A Promised Land

hardcover, 768 pages

Published Nov. 17, 2020 by Crown, Crown Publishing Group (NY).

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (43 reviews)

A Promised Land is a memoir by Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Published on November 17, 2020, it is the first of a planned two-volume series. Remaining focused on his political career, the presidential memoir documents Obama's life from his early years through to the events surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. The book is 768 pages long and available in digital, paperback, and hardcover formats and has been translated into two dozen languages. There is also a 28-hour audiobook edition that is read by Obama himself. The book has received many reviews and was put on end-of-year best of lists by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. Commercially, it has been extremely successful and, as of the February 7, 2021 issue, the book has been the New York Times best-seller in non-fiction for …

6 editions

Review of 'A Promised Land' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

History from the front-row perspective.

Entertaining with honest accounts, you seldomly feel Obama is overselling his presidency. He does a very fine job of reading this book aloud aswell.

For me the dynamics of power were insightful - the personal anecdotes quite funny. And I'm definitely going to listen to the 2nd part.

Review of 'Une terre promise' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This a great book, extremely well written and entertaining.
The pre-presidential part could really make one want to go into politics.
The rest is all about how everything is only compromise, and the limits of democracy.

The only negative thing it shows is how even someone like Obama sees America as conducting the entire world, which shows quite a lack of humility.

Review of 'A Promised Land' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Five hundred or so pages in, I realized that Barack Obama's memoir had only just reached the midterm elections of 2010. Granted, he had a lot of ground to cover, from his childhood through his early efforts at community organizing, explosive ascendency to the national stage, to making history in the presidential election in 2008 and the frenetic pace of his first two years. But also, far from being a slog, the book is persistently interesting, a page-turning review of recent events from a perspective about as singular as it gets, and with lots of detail. As he admits early on, his narrative resists a strict chronology, as events connect with others in various ways. My only complaint is that he's a little too cool, only really letting us in on the depth of his frustration in a couple places. One memorable passage relates his frustration in the aftermath of …

Review of 'A Promised Land' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes of a presidency. I'm sure he framed it in a way to make it sympathetic to his position, but he writes with such an authentic voice that I felt like I had a real sense of what it might have felt like (good, bad and ugly) to hold that office. I look forward to reading Volume 2, whenever it comes out.

Review of 'A Promised Land' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Candid account of a political career

I really enjoyed President Obama's candid, and thoughtful account of his political career from his early steps, towards the end of his first term as President. I especially enjoyed the insights into his experiences being the President.

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