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A review by jpdaltonaz
Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama by David J. Garrow
4.0
The most common word I saw used for the book was "long." Well, yes. That should be apparent as soon as one picks it up or checks the page count on their Kindle/Nook. More on that to come.
Having said that, I can excuse much of the detail because of the continuing mythos of Obama. There still are those today who insist he's a Kenyan and not American - hard to make that argument after reading this book as there's no doubt Garrow would have uncovered it. The same goes for the notion of Obama as a closet Muslim, which in itself is disproven by his membership at Trinity Church. If there were any hint of that possibility, there's virtually no doubt it would be in this book as well because, at least until his presidency, everything seems to be.
The Obama that is described here is balanced overall. He unquestionably is extremely intelligent and appears to have an idea of what he wants to accomplish. At the same time, he also is arrogant, aloof, obsessed with his own destiny while disclaiming ambition. He has an ability to memorize a crowd through the delivery of his speech while not necessarily saying a great deal.
It has been said that Garrow handled Obama's presidency brutally in the final chapter, actually the epilogue. This chapter is the one where there seems to be no sense of balance, though his overall conclusions of Obama's failure to live up to his own promise of rising above partisan politics are not inaccurate. But the balance and detail fades here as well. For instance, Garrow mentions the polls that show the number of people who wrongly believe Obama wasn't an American citizen but does not comment or add any perspective as to why this line of thought existed. The poll is cited without context and apropos of nothing. And in general, a mere 60 electronic pages (and fewer on paper) are dedicated to these eight years when far more is devoted to Obama's high school days playing basketball and smoking weed. It's a curious editorial choice.
I don't disagree that in some areas, the book is far too detailed. Particularly in the early chapters, it feels the text would have benefited from the firm hand of an editor; later, it would have been helpful to not have a dozen cited quotes all saying virtually the same thing. There's little question the book would have been different in the hands of a Chernow or Brands.
Does Garrow actually like Obama? Does it really matter? The book punctures a good deal of the mythology that existed before and is growing now in light of what now occupies the White House. But to say his presidency was an unqualified success is a stretch of the highest order. If only Garrow had spent more time delving into this rather than nights eating Chinese food at Columbia.
Having said that, I can excuse much of the detail because of the continuing mythos of Obama. There still are those today who insist he's a Kenyan and not American - hard to make that argument after reading this book as there's no doubt Garrow would have uncovered it. The same goes for the notion of Obama as a closet Muslim, which in itself is disproven by his membership at Trinity Church. If there were any hint of that possibility, there's virtually no doubt it would be in this book as well because, at least until his presidency, everything seems to be.
The Obama that is described here is balanced overall. He unquestionably is extremely intelligent and appears to have an idea of what he wants to accomplish. At the same time, he also is arrogant, aloof, obsessed with his own destiny while disclaiming ambition. He has an ability to memorize a crowd through the delivery of his speech while not necessarily saying a great deal.
It has been said that Garrow handled Obama's presidency brutally in the final chapter, actually the epilogue. This chapter is the one where there seems to be no sense of balance, though his overall conclusions of Obama's failure to live up to his own promise of rising above partisan politics are not inaccurate. But the balance and detail fades here as well. For instance, Garrow mentions the polls that show the number of people who wrongly believe Obama wasn't an American citizen but does not comment or add any perspective as to why this line of thought existed. The poll is cited without context and apropos of nothing. And in general, a mere 60 electronic pages (and fewer on paper) are dedicated to these eight years when far more is devoted to Obama's high school days playing basketball and smoking weed. It's a curious editorial choice.
I don't disagree that in some areas, the book is far too detailed. Particularly in the early chapters, it feels the text would have benefited from the firm hand of an editor; later, it would have been helpful to not have a dozen cited quotes all saying virtually the same thing. There's little question the book would have been different in the hands of a Chernow or Brands.
Does Garrow actually like Obama? Does it really matter? The book punctures a good deal of the mythology that existed before and is growing now in light of what now occupies the White House. But to say his presidency was an unqualified success is a stretch of the highest order. If only Garrow had spent more time delving into this rather than nights eating Chinese food at Columbia.