‘A Promised Land’ Lets Obama Speak — And I Listened
A Promised Land by Barack Obama is a very informative and interesting read.
I suppose I should actual say “listen” over read, actually. I listened to the audiobook as narrated by the author. His voice is recognizable from the off, and I immersed myself in his reflection on his first term in office.
A Promised Land covers everything — with some potential excess information sometimes.
We see Barack before being President was even a blip on his mind. We see the struggle he had with his family coming to terms with his decision. Every detail is covered all the way until the conclusion of the upcoming re-election in 2012.
Obama took us into his daily life and peppered us with the details of it.
We got to hear him swear and speak more openly. Talk about things he liked and didn't like. Spoke without the worries of standing on the other side of a podium.
Everything about this book just humanized the man who led this country for so long.
From mentions of him sneaking out for cigarettes to discussing the mess that became of his birth certificate, former President Obama took the curtain and ripped it off the window. He didn’t pull it back, he opened that window right up and said “come in!”
I think this would be a fun book to reread with the physical copy, either just on my own or as an immersion read with Barack reading along.
To be honest, those looking for a quick read should probably skip this one.
We all know Obama can be a bit wordy, and it does show within this text.
I ended up rating it a 4.5/5, and I took off that half-star because of some of the pacing. We may have already known most of what was in here, but hearing it from his perspective proved worth it.
This actually sparked an interest in me reading other presidential memoirs, because I can’t even fathom the idea of what that pressure would be like. Even presidents I don’t like, I don’t envy. Talk about holding the literal weight of the world on your shoulders, right there.
But I think Obama did a good job.
He’s human, he made mistakes, and his presidency wasn’t perfect.
Listening to this book, though, I felt his passion. I felt his care. He held that job down with pride, even in the face of adversity. The same can be said for a wide multitude of other presidents — but not all of them.
In fact, Obama’s successor was mentioned toward the end of this book when discussing the birth certificate debacle. I am most interested to see Barack’s full opinion when it comes to the 2016 election that he knew he’d technically have nothing to do with.
But the fact we have a whole other book to get through was another reason I mentioned the pacing of this book. 800 pages is a hefty memoir already as it is, especially with one more coming.
However, those interested in the more finite details and who really want to live and breathe every moment of that presidency for him, this one is definitely for you.