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Terfex.com - The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $10.17
Your Save: $ 4.78 ( 32% )
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Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.04960730092
EAN: 9780307237705
ISBN: 0307237702
Label: Three Rivers Press
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2007-11-06
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Release Date: 2007-11-06
Studio: Three Rivers Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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“A government that truly represents these Americans–that truly serves these Americans–will require a different kind of politics. That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived. It won’t be pre-packaged, ready to pull off the shelf. It will have to be constructed from the best of our traditions and will have to account for the darker aspects of our past. We will need to understand just how we got to this place, this land of warring factions and tribal hatreds. And we’ll need to remind ourselves, despite all our differences, just how much we share: common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break.”
–from 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.”
From the Hardcover edition.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking
Comment: Seller: Product was in excellent condition, arrived quickly; great price.
Book: Amazing that with everything else he has to do, he produced such a clear, well-written, thoughtful description of his life and philosophies. (I'm sure it's not ghost-written, not with his name on it.) I'm not finished yet, but I know already that I want to give this book as a gift to other people.
Customer Rating:
Summary: We Are All One
Comment: Reading about history has always been a favorite past time of mine, ever since grade school, especially reading about real people, you know, before they became famous and they lost touch with the "working guy/girl". I also enjoy Frank Capra movies but that's a subject for another review. So, when I finally got around to reading President-elect Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" I wasn't expecting what happened. I didn't just like it, I thoroughly enjoyed it and had a hard time putting it down because it was so real. I found myself questioning what I really believed in. It was like I was having a heart-to-heart conversation with Senator Barack Obama, who just happened to have been elected President of the United States. Now he's the President-elect Obama and I feel like I have this relationship with the, soon-to-be sworn-in, next President of the United States.
The title "The Audacity to Hope" explains why I liked the book so much, and it's because the book gives a good insight into who Barack Obama is. In "The Audacity to Hope" President-elect Obama explains why he feels about being who he is, and as a result it makes me want to be a better person. I believe that what he says is true, "that we have a stake in one another." John F. Kennedy was the only other President, in my life-time, that has given me cause to feel this way. I want so much to believe him when he writes " that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart." We are all one in so many ways.
The book is real because the man is real, he speaks from his heart and he is aware of the hearts of others. He's aware of the millions of Americans who go about their business every day. "Their lives are full of contradictions and ambiguities." He is aware that Americans understand that politics is a business and no longer a mission, . . . "they turn inward, away from the noise and rage and endless chatter." "A government that truly represents these Americans - that truly serves these Americans - will require a different kind of politics." President-elect Obama connects to American's hope when he writes, "That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived." He states "And we will need to remind ourselves, despite all our differences, just how much we share: common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break." Again, testimony to how we as human beings are all one.
Barack Obama is aware of his strengths and also his weaknesses. In "The Audacity of Hope" Barack Obama expresses his feelings on both sides of many important issues and yet he is not closed minded to his critics. "I'd begun to see how any challenge to convention harbored within it the possibility of its own excesses and its own orthodoxy."
In the beginning of "the Audacity of Hope" President-elect Obama writes, "Instead what I offer is something more modest: personal reflections on those values and ideals that have led me to public life." I believe that is exactly what he has done in this book. I also believe him when he quotes Benjamin Franklin saying: "I would rather have it said, He lived usefully, than, He died rich" another reason why we are all one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Makes me proud to call him my president!
Comment: This is a thoughtful and inspiring book which is written well without being stuffy, written simply without being dumbed down and even at times achieves eloquence, without being preachy. The chapters on "the Constitution", "Faith" and "the World Beyond Our Borders" show a good grasp of American history, and the chapter on "Politics" is an assault on the do-nothing cynicism which seems to have settled into the hearts of too many Americans, both on the right and on the left. I was particularly taken by President Obama's criticism of liberal "progressives" who are so rooted in secularism that they reject people who have faith based values. The candid anecdotes from Obama's own life are fascinating, and reveal a good bit about how his ideas and his personality have been shaped. I wish every American would read this book, no matter who they voted for, and then come together with a renewed sense of purpose to work with each other, disagree civilly, and fully live up to our founding ideals.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very well-written
Comment: Written in a style that is easy to read, I found The Audacity of Hope to be very insightful. The author has a simple, but not simplistic, perspective on the world. Since he is our next president, everyone should read this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Obama, the man for 2009!
Comment: This is a must read or at least every household should have one of Barack Obama's book in their library.
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