First published 2012
Barack Obama stands at the center of a sprawling family saga that spans continents and generations. David Maraniss constructs this generational biography through extensive reporting and hundreds of interviews, including conversations with Obama himself in the Oval Office. The narrative begins in small Kansas towns and remote Kenyan villages, tracking the personal battles of Obama's white and black ancestors as they navigate the turbulent twentieth century. Strong women and weak men populate this global roots story, marked by constant movement, frustration, and achievement. Hope gets lost and deferred as people leave and get left behind. The disparate family threads finally converge as Obama matures and journeys from Honolulu through Los Angeles to New York. Maraniss draws from letters, journals, diaries, and other documents to create this deeply reported account of the forces that shaped a future president.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, african-american, political-science, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Kansas, Kenya, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
672 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster