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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream | 
 enlarge | Creator: Barack Obama
Publisher: Random House Audio
Category: Book
Buy New: $43.98
New (3) Used (7) from $19.99
Rating:  688 reviews
Sales Rank: 243352
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.1 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0739334085
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.04960730092
EAN: 9780739334089
ASIN: 0739334085
Publication Date: October 17, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Barack Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father, was a compelling and moving memoir focusing on personal issues of race, identity, and community. With his second book The Audacity of Hope, Obama engages themes raised in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, shares personal views on faith and values and offers a vision of the future that involves repairing a "political process that is broken" and restoring a government that has fallen out of touch with the people. We had the opportunity to ask Senator Obama a few questions about writing, reading, and politics--see his responses below. --Daphne Durham
20 Second Interview: A Few Words with Barack Obama
 Q: How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by so many compare to writing your first book, when few people knew who you were?
A: In many ways, Dreams from My Father was harder to write. At that point, I wasn't even sure that I could write a book. And writing the first book really was a process of self-discovery, since it touched on my family and my childhood in a much more intimate way. On the other hand, writing The Audacity of Hope paralleled the work that I do every day--trying to give shape to all the issues that we face as a country, and providing my own personal stamp on them.
Q: What is your writing process like? You have such a busy schedule, how did you find time to write?
A: I'm a night owl, so I usually wrote at night after my Senate day was over, and after my family was asleep--from 9:30 p.m. or so until 1 a.m. I would work off an outline--certain themes or stories that I wanted to tell--and get them down in longhand on a yellow pad. Then I'd edit while typing in what I'd written.
Q: If readers are to come away from The Audacity of Hope with one action item (a New Year's Resolution for 2007, perhaps?), what should it be?
A: Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesnt matter what it is--improving the school system, developing strategies to wean ourselves off foreign oil, expanding health care for kids. We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result.
Q: You're known for being able to work with people across ideological lines. Is that possible in today's polarized Washington?
A: It is possible. There are a lot of well-meaning people in both political parties. Unfortunately, the political culture tends to emphasize conflict, the media emphasizes conflict, and the structure of our campaigns rewards the negative. I write about these obstacles in chapter 4 of my book, "Politics." When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished. It also helps if you're willing to give other people credit--something politicians have a hard time doing sometimes.
Q: How do you make people passionate about moderate and complex ideas?
A: I think the country recognizes that the challenges we face aren't amenable to sound-bite solutions. People are looking for serious solutions to complex problems. I don't think we need more moderation per se--I think we should be bolder in promoting universal health care, or dealing with global warming. We just need to understand that actually solving these problems won't be easy, and that whatever solutions we come up with will require consensus among groups with divergent interests. That means everybody has to listen, and everybody has to give a little. That's not easy to do.
Q: What has surprised you most about the way Washington works?
A: How little serious debate and deliberation takes place on the floor of the House or the Senate.
Q: You talk about how we have a personal responsibility to educate our children. What small thing can the average parent (or person) do to help improve the educational system in America? What small thing can make a big impact?
A: Nothing has a bigger impact than reading to children early in life. Obviously we all have a personal obligation to turn off the TV and read to our own children; but beyond that, participating in a literacy program, working with parents who themselves may have difficulty reading, helping their children with their literacy skills, can make a huge difference in a child's life.
Q: Do you ever find time to read? What kinds of books do you try to make time for? What is on your nightstand now?
A: Unfortunately, I had very little time to read while I was writing. I'm trying to make up for lost time now. My tastes are pretty eclectic. I just finished Marilynne Robinsons Gilead, a wonderful book. The language just shimmers. I've started Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is a great study of Lincoln as a political strategist. I read just about anything by Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, or Philip Roth. And I've got a soft spot for John le Carre.
Q: What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?
A: I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism and decency. I'm inspired by the love people have for their children. And I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.
Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 683 more reviews...
 Audaciously excellent book! January 9, 2009
I loved this book, shows how thoughtful and intelligent Barack is. He indeed has the makings of an excellent president. He'll be up there with our greatest presidents.
Thought-provoking January 8, 2009
Seller: Product was in excellent condition, arrived quickly; great price.
Book: Amazing that with everything else he has to do, he produced such a clear, well-written, thoughtful description of his life and philosophies. (I'm sure it's not ghost-written, not with his name on it.) I'm not finished yet, but I know already that I want to give this book as a gift to other people.
We Are All One January 8, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reading about history has always been a favorite past time of mine, ever since grade school, especially reading about real people, you know, before they became famous and they lost touch with the "working guy/girl". I also enjoy Frank Capra movies but that's a subject for another review. So, when I finally got around to reading President-elect Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" I wasn't expecting what happened. I didn't just like it, I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down because it was so real. I found myself questioning what I really believed in. It was like I was having a heart-to-heart conversation with Senator Barack Obama, who just happened to have been elected President of the United States. Now he's the President-elect Obama and I feel like I have this relationship with the, soon-to-be sworn-in, next President of the United States.
The title "The Audacity to Hope" explains why I liked the book so much, and it's because the book gives a good insight into who Barack Obama is. In "The Audacity to Hope" President-elect Obama explains why he feels about being who he is, and as a result it makes me want to be a better person. I believe that what he says is true, "that we have a stake in one another." John F. Kennedy was the only other President, in my life-time, that has given me cause to feel this way. I want so much to believe him when he writes " that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart." We are all one in so many ways.
The book is real because the man is real, he speaks from his heart and he is aware of the hearts of others. He's aware of the millions of Americans who go about their business every day. "Their lives are full of contradictions and ambiguities." He is aware that Americans understand that politics is a business and no longer a mission, . . . "they turn inward, away from the noise and rage and endless chatter." "A government that truly represents these Americans - that truly serves these Americans - will require a different kind of politics." President-elect Obama connects to American's hope when he writes, "That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived." He states "And we will need to remind ourselves, despite all our differences, just how much we share: common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break." Again, testimony to how we as human beings are all one.
Barack Obama is aware of his strengths and also his weaknesses. In "The Audacity of Hope" Barack Obama expresses his feelings on both sides of many important issues and yet he is not closed minded to his critics. "I'd begun to see how any challenge to convention harbored within it the possibility of its own excesses and its own orthodoxy."
In the beginning of "the Audacity of Hope" President-elect Obama writes, "Instead what I offer is something more modest: personal reflections on those values and ideals that have led me to public life." I believe that is exactly what he has done in this book. I also believe him when he quotes Benjamin Franklin saying: "I would rather have it said, He lived usefully, than, He died rich" another reason why we are all one.
Makes me proud to call him my president! January 7, 2009
This is a thoughtful and inspiring book which is written well without being stuffy, written simply without being dumbed down and even at times achieves eloquence, without being preachy. The chapters on "the Constitution", "Faith" and "the World Beyond Our Borders" show a good grasp of American history, and the chapter on "Politics" is an assault on the do-nothing cynicism which seems to have settled into the hearts of too many Americans, both on the right and on the left. I was particularly taken by President Obama's criticism of liberal "progressives" who are so rooted in secularism that they reject people who have faith based values. The candid anecdotes from Obama's own life are fascinating, and reveal a good bit about how his ideas and his personality have been shaped. I wish every American would read this book, no matter who they voted for, and then come together with a renewed sense of purpose to work with each other, disagree civilly, and fully live up to our founding ideals.
Very well-written January 6, 2009
Written in a style that is easy to read, I found The Audacity of Hope to be very insightful. The author has a simple, but not simplistic, perspective on the world. Since he is our next president, everyone should read this book.
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