Wednesday, March 5, 2008 | by nathan

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

I’ve gotten behind on my book reviews for this year, so please forgive me for throwing so many at you so quickly.

Just after he was elected to the U.S. Senate, I listened to Barack Obama’s personal memoir, Dreams From My Father. I’d been electrified by his speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention and figured it was only a matter of time before he set his sights higher and ran for president. I thought - pardon me - that it would be a bit audacious of him to go for it in 2008, or, if he did, to actually think he had a chance at the nomination. Hillary, said the conventional wisdom, was a sure bet, and perhaps, I told myself, Obama was hoping to become her running mate, a la John Edwards in 2004.

This may even have been the case at that time, and early in this race. I’ve elucidated my reasons for voting for Obama wildly on this website. The main one, of course, is that while I love and support and agree with Hillary Clinton, while I think she’s brilliant, I don’t believe that the section of this country who hate her would allow her to lead. I think they would dig and dig, Swift Boat and Swift Boat and Lewinsky her into another national nightmare. It’s not her; it’s them, the Newt Gingriches and Ken Starrs and Karl Roves who have no problem dragging this country through baseless scandal after baseless scandal just to make up for their tiny, tiny penises.

But I digress. This is a book review.

Here’s the deal: Dreams From My Father was fascinating because it was written before Obama’s star had even begun to rise. The Audacity of Hope is excellent as it outlines the reasoning behind liberal politics more clearly and eloquently than almost any book I’ve ever read (or, in this case, listened to). But don’t get confused about what it is: in this day and age, any politician hoping to rise beyond a certain level pretty much has to release this type of book. George W. Bush even has one. The P.R. and money are just too good to resist making this type of move. As political memoirs go, The Audacity of Hope is excellent, filled with wonderful anecdotes both from Obama’s life and from the lives of people he’s met on the campaign trail. Also, as an audiobook, well - he deserved the Grammy, for sure, if for no other reason than for his spot-on impersonation of George W. Bush.

Still, if you want to know more about the man, about the mind behind the phenomenon, I’d go for Dreams From My Father. It’s less guarded, less political, more personal and interesting, less philosophical, and yet, more insightful.