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Literary Nonfiction » Memoir » New Memoir

A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Buy now Listen now Get the ebook

A Promised Land

by Barack Obama

Even before he became the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama had already won a Grammy award for his narration of the audiobook of his 1995 memoir, Dreams from my Father, recommended a number of times in Five Books reviews, including for his insights into Africa from his contact with his father’s family, who come from Kenya.

A Promised Land is the first volume of his presidential memoirs, to be published November 17th, 2020, in 25 languages. It’s 768 pages long but, yet again, Obama has narrated it himself. Obama is a thoughtful man, and the book/audiobook is likely to be illuminative, both of his presidency and what has happened in its wake.

Recommendations from our site

“It’s absolutely stunning as a listening experience, and I think his style of writing and presentation suit the format beautifully. As he’s said in interviews he’s done about the memoir, he wants to speak directly to listeners and in particular to young people.” Read more...

Presidential memoirs (and biographies) as audiobooks

Robin Whitten, Journalist

“Obama’s memoir confronts the disappointments of his presidency, and the extent to which some of the political backlash against him was due to the fact that he was the first Black man to occupy the Oval Office. Yet Obama retains optimism about America. He makes the case, convincingly, that we are making significant progress, that our democratic institutions and constitutional traditions can accommodate demographic groups that were once excluded, as well as new immigrants and their descendants and that we can slowly build a more just society.” Read more...

The Best Politics Books of 2020

Yascha Mounk, Political Scientist

Barack Obama is an experienced—and talented—audiobook narrator so it’s no surprise he’s the one reading aloud his presidential memoir. This is only the first volume and it’s already more than 29 hours, so it’s quite a commitment, but also a unique opportunity to be told, firsthand, what it’s actually like to be President of the United States (POTUS). Hint: you’re dealing with a lot of complicated things, like healthcare reform.

Narrator: Barack Obama

Length: 29hr 10mins

Great Audiobooks Narrated by Their Authors

The book, according to the author

“There’s no feeling like finishing a book, and I’m proud of this one. I’ve spent the last few years reflecting on my presidency, and in A Promised Land I’ve tried to provide an honest accounting of my presidential campaign and my time in office: the key events and people who shaped it; my take on what I got right and the mistakes I made; and the political, economic, and cultural forces that my team and I had to confront then—and that as a nation we are grappling with still. In the book, I’ve also tried to give readers a sense of the personal journey that Michelle and I went through during those years, with all the incredible highs and lows. And finally, at a time when America is going through such enormous upheaval, the book offers some of my broader thoughts on how we can heal the divisions in our country going forward and make our democracy work for everybody—a task that won’t depend on any single president, but on all of us as engaged citizens. Along with being a fun and informative read, I hope more than anything that the book inspires young people across the country—and around the globe—to take up the baton, lift up their voices, and play their part in remaking the world for the better.”

Publisher's blurb, September 17th, 2020

Commentary

“Barack Obama is as fine a writer as they come. It is not merely that this book avoids being ponderous, as might be expected, even forgiven, of a hefty memoir, but that it is nearly always pleasurable to read, sentence by sentence, the prose gorgeous in places, the detail granular and vivid.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reviews A Promised Land in the New York Times, November 12th, 2020

Other books by Barack Obama

Dreams From my Father by Barack Obama

Dreams From my Father
by Barack Obama

We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama by Barack Obama

We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama
by Barack Obama

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

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