A Promised Land

Exceeded even the highest expectations. "For I’m convinced that the pandemic we’re currently living through is both a manifestation of and a mere interruption in the relentless march toward an interconnected world, one in which peoples and cultures can’t help but collide. In that world—of global supply chains, instantaneous capital transfers, social media, transnational terrorist networks, climate change, mass migration, and ever-increasing complexity—we will learn to live together, cooperate with one another, and recognize the dignity of others, or we will perish."

interesting but long I always love hearing President Obama speak and I was very excited to read his book. I thought he gave a lot of interesting insight and information, it was really cool to hear everything from his perspective and learn more about what had actually happened during his first term. It’s very clear to me that Mr. President has some issues with brevity but other than that this is a great read. But if you don’t like long books I bet the audiobook is amazing too

Fascinating, educational, so articulate and just an amazing honest insight into Obama as a person, the presidential role and stories/context/reasons for some of his decisions. Loved it!

Would really recommend this one on audiobook as hearing Obama explain it all added to it for me.

Okay here’s the thing, it was a good book, it just wasn’t what I hoped it would be. I’ve read „Becoming“ from Michelle Obama several years ago and LOVED it. So I really wanted „A promised land“ to be kind of a .. „Becoming 2.0“ just from Barack’s pov - and sadly it was not. It was more focused on politics and every tiny decision he made during his first term than on him as a person and that disappointed me a bit. I wanted to understand how he became the president he was, which events shaped his personality and his beliefs, how he grew up, how being president influenced him. That’s why it started to drag a bit for me because we were stumbling from one political maneuver to the next.

Well, I have finally finished A Promised Land and I'm quite proud of myself. While Obama, is a great orator and good writer he never uses a few words when he can use thousands. I enjoyed the insight and inside view to recent history, but confess to a few things which I would have liked only a cursory glance. When all is said and done, I'm glad that I took the time to pick it up and read it. It did remind me of how much I enjoyed Obama's time as our president and how hard it was to move to the next occupant.

Started the book a whole year ago. Took me a while to get through, but did enjoy the read. While the book is not as charismatic as some of his speeches are, it is a great recollection of Obama's first term in office. Sharing personal details in the middle of presidency stories makes the read much more relatable.

He did say it was a bit longer then intended. At times he provoked some thoughtful reactions while incorporating his upbringing and experiences to tie in.

all my homies hate wall st and the gop

3.5 stars and I am only rating the writing of Obama not the politics, however these are of course intertwined in a political memoir. Obama is a good writer, no doubt. But this book was just so long. As Gary Younge wrote in his The Guardian review “If Nelson Mandela can write Long Walk to Freedom, which covers his whole eventful life over 617 pages, then Obama could surely have got through his campaign and the first three years of his administration in less.” Reading Obama I again realise that I might find it easier to swallow liberal arguments on economy than to swallow American arguments on Middle East. I was not as angry on how he “saved” the financial crisis or how he was not able to change the healthcare system but I was very angry to see that while he devoted a chapter on how much he empathise with Israel and the Israeli cause, Palestinians only got a paragraph. So a black American with a weird name relates more to Israeli than Palestinians? Interesting. It was so hard for me to read his Middle Eastern policies, it took me months to finish the book. I wanted to yell liar at points. He doesn’t mention the drone strikes to weddings in Afghanistan, the mess that is Iraq, the mess they left in Libya, the fuck up in Egypt... At least he admits that the US will always support a known dictator to unknown democrats (also in Egypt and in Turkey). I read two amazing reviews on this book that could tell anything I would like to tell more skilfully. The first one is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s review: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/bo... Second one is The Guardian review by Gary Young: https://www.google.be/amp/s/amp.thegu...

Obama shares insights from his early life and political career through his first term with immense detail. He is thoughtful, pragmatic, and savvy in his decision making and political approach. Expressing genuine compassion for his fellow citizens and a deep understanding that at the core, we have more similarities than differences. His stories of world leaders and other politicians are revealing. Barack also dedicates significant time to his family, including Michelle and his two daughters, making him feel human despite the scale of his job. Long winded at times, but overall, a great way to get to know Barry at a more personal level and revisit some of the critical decisions and crises of his first term. The audio book was great -- it is narrated by President Obama himself.

Just loved this book ! I am a Canadian who Knows nothing about American politics! Now I understand a bit more . Love the way he describes everything! Such a great man Politically wise and family wise

See my review on Storygraph

Having previously read Obama's first book 'Dreams from my father', I kind of knew what I was getting into. Yet, I can't believe I finished it (big book fear is real). First off, the audiobook was incredible (at 1.6x speed that is). Obama does a fantastic job of narrating all the weighted elements of his time serving the public (as Senator, President, human, you name it - he does it all). I was astounded by his commitment to retaining his humanity while serving as the highest official in the USA. The book is long, don't mistake me there, but the narrative flows and the extensive description of each of the issues that Obama tackled in office gives the reader a proper insight into the workings of US politics and policy. It was especially interesting to see his point of view on the government officials of European countries and his take on the international policy meetings. The only thing that prevents me from giving this 5 stars is the fact that the whopping 750 pages only covered his first term in office. Although he does give a fair warning at the beginning, I'd completely forgotten it by page 100 and hadn't expected it to be literally the half way point. I'll definitely be picking up the second volume when it releases.

An excellent insight into Obama's run-up to the presidency and his first term. I listened to the audiobook, and it made it even more interesting to hear the content in his voice with his emphasis. So refreshing to hear about his pragmatic decision-making progress and his recognition that things in this world are nuanced. It was entertaining to read his assessments of various world leaders and politicians. I can't wait for the rest of his memoirs!

I did not like Obama’s previous book that much. This is the best work he has done. I am super excited for the next volume. Involving sandy hook, reflection and Snowden

So I warn you that this review will have an extremely liberal internationalist bias, and I don’t want to create unnecessary drama, which politics will inevitably do sometimes. So feel free to skip this review if you don’t want to read about this. We’re all book lovers, let’s be civil 🙂 I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before, but most days I drive to work with a friend, and we always listen to an audiobook 🙂 And because this is a long book (almost 30 hours), and we had been working from home a couple of times a week, then she went on holiday, then I had a holiday, then the company we work for had a summer shutdown, it’s been slow going. A whole whopping 3 months to get through this book because the both of us needed to be in the car for us to listen to it. But let me tell you, this was such a treat. I loved all aspects of this book. Let me preface this review with a disclaimer that I was not born, nor have I ever lived in the US. I was born in Brazil, and have lived in Europe on and off again since I left university in 2006. I did my master’s degree in the US, but on a partially online scheme, which meant I was never there longer than 3-4 weeks at a time a couple times a year and only after Obama left office. Alas, the world is still largely US-centric, be it driven by Hollywood, or TV, or popular culture in general, so here I find myself wanting to read about their former president despite myself. With that out of the way, let’s get on with this review. First of all, if you want to pick this up, I highly recommend the audio. Obama’s narration was like a soothing balm to me after a long day of work. I could just let go of the stress under his calm, steady cadence and thoughtful commentary. Just for a quick summary, Obama talks about the circumstances that brought him into politics: the influence from his mother and grandparents, growing up in Hawaii, living in Indonesia, college, law school, starting out as a community leader, his time on the state senate, how the resurfacing of a speech he’d given years before propelled him into the spotlight and the senate, and finally the presidential campaign and his first 2 years as president. Yes. This 30-hour book doesn’t have enough time to go past his decision to run for re-election. And that’s because Obama really reflects on all his actions, basically taking us with him step-by-step on his decision process and it’s fascinating. Obama took office in the midst of the financial crisis in 2008/2009 and I had no idea how much he actually managed to get done within those first 2 years. He discusses in detail the approach they took on the financial crisis, healthcare reform, climate initiatives, foreign policy, retreating from Iraq, doubling down on Al Qaeda finishing up with the operation that killed Bin Laden. While a lot of what he discussed and achieved are in my opinion very small steps towards giving his people access to things that should be universal human rights (i.e. free healthcare), you can see what victories they are when you consider the minefield that American politics are. All is interspaced with a level of self-awareness I feel is lacking from politicians these days. He explains his thought-process, but also analyses his decision in hindsight, owning up to his mistakes, while clearly doing the best he could with the information he had available at the time. And he still manages to sound hopeful despite the unbelievable resistance faced by every single idea or improvement he proposed. I’m kind of looking forward for a second part of his memoir, where he discusses the last 6 years of his presidency, and the slow fall into this abyss of bigotry and nationalism that not only America, but large parts of the world fell into following those hopeful times covered in the first book. All I can say is, in a world of so much disinformation these days, it was a breath of fresh air to get so much thoughtfulness and transparency.

“But you don’t choose the time. The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by.“ Barack Obama

It’s long. Too long. Actually it’s ridiculously long. Tho it was kind of fun to read it in the span of 2 months.

4.25⭐️

Definitely recommend the audiobook as it is read by the former president. Ultimately I think this could have been shorter as it is a CHUNKY boy, and the pacing was not always consistent. I found myself getting bored at times, but I enjoyed the personal anecdotes and hearing about what the president was feeling when he made certain decisions.

Simply Brilliant!! A highly descriptive narrative of Mr. Obama's first term in the office read by the man himself. It was nothing short of an amazing journey explained in excruciating detail in the golden voice of Obama. Beginning from his childhood, education, running for senate elections, presidential elections, diplomatic relations with various countries and ending with the killing of Osama Bin Laden, it was engaging throughout. Though I lost interest around the 70% mark where it was mostly about policy and diplomacy, I managed to power through and get to the end. One thing that sets apart Mr. Obama from his clownish successor is that he does not shy away from admitting his mistakes, nor does he make stupid brainless comments or flashy statements. He's a true man of culture with a highly academic background and a modest upbringing. Even if you are not interested in American Politics or Obama you might like this audiobook and learn a thing or two about the same while enjoying the engrossing narration. Can't wait for the second part!

This book was a good read. Sometimes it was a struggle to get through because it was a lot of information. I am getting back into reading, so that may be why. I really enjoyed reading through his life and presidency. I also enjoyed understanding his reasoning and decisions.

I have many thoughts, but for the moment I am just relieved to have finally finished this exhausting book

So very interesting to be listening to this on the eve of Joe Biden’s inauguration amid the despicable behavior of the ReTrumplicans. Some situations and experiences I have already heard described by Michelle Obama in Becoming, yet it is still interesting to have the male perspective on how he considered the impact of his political ambitions on his wife and children. I’m a fan of President Obama, so it is no surprise that I found his bio to be fairly honest and engaging. Looking forward to the next volume (on audiobook, of course)!