When you start A Promised Land, you are making a commitment. At nearly 700 pages, once you start, you will need to keep going in order to not lose your momentum. Did I mention this book only covers Obama’s life up to the end of his first term in the White House? Part two will be coming in the next few years.
Now that I have covered the monumental challenge of getting through the book, I give it 5 stars without hesitation. While full of facts, Obama has a way of writing that keeps the reader engaged. A lot of the things that were talked about in the book were also mentioned in Michelle Obama’s book Becoming. That made it a bit easier to get through all of it because I already knew what was coming, so to speak.
It is no secret that his presidency was at odds with the Republican leadership in the House and Senate. But, I had no idea how much resistance he actually encountered. It’s remarkable that anything got done and no surprise that executive actions needed to be taken in order to get much of his agenda done. It will be interesting to read the next book and to see how bad things really were.
Full disclosure, I am an Obama fan. I think that he has a genuine kindness in him that is rare in politicians, of either political party. He is a great public speaker and speaks from the heart. So, it would be fair to say that my review might be biased.
Life In The Falls 