|
| The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream | 
 enlarge | Author: Barack Obama
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $5.50
You Save: $9.45 (63%)
New (69) Used (37) Collectible (6) from $5.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  628 reviews
Sales Rank: 308
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0307237702
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.04960730092
EAN: 9780307237705
ASIN: 0307237702
Publication Date: November 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A Return to Civility December 16, 2006
41 out of 57 found this review helpful
Many of Obama's policy prescriptions are quite unremarkable. They are decidedly left-leaning, but not so left as to call him a leftist or a radical.
What sets Obama's book apart and indeed himself apart from most other politicians is his ability to imbue civility and deliberation in his decision making procedure. His book is not an ideological rant, even though it is left-leaning, it is much more thoughtful and inquisitive. In many ways Obama's prescriptions are pragmatic and implementarian. He wants to solve social ills as most liberals do, but unlike many liberals he sees tangible results as a necessary prerequisite for the continuation of certain progressive policies. His insistence on deliberation and civility in discourse have been inappropriately been called disingenuous by his detractors. The one common strand that seems to link those who see Obama as insincere is there common adherence to some ideology, be it conservative or liberal. Surprisingly, or actually unsurprisingly, Obama's equanimity and sudden rise to fame has quietly unnerved liberal ideologues just as it much as it has conservative ideologues. This is because despite Obama's liberal tilt, he is not nearly as dangerous to conservatives as he is to ideologues. His insistence on thinking things through and acknowledging the complexities of modern life serve to strip the armor from ideologues of every color and creed. He message is a call to arms, but one that does not attack a group per se, rather it attacks dogmatic and ideological stagnation that plagues most anyone who becomes too complacent in their ways. I for one have found this message incredibly enlightening and uplifting.
 Who is Obama really? December 23, 2006
40 out of 68 found this review helpful
The Audacity of Hope sets out to make the reader believe Barack Obama is THE answer to America's problems and he is a leader who will unite and not divide. This may very well be the case but I feel manipulated after reading this book, almost as if he was trying to become what he thinks Americans are looking for. He presents himself as all the things lacking in our present leadership and this is manipulation in it's finest form. He seems to say all the things liberals want to hear and even placates conservatives. This makes me wonder what he actually stands for. When I detect this, all else is lost. I've heard Mr. Obama speak many times and he comes across the same in his book. Smooth, way too smooth. As an example of his ability to speak from both sides of his mouth...depending on who is listening, he speaks against the war in Iraq, saying we need to pull out and have no business being there BUT, he thinks America NEEDS to go into Darfur and make things right. Both countries suffered torture and death at the hands of ruthless people but since our country is against the war right now and really into African causes, he thinks Darfur is a noble cause to fight for.
Obama has talk show hosts drooling over him as the next savior and after reading The Audacity of Hope I feel he himself believes the hype. As I read some of the other reviews here I see more drooling and looking to this man as if he's God. Be careful, be very careful.
Mr Obama Goes To Washington October 19, 2008
38 out of 46 found this review helpful
This book contains the thoughts and observations of a new Senator in Washington. The book will become a valuable resource for historians because of its accurate observations on the national political scene in the 2nd term of the 2nd George Bush. This book does not represent the finished political philosophy of Barack Obama but it sketches the rough thinking of the man as he began his national career. Which may indeed make this book a milestone in the evolution of the American Republic.
It is not as fine a book as DREAMS OF MY FATHER. That kind of soul-searching can be done only once. That book indeed was a coming of age saga as a young man searched for his rightful place in the world. This is the words of the same man, now older and launched, who having found the right place now seeks for the right lever to move the world. One will not find ideology here, only the thoughts of a pragmatic man meditating on what he finds and how it ought to be.
Like many people I read this book for clues as to what direction this ambitious politician would take were his ambitions be realized. I found nothing that alarmed me but nothing to hang a label on either. Then in the middle of the book, the author speaks of his mother: her lack of faith in organized religions, her passion for justice, her appreciation for the wonder of life. This section begins on page 202 of the first edition hardback and at the bottom of the page 205 I found my answer:
"My fierce ambitions might have been fueled by my father--by my knowledge of his achievements and failures, by my unspoken desire to somehow earn his love...But it was my mother's fundamental faith--in the goodness of people and in the ultimate value of this brief life we've each been given--that channeled those ambitions. It was in search of confirmation of her values that I studied political philosophy, looking for both a language and systems of action that could help build community and make justice real. And it was in search of some practical application of those values that I accepted work after college as a community organizer for a group of churches..."
That statement puts Barack Obama squarely in the mainstream of American thought--our history is full of such idealists and ideas for forming a more perfect union. The great strength of the American experiment is that it produces such men and women, every so often, to renew the tapestry of our public life. As of this writing, we do not know if Senator Obama will succeed in his effort to become President, but from this reading it is apparent that he will be affecting the course of American political life for years to come.
An honest Illinois politician October 30, 2006
34 out of 46 found this review helpful
The first thing Obama accomplishes in _Audacity_ is to stake out his position on the major issues of the day. For the most part his is a consistent liberal stand- he's for abortion, against the death penalty, against the Bush tax cuts, against the war, he voted against CAFTA, and he's for expanded government health care, a higher minimum wage, and against privatizing social security.
All these are classic liberal positions, but as you read his book you will notice that he doesn't advance simplistic liberal arguments for his positions. He understands how free markets work. He's for affirmative action, but he argues that racism is not the primary cause of back inequality. He's the last one you would hear blaming racism for the Hurricane Katrina mishap. He understands that poverty in Africa is caused by corruption; liberals argue the reverse. He supports many of the policies of the teachers' unions, but understands that they are part of the problem. Although he consistently comes down on the side of liberal policies, his reasoning is moderate. He has yet to find a hot issue that would separate him from the liberal crowd (merit pay is one, but it's not hot) as Clinton did with the death penalty and welfare reform.
The author to whom he is most indebted is William Julius Wilson. Like Wilson, he sees the both racism and cultural failure as a major cause of racial inequality and his policy recommendations (for universal rather than targeted social policies) come very close to what Wilson called the "hidden agenda" in the _Truly Disadvantaged_. And his politics and political strategy draws much from Wilson's _The Bridge over the Racial Divide_ with its somewhat naive hopes for transcending partisanship.
What clearly separates him from many of the other candidates is that he understands the arguments on the other side of these issues. He describes the arguments for many Bush administration policies far better than even Bush does. He voted against CAFTA but explains why it was not an easy choice. More than most, he understands that almost every policy decision has its plusses and minuses. Contrast this with our president and many other politicians, liberal and conservative, who see almost every decision as a choice between right and wrong.
In the end, presidents face choices that are far more complex than the simplistic issues that come up in campaigns; if you understand how a candidate thinks (or, in the case of one successful candidate, refuses to think) and deals with those who disagree with him, you will have a much better idea of what kind of president he is going to be.
And Obama writes better than Wilson does, and better than he did his first book (which dragged on an unnecessary 40 pages).
My grandmother used to say, "politicians are like nails -- the go in straight and come out crooked". I hope Barak is the exception.
Gary Klass
gmklass@ilstu.edu
Male, 27, Extreamly well educated November 28, 2006
33 out of 43 found this review helpful
As I closed the last few pages of this book for the second time I pondered what I should say. Once again I'm left with the impression that Barack is as authentic and real as he is driven and inspired.
His books convince you that he is imperfect with an imperfect family, but that he embraces his past and doesn't try to hide from it. Instead he ponders the meanings of the events in his life and attempts to learn and grow from them. ...Very smart.
I also especially appreciated reading about life on the inside in Washington. In the end I think this book will leave the reader thinking of Barack more as a neighbor then a politician.
BTW: I highly recommend reading Barack's other book, it added some context that I really appreciated the second time around.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
