me from looking at the whole picture. I would recommend this book and would be interested in rereading this book at some point in the future. If Obama wins the presidency, it will be especially interesting to reread this in 4+ or 8+ years from now and see if this book makes me smile at an idea that was fulfilled and was the start of a turning point of our country or if it makes me cry at a promise never realized. Here's hoping for the first :).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Narrated by President Barack Obama (lol, how fun to type that in my review!). If you've heard any of his presidential campaign speeches or watched the debates, there won't be anything new in this book. (I'm guessing the seeds of a presidential campaign were germinating even then, eh?) The chapter I enjoyed most was the one on family; here he gets more personal, discussing his wife and daughters. The book was sort of a letdown since I've heard so much of it before and was expecting a more personal narrative. I will need to read "Dreams from My Father" for that.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Even before he semi-officially threw his hat into the ring in mid-January, he was looking like a strong contender. And finding myself with a strong leaning towards what little I'd heard from and about him, I decided that I should actually do a little research and check out just exactly what he has to say for himself and the kinds of intentions and values he puts forth. Happily, the book almost entirely confirms my hopes about him as someone I could potentially get behind. Worth checking out.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting insight...I'm glad I read it. The book's narrative is bit clunky (just my opinion), but I enjoyed the American history lesson Senator Obama gave. His personal stories and historical insights were some of the best parts of the book. His vision for America is still not quite clear to me. He talks a lot of FDR's social contract and social issues in general and I do very much agree (not necessarily with the methods of achievement) with his two top priorities (Education and Energy), but nothing is very specific and not much is said about national security (as if that is a none issue). He does speak a little of America's success in the social realm, but I get the feeling for him the "glass is half empty" (in regards to life in America.) I recommend the book to everybody. It's important to get to know a possible future leader.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In light of Obama's election I read this book and found it interesting. This book looks at many subjects in American life from race, politics, family and faith to name a few. Obama gives a little history on the various topics and then suggest how he would change these aspects. It gives insight to how he will govern and how he views these areas of American life.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An insightful book detailing Obama's thoughts on family, history and politics. The book inspires hope in America's potential and future. This is a must read for anyone interested in politics and/or Barack Obama.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Audacity of Hope is a publication by Barack Obama of his platform for his 2008 U.S. Presidential candidacy. Stepping outside the limited coverage available by news media, it is a deeper expression of his views on the nature of the challenges facing the United States as a country, and of the next President. His work is presented in a very articulate and almost conversational style and uses anecdotal stories of his life and background, but this is not an autobiographical work. It is clearly an expression of the ideas that would guide him as a President. Throughout the work Obama attempts to avoid slippery positions and rather lays out unabashedly what he believes the course of actions for the country are and presents his reasons and rationality to accompany them. Most of his positions arise from a mixture of his own personal history and of the volume of interactions he has had with his constituents both as an Illinois State Senator and a United States Senator. From this there is a genuine sense both of his astute reading of the concerns of the citizens he encounters, along with his deep desire to do what he thinks is best to meet their concerns. One of the things I found interesting about Obama's book is his openness. He freely speaks of the beginnings of his mature political thought as supporting the ideas of the radical left during his period at Columbia University. From that he describes his journey into where he is now as generally a centrist democrat who seems to have a rather balanced perspective of the leftist ideas of a pure egalitarianism and individual liberty within the law, with a the rightist ideas of the power of free and open markets and individual liberty based on natural rights to deliver a better economic life for everyone. Beyond this he presents a case for some of the serious problems facing our governmental institutions beyond mere operational policies. Polarization of ideologies, lack of transparency, and a general dumbing down of politics within the general populace are some of the problems he addresses. The nonspecific qualities of Obama's writing too are worth noting. While remaining highly accessible, his work contains intimations and references to a wide range of historic, literary and philosophical knowledge. When preparing the situational constraints for various arguments he intends to make, he presents a depth of knowledge about not only our own governmental and economic history but facts that show his knowledge and understanding of a wide range of the world outside our borders.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Convincing outline for a new kind of politics. Obama is a sterling writer, and I could not put this book down. His explorations of foreign relations and his own family in particular were wonderful and enlightening. I am, by nature, a skeptic. This man, however, has me believing. For the first time since Howard Dean, anyhow.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Barack Obama follows up his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention with a book aiming to deal with almost every political issue and cater to a wide range of readers (presumable American voters). The idea is interesting in theory, but ends up being a litany of problems with few solutions offered. There are general solutions offered and most of them involve more social programs, increasing taxes and promises that could be difficult for any politician to deliver on. Obama also covers how difficult life is as a politician. He mentions how difficult it is for a bill to be passed and the public does not understand how much effort it takes for a bill to pass in its original form. The book does have some interesting parts which are mostly centered around his upbringing as well as personal encounters with members of Congress, State politicians, as well as the President. Unfortunately, these parts are not enough to carry the entire book and I felt I was audacious in just trying to finish it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Democratic senator Barack Obama from Illinois uses this book to detail his general ideas to improve the country. He discusses American values, the U.S. Constitution, religion, globalization, race and other subjects that should be of interest and importance to voters. Though he does not propose any solutions, you can at least see where his base line understandings are on these subjects. Whether you agree with his politics or not I recommend you read this book. It is also a very fast read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A true look into Barack Obama and where he comes from and what he stands for, without the negative media spin. There are points to where he's strong and where he's weak, but he does a good job of getting a picture of himself across. An interesting look into a presidential hopeful.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The title is a bit misleading. This is not at all a visionary book. It's his thoughts about how (and whether) a politician can continue to be true to the needs of his constituents and country, and a set of moderate policy proposals.A better title for this book would be Jon Stewart's mock rallying cry "Let's Be Reasonable".Al Gore's earlier book was called Earth in the Balance, Barack's book, neither particularly audacious nor wildly hopeful, could have been called The United States of Balance.Gore's recent book was called The Assault on Reason, Obama's is more like The Case for Reason, explaining in unfailingly measured tones a set of policies that breaks through some of the narratives that the right and left have gotten themselves stuck in.If you're looking for inspiration you may need to turn elsewhere, if you looking for a small set of principled policies this is a good (if rather idealistic) tome.It will be interesting to see if Obama can maintain the same measured approach and faith-tempered-by-reason when faced by the realities of America's grindingly inadequate and (at least to outward appearances) not particularly rational political system but hey... let's hope so.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A highly readable book that provides some thought-provoking ideas on a laundry list of timely topics (the education system, the environment, affordable health care, globalization, etc.) Obama articulates many of the challenges we face in the coming years. He also serves up some solutions, albeit in a more generalized, thumbnail fashion. Some would make compelling arguments that his "fixes" make sense, while others would be quick to point out that many of his solutions are too vague. Example: we shouldn't be pursuing free trade -- we should be focusing on promoting fair trade. Well said. But what specific policies would advance such an agenda? The tired cliche says it best: "The devil lies in the details." Still, Obama's book offers some vivid insights into the problems we face. Readers are also treated to a revealing glimpse into the life of a man who is likely to remain in the political limelight for quite some time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have loved Barack Obama's writing for many years. He has a wonderful style and some really interesting ideas. I recommend this to everyone to read before the elections next year!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow, what a book! I like the way Obama thinks about the tough issues. He's certainly a progressive, but he doesn't always toe the Democratic party line, and he thinks of good compromise solutions to sticky issues. This book really is an insight into how he thinks about issues more than just a rehashing of his positions on issues. And, really, isn't that who we want in power? Someone who really thinks about problems and tries to be fair, rather than someone who just tells us what we want to hear. If you're not sure if he'd make a good President, read this book. I think you might change your mind.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It is refreshing to see a politician with an optimistic view that we can improve our country. He has immense respect for the women in his life, which I hope transfers into respect for women in society.I did disagree with him on some points, but for the most part I found myself nodding in agreement (to no one in particular.)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of the first political books that I have read on a long time that helps me to feel positive about the future of our country. While Senator Obama does not detail the specifics about how all that is broken can be fixed, he does suggest ways in which partisanship can be overcome. A breath of fresh air in an otherwise oppressive climate.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    At this pivotal juncture in history I felt it was important to read President Obama's personal statement on how he sees this country. I especially enjoyed listening to him read it. I am very impressed with him and his vision of our country's future. For those of you who haven't taken the time to get to know something about him, I recommend that you read this book (mom, I am talking to you!). I think you will be reassured that the country is in good hands.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mr. Obama has a way with words. He's smart, humble, and clear-thinking. This book displays an honest vulnerability that is rare among regular folks, let alone politicians. It's worth reading whether Obama becomes #44 or not because of his insight into the political process and into current social and political issues.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    An excellent overview of Obama's personal opinions on the topics of war, race, economics and more. You can really hear his voice coming through the book. I would recommend this to anyone intrested in getting to know the presidentian candidate more.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    After watching Obama's great talent as an orator, and despite not being a US citizen, I decided to buy this book.In the book he speaks of the great goals that he pursues and that are based on the greatness of the human spirit. But he doesn't forget to propose some policies that, I think, are of common interest for the middle class of the Western countries in the globalized economy.And through the book one can read about the personal experiencies that have taken him to his current opinions.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Obama stakes out a radical moderate position for himself within our ideologically-cowed political environment. His constitutional law experience offers rich support for, and perspective on, his policy positions. Obama can speak to a wide range of modern struggles and I felt in this book he handled topics in religion, race, and family particularly well. I remember enjoying is argument that current political debates are antiquated and stuck in a Great Society vs. Ownership Society, but that what we need is a government focus on the implications of a global capitalistic economy. I have not heard that theme often and enjoy learning from a presidential candidate. I most enjoyed his chapter on family in which I found parallel struggles between my own career and assumptions about modern marital roles. Now is the time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I had every intention of reading this before the election. But, even as voracious a reader as I am, I have a hard time forcing myself to slog through just about anything non-fiction, even when it deals with a subject that interests me. So I put it off until now, just after the election, when (thankfully) it's just as relevant, to get a feel for some of the things Mr. Obama may have in store for all of us.True to form, I had a hard time getting through this, even though I enjoyed it. I found the insights into the daily life of a politician to be fascinating. The best parts of the book were the personal anecdotes, detailing his first foray into Senate work and the trials and tribulations of balancing a crazy work/travel schedule with the desire to also be there for his family.I also found refreshing the mostly clear and direct way he dealt with many of the challenges facing the U.S., and the ways in which we as people and they as government can face those issues. Every now and then I'd read something that wouldn't ring true, and in those cases it seemed likely to me that he was just writing something that was politically expedient. But that may just be my own impression, and those passages are few and far between in any case.I think this book, and its author, have a pretty inspiring message: yes, the country is at a crossroads, with many problems staring us in the face and perhaps more on the horizon...but things don't have to be that way. Despite our differences, there is much that unites us all. If we are willing to work, to compromise, to look beyond the status quo, we can build this nation into what it has always aspired to be, and more. I suppose that sounds naively optimistic and farfetched, but I personally see no problem with that. If that's not what we're aiming for, we're never going to get there.At any rate, this is a good read. I think anyone who reads it, be they pro- or anti-Obama, will come away with a better understanding of him as a person and the mindset he'll bring to the presidency. For that alone, it's worth a look.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Surprisingly readable. Very enjoyable if you lean left. Probably an eye-opener even for those leaning right.