Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father is Barack Obama's remarkable memoir. The son of a black African father and a white American mother, Obama was only two years old when his father walked out on the family. Many years later, Obama receives a phone call from Nairobi: his father is dead. This sudden news inspires an emotional odyssey for Obama, determined to learn the truth of his father's life and reconcile his divided inheritance. Written at the age of thirty-three, long before Obama had thoughts of a political career, Dreams from My Father is an unforgettable read. It illuminates not only Obama's journey, but also our universal desire to understand our history, and what makes us the people we are.
Stats for nerds
5recommend
14mentions
13people
2008–2024years
36% recommend57% neutral7% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Sorry for the wall of text.
1. Bourne (The language and world of this novel are extraordinary - everything is falling apart yet brimming with life. Strangely moving)
2. The Design of Everyday things (Essential for anyone in UI/UX)
3. All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries (Highly engaging, entertaining sci-fi novella series, from an author that can write a very decent robot protagonist)
4. The Power (Interesting story with sci-fi elements on the dynamics of power, sex, and gender roles. I didn't care for the book, but the first 3/4 of the book are amazing)
5. Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days
6. 7 brief Lessons on Physics
7. The Last Lecture (The energy and positivity coming from a man knowing he's about to die is infectious. Great read)
8. A wizard of Earthsea (Move over Harry Potter, this is the essential children's story about wizards)
9. Exploring diabetes with owls (Funny, irreverent)
10. Miss Peregrines home for peculiar children (Made an effort to read more YA this year - this was the best in this series, but I still hated it. There's a host of better YA series out there.)
11. A Wizard of Earthsea: The Tombs of Atuan (See 8.)
12. The Girl in the Dark (Interesting book about a skin condition I had never heard of, and the trials of living with a very rare condition)
13. The Phantom Tollbooth (Clever children's book)
14. Black hole blues and songs from outer space (Informative book about the study of space, the political and economic forces standing in the way of science, and the incredible individuals working in this field)
15. Welcome to Night Vale (Hugely entertaining, clever and weird)
16. You need a budget (Basic economics book explaining how to budget in a way that lets you do more with your money)
17. To fight Against This Age (Incredibly pretentious, Ivory Tower philosophizing)
18. Infinity Gauntlet (Half the Universe dying because Thanos wanted to sleep with Lady Death will never not be ridiculous)
19. The Right and Wrong Stuff (Great read explaining how to anticipate and avoid career pitfalls)
20. Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children: Hollow City (pretty shitty)
21. The Farthest Shore (Ursula K. Le Guin was the biggest loss this year)
22. Miss peregrine's home for Peculiar Children: Library of Souls (I hate this book and all its characters)
23. Every Good Endevour (Religious book about a Christian worldview and the value of labor - not a bad read)
24. When to Rob a Bank and 131 warped suggestions… (interesting, funny, from the writers of Freakonomics)
25. Weapons of Math Destruction (Probably the most useful book on this list, if you're reading this on "hackernews")
26. Holes (Perfect summer paperback read)
27. Silver Screen Sirens (Essential for film geeks)
28. A full life: reflections at 90 (I gained a lot of respect for Jimmy Carter: he lived an incredible life and does great things)
29. Call Me by your name (Very good romance novel to send to your bigoted relatives at Christmas)
30. Hyperbole and a half (Incredibly entertaining, very distinctive art style)
31. The Murderbot diaries: Artificial Condition (See 3.)
32. His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (Best children's book, fight me)
33. Less (Exceptionally well-written)
34. Resilience (Great book, especially for those that have gone through extremely difficult circumstances)
35. The Strange Bird (Dark, bleak, full of life, see 1.)
36. The Murderbot diaries: Rogue Protocol (See 3.)
37. His Dark Materials: The subtle knife (See 32.)
38. Tap Dancing to Work (Very dry, some stories/articles are fantastic, others very, very boring for people that do not care about finance)
39. So Good They Can't Ignore You (Pretty good)
40. His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass (Amazing YA, see 32.)
41. Uncontainable (Inspirational book about conscious capitalism)
42. The Emperor of All Maladies (Pretty much everything you'll ever want to know about Cancer, written in a very engaging way)
43. Blind Spot
44. Shoe dog (Great story, see madmax108's comment, totally agree)
45. The Faithful Spy (Beautiful artwork describing a Christian pastor's fight against fascism during WW2)
46. Zero to One
47. You'll grow out of it
48. The Happiness advantage (Really fantastic book about the value of positive psychology)
49. Dreams from my father (Enlightening look into Obama's early days)
50. Ayoade on Ayoade (Entertaining, extremely scatter-brained, not as funny as his interviews or tv programs)
51. The Diabolic (badly written YA Sci-Fi)
52. The Physics of Everyday Things (surprisingly informative, recommended for non science-people interested in the way things work)
- There are some books I keep coming back to when I am "feeling lost and/or hopeless", when my "back is up against the wall and/or feel cornered", when I feel like I have "hit rock bottom" or I just need to "escape reality"... This list contains books I have read/listened to more than a couple times:
!For inspiration:! 1. Loosing my virginity (Richard Branson) - Richard Branson's Autobiography. From student magazine to Virgin to crazy ballooning adventures and space! I keep coming back to this when I feel like I need a morale boost. There isn't an audible version for this book, but there is a summary-type version on Audible "Screw it, Let's do it"- does a good job curating the exciting parts.
-AMAZON and the man leading the massive team behind it. Jeff Bezos is quite easily one of the most important and influential people in the world. His relentless pursuit to build Amazon (& it's various products) amid constant setbacks, losses and naysayers... I personally use Amazon and their products every day. It's a really interesting view of how things are run backstage.2. The Everything Store (Brad Stone)
- One of the most popular books in the Valley. Almost all startup founders I have met has read this. They usually have a very polarized view of Jobs after reading this. Take the good stuff and leave out the bad/crazy. Jobs was a very polarizing person and so is his biography...This is a very long book. "The second Coming of Steve Jobs" by Alan Deutschman is another really good book and a much shorter read and not super-polarizing (leaves out some of the crazy stuff from early life). Other notable Steve Jobs books I have read & highly recommend: Becoming Steve Jobs & The Steve Jobs Way.3. Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson)
-Another polarizing book. I am a Spacex & Tesla Fan-boy. I picked this up in 2015 the day it was launched! I have read this at least half a dozen times by now. Hard-work, perseverance and creativity to the max. A must read for every entrepreneur.4. Elon Musk (Ashlee Vance)
-If you are a technical-founder, this is a must read! Gives a very interesting view of- behind the scenes at Apple during its inception and early years. I was really moved by how humble Woz was/is and I am inspired by his problem solving approach.5. iWoz (Steve Wozniak)
- A very good book to read after/before this: "In the Plex" by Steven Levy. Hands down the two most important / influential books while you are starting something new. I read these while I was contemplating conceiving my startup and giving up the "safety" (illusion of safety) of a "normal-job". A must read for anyone planing to start a company and want to take it to the stratosphere (or higher)!6. How Google Works (Eric Schmidt, Alan Eagle & Jonathan Rosenberg)
- Another polarizing personality. A short but powerful memoir by Obama. This gives a unique insight into Obama's thought processes. Most people can relate to this and every "Leader" must read this. It really helps clear some of the fog on- what makes an effective leader.7. Dreams from My Father (Barack Obama)!Business & Management:!
-An amazing story about AirBnB and Uber. Culture is key and culture is defined by the Founders and the first few hires. The two companies are extremely similar in many ways (timing, shared economy, disruptive) but radically different in the way they are run. This came out earlier this year and is probably one of the best "startup-books" of 2017!1. The Upstarts (Brad Stone)
-A very short book, a must read for every entrepreneur. Dives into "first principal" thinking & execution. A very good read after/before "Elon Musk" the biography by Ashlee Vance.2. Zero to One (Peter Thiel)
-I have always wondered how successful people get so much done. They have the same amount of time as everyone else, but they are able to get so much more done...how? This book answered that question. Ever since, I have been using "Habits" as my ultimate personal tool. Day & night difference when you figure out how habits are formed how they are broken and how you can influence the process. A good companion book (from the same author) "Smarter Faster Better".3. The power of Habit (Charles Duhigg)
- I bought this book freshman year in college. I tried reading it then and gave up / got bored after the first few pages. I really wish I had actually made an effort to read the whole thing. It sat on my shelf collecting dust. Luckily I picked up the book again and gave it another shot. I read this during a particularly "rough-patch" at our startup- really helped me cope with the "situation". What was once a boring book is now scribbled with notes, bookmarks and highlights. A very useful life-guide.4. How to win friends & Influence people (Dale Carnegi)
- A very entertaining yet eye-opening book. It is very short, finished it in a couple hours. A must read for every entrepreneur. I keep coming back to this when I feel like things are going dreadfully slow and I need a boost. If you follow Mark Cuban's blog, skip this. It is mostly a summary of his blog posts.5. How to win at the Sport of Business (Mark Cuban)
- Finding good talent and retaining it is probably the single most important thing you will do as startup founders (especially if you are the CEO). Many things in this book seem obvious (if you are familiar with the Silicon-valley culture). A good read before you set out to hire your dream team of "rockstars". A good companion book: "Outliers" By Malcom Gladwell.6. Finding the next Steve Jobs (Nolan Bushnell)
-Are you in a startup? If the answer is YES, then read this NOW. Ties well with "Finding the next Steve Jobs". I wish I had read this before I started my company. I have lost track of how many times I have listened to this audio-book.7. The hard thing about hard things (Ben Horowitz)
- Mid-late 2013 I came across Simon Sinek's ted talks on the golden-circle and my mind was blown. I bought the book the very next day and I keep coming back to my notes whenever we are starting a new project. Get the "Why?" right and the product will define itself. This is true for building companies as it is for building great products. A must read for every entrepreneur.8. Start with the Why (Simon Sinek)
-Getting ready to pitch? read this! Also watch Guy's many presentations/talks on YouTube. A good companion book- "Pitch Anything" By Oren Klaff9. Art of the Start (Guy Kawasaki)!Escaping Reality! 1. Hatching Twitter (Nick Bilton) -Sooooo much drama! Definitely learnt what not to do! Very interesting read.
-I have heard that not everything in this book is "completely-true" (more distorted than others...) but still a great read!2. The accidental Billionaires (Ben Mezrcih)
- Hands down the best science fiction book I have read. I have lost count how many times I have listened to the audio-book (probably >15). I want to go to MARS!3. The Martian (Andy Weir)
-My go-to "background noise". I read the books as a kid. I use the audio-books to tune out the world when working on stuff that does not require my full attention (Listening Goblet of Fire as I type this)...4. Harry Potter Series.
- Read the books as a kid. I usually listen to it while I am traveling. Still gets me as excited as it did when I first read the book. (The movies are nothing compared to the book...)5. Jurassic Park || The Lost world (Michael Crichton)
- I am looking forward to reading the entire series. Read it once, listened to it many times (lost count). I love Space!6. Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
-I picked this book up while I was working on a VR project back in 2014. An excellent book for re-reads and a nice place to get some inspiration.7. Ready Player One (Ernest Cline)!Other honorable mentions:! Actionable Gamification (Yu-Kai Chou) I invented the Modern Age (Richard Snow) Inside the tornado (Geoffrey Moore) Jony Ive (Leander Kahney) Sprint (Jake Knapp) The lean startup (Eric Ries) The selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins) Titan (Ron Chernow) The inevitable (Kevin Kelly) The Innovators (Walter Isaacson) Scrum (Jeff Sutherland)
!Most if not all have an audio-book version!
If you are in a startup or plan to start one soon, reading/listening to books should become a routine. I try to get through at least one book a week, sometimes two.
Good luck!
- Dreams From My Father is a pretty good book. He wrote it before he started running for President, so it's actually quite a nice insight into his mind. It's worth reading just to get to know a hard-working, successful biracial man who had some very interesting experiences.
- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. A sad story about a guy named Zeitoun in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places by Paul Collier. Someone smart thinks about how to move failed states toward democracy in such a way that it sticks.
Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama. A good memoir, but particularly interesting because he wrote it before he was famous.
Cliff Walk by Don Snyder. An English professor gets fired and becomes a carpenter. Great if academia irritates you.
- Obama has said that he wrote "very bad poetry" in college and his biographer David Mendell suggests that he once "harbored some thoughts of writing fiction as an avocation." For that matter, "Dreams From My Father" evinces an instinctive storytelling talent (which would later serve the author well on the campaign trail) and that odd combination of empathy and detachment gifted novelists possess. In that memoir, Obama seamlessly managed to convey points of view different from his own (a harbinger, perhaps, of his promises to bridge partisan divides and his ability to channel voters' hopes and dreams) while conjuring the many places he lived during his peripatetic childhood. He is at once the solitary outsider who learns to stop pressing his nose to the glass and the coolly omniscient observer providing us with a choral view of his past.
- 2008 was a spell ago, but it seems my recollection is correct that Obama was the one who emphasized his experience as a community organizer: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/us/politics/07community.h... (“Mr. Obama’s three-year stretch as a grass-roots organizer has figured prominently, if not profoundly, in his own narrative of his life. Campaigning in Iowa, Mr. Obama called it ‘the best education I ever had, better than anything I got at Harvard Law School,’ an education that he said was ‘seared into my brain.’ He devoted about one-third of the 442 pages in his memoir, ‘Dreams From My Father,’ to chronicling that Chicago organizing period.”). Certainly, Obama was steeped in racial politics prior to his becoming president. And racial activism has flourished in the aftermath of his presidency—though it’s unclear whether he’s a cause of that or a symptom of it.
I’m not blaming Obama for these things—it’s not clear that politics in the US could be otherwise given the facts of history. But it’s certainly not conducive to good government.
