From the Publisher
Impressive. ... [A] deeply reported work of biography.” — New York Times Book Review
“Rigorous. ... Thorough. ... Meticulously researched. ... Delivers insight and clarity on Obama’s enigmatic personality.” — Christian Science Monitor
“A prodigious work. ... Each page crackles with the strength of [Garrow’s] research.” — USA Today
“Extremely well-done. ... Garrow slices the fat of fiction away from fact. ... [A book] equally as valuable for what it is saying about the present and the future as well as the past.” — Atlanta Black Star
“Revealing. ... Probing. ... [Garrow] tells us how Obama lived, and explores the calculations he made in the decades leading up to his winning the presidency.” — Washington Post
“Phenomenal… Essential. … Persuasive. … Authoritative. … A stunning and indispensable work of history. … A masterwork of historical and journalistic research… [and] a terrific read.” — David Greenberg, Politico
“One of the most impressive presidential biographies... [and] a look at the social construction of race.” — Bloomberg (a Must-Read of 2017)
“A tour de force. ... An epic triumph of personal and political biography. — Paul Street, New York Journal of Books
“The authoritative biography of Barack Obama’s prepresidential years. ... Illuminating. ... Impressively researched. ... Readers will be richly rewarded.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“A convincing and exceptionally detailed portrait. ... Political history buffs will be fascinated.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Important. ... Engages, absorbs and mesmerises.” — Literary Review (London)
“Garrow is a demon for research. ... Eminently solid. ... Consistently readable — an impressive work.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Gripping. ... [A] compelling read [that] should appeal to political junkies and insiders. ... Foundational.” — Washington Independent Review of Books
“Learned. ... May endure in the American presidential canon.” — Globe and Mail (Toronto)
“Definitive. ... Fascinating. ... So interesting, you’ll be hard-pressed to put it down.” — Paul Lisnek, WGN Chicago
“You definitely want to pick it up. ... Very thorough, very well-researched.” — Roland Martin, NEWS ONE NOW
“Comprehensive. ... Contains many insights to Obama’s life and character. ... Will be the defining work on Obama’s early life for years to come.” — The Federalist
“Immensely informative. ... Reveals Mr. Obama in all his complexity.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Groundbreaking. ... A candid examination of the former president’s life before the White House.” — Daily Nebraskan
“Breathtaking. ... With depth and meticulousness, David Garrow’s new book pulls back the curtain on Obama’s family, upbringing, college years, personal reinventions, mentors, romances, career choices, law school accomplishments, marriage and rise in Illinois politics.” — New York Law Journal
Atlanta Black Star
Extremely well-done. ... Garrow slices the fat of fiction away from fact. ... [A book] equally as valuable for what it is saying about the present and the future as well as the past.
Christian Science Monitor
Rigorous. ... Thorough. ... Meticulously researched. ... Delivers insight and clarity on Obama’s enigmatic personality.
USA Today
A prodigious work. ... Each page crackles with the strength of [Garrow’s] research.
Washington Post
Revealing. ... Probing. ... [Garrow] tells us how Obama lived, and explores the calculations he made in the decades leading up to his winning the presidency.”
Bloomberg (a Must-Read of 2017)
One of the most impressive presidential biographies... [and] a look at the social construction of race.
Paul Street
A tour de force. ... An epic triumph of personal and political biography.
David Greenberg
Phenomenal… Essential. … Persuasive. … Authoritative. … A stunning and indispensable work of history. … A masterwork of historical and journalistic research… [and] a terrific read.
New York Times Book Review
Impressive. ... [A] deeply reported work of biography.
New York Law Journal
Breathtaking. ... With depth and meticulousness, David Garrow’s new book pulls back the curtain on Obama’s family, upbringing, college years, personal reinventions, mentors, romances, career choices, law school accomplishments, marriage and rise in Illinois politics.
The Federalist
Comprehensive. ... Contains many insights to Obama’s life and character. ... Will be the defining work on Obama’s early life for years to come.
Paul Lisnek
Definitive. ... Fascinating. ... So interesting, you’ll be hard-pressed to put it down.
Literary Review (London)
Important. ... Engages, absorbs and mesmerises.
Daily Nebraskan
Groundbreaking. ... A candid examination of the former president’s life before the White House.
Roland Martin
You definitely want to pick it up. ... Very thorough, very well-researched.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Immensely informative. ... Reveals Mr. Obama in all his complexity.
Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Learned. ... May endure in the American presidential canon.
Washington Independent Review of Books
Gripping. ... [A] compelling read [that] should appeal to political junkies and insiders. ... Foundational.
USA Today
A prodigious work. ... Each page crackles with the strength of [Garrow’s] research.
Washington Post
Revealing. ... Probing. ... [Garrow] tells us how Obama lived, and explores the calculations he made in the decades leading up to his winning the presidency.”
Kirkus Reviews
2017-03-01
An exhaustive epic of Barack Obama's trajectory to the presidency.Yes, Obama was born in Hawaii, in the United States, just as his birth certificate says. Yes, he smoked marijuana. Yes, he has been a person of overarching ambition with a coolness that often shades into iciness, an island of unnerving calm in the stormy sea of electoral politics. As he has demonstrated in previous books, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garrow (Law and History/Univ. of Pittsburgh School of Law; Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade, 1994, etc.) is a demon for research. The present volume, which weighs in at more than 1,400 pages (including nearly 275 pages of notes), is based on more than 1,000 interviews and consultations, it seems, with every known document to deal with the matter of the 44th president. Sometimes the book feels like too much of a good thing. While it is useful to know that Michelle Obama has a strong personality, it's not necessary to have repeated demonstrations of that strength—though it did afford columnists the wherewithal to accuse her of emasculating her husband, who in turn has seemed relatively emotionless. It is not entirely clear how Garrow feels about his subject except that his own overarching thesis would seem to rest on the idea that Obama—Garrow calls him "Barack," familiarly, throughout—was an efficient creator of himself, having gone from sometimes-frivolous youth to preternaturally serious adult with a clear vision of his path to success. Yet, as the author writes in closing, "while the crucible of self-creation had produced an ironclad will, the vessel was hollow at its core." Leaving aside the psychobiographical speculations, however, the core of this book is eminently solid, a thorough turning over of just about every stone, from the poor behavior of Obama's father in the U.S. to the sound and fury of Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. Too long by half but consistently readable—an impressive work that will provide grist for the former president's detractors and admirers alike.
