The Essential Barack Obama: The Grammy Award-Winning Recordings

Product Description

A CD collection featuring the best-selling audiobooks, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father from Grammy® award-winning author, Barack Obama.


The Audacity of Hope

In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. One phrase in particular anchored itself in listeners’ minds, a reminder that for all the discord and struggle to be found in our history as a nation, we have always been guided by a dogged optimism in the future, or what Senator Obama called “the audacity of hope.”

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 explores those forces–from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media–that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. 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 book is Senator Obama’s vision of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats–from terrorism to pandemic–that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy–where it is vital and where it must never intrude. Underlying his stories about family, friends, members of the Senate, 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. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, he says, can Americans repair a political process that is broken, and restore to working order a government that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans. Those Americans are out there, he writes–“waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them.”

Dreams from My Father
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man—has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey—first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father’s life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.

Customer Reviews

Great books--a lot of insight into Sen. Obama's life, character
These two books together are a wonderful look at Senator Obama's life and his character. The "Dreams From My Father," reflects the character-building life that he led, thank to his mother, and grand parents, as well as the intelligence and standing of his father, who died when Barack was young. You get a great sense of his concern for mankind and his desire to help others.

"The Audacity of Hope," describes his feelings about the pressures and potential pitfalls of running for and holding public office. He tells how he was able to keep to his ideals and the teachings of his mother and grandparents throughout his political career.

There is a reason
There is a reason that Barack Obama is supported so strongly by very educated people - this book. This is a front row seat to a sincere and admirable agenda. Be an informed voter, read this book - or listen to it on tape. He is funny and thoughful, and very sincere.

Obama Is His Own Man
Anyone who judges Barack Obama by the media hatchet job done on him in relation to Jeremiah Wright is not dealing with a full deck. Barack Obama is a genuine American hero. And he will make a superb president. And by extension anything authored by this man is simply outstanding. This audio book is a godsend. It's well worth the asking price. Any progressive minded person will love this product. Barack Obama stands for honesty, quality, integrity and truth. If you truly value these characteristics, then add this item to your cart.