For those who might not read the Unabashedly Bookish book blog here, I have a new article up about a recent Obama biography. Here's a taste:
How did we do it? How did we go, over the span of less than 45 years, from John Lewis nearly being bludgeoned to death on the Edmund Pettus Bridge outside Selma, Alabama to his sitting, as a member of congress, on the official dais at Barack Obama's inauguration as President of the United States? How does Barack Obama, as a person and as a president, exemplify this change, and how did these events change him?
New Yorker editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Remnick tries to answer these questions in The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama (which hits shelves in your local Barnes & Noble today). The name is important, as is a quote from Lewis at the beginning of the book: "Barack Obama is what comes at the end of that bridge in Selma."
If you'd like to read more about this, please click here.
If you have the book or are in the midst of reading it, I am happy to discuss it with you. It's not the "official" book of the month or months, but I welcome dialogue with any reader, irrespective of time frame. Of course, the longer we go between my writing the review and your commenting, the harder it will be for me to find the parts of the book to which you refer, but I will enjoy the challenge.
Finished last of the 20 CDs today of The Bridge and returned the set to the library. Managed to get through them in two weeks plus one day. Now, must decide if worth the investment to get a copy for family members. It is rather wordy and includes a number of passages that were interesting to hear, but which didn't seem necessary -- such as the slaves and servants of the early Presidents, especially the freewoman who served the Lincoln's. Still, as I said in my previous post, Bridge struck me as a worthwhile read for any citizen, even if it might well rankle at some point or another, regardless of one's political posture.
I wanted more on the role young people in their twenties played on gaining support for the election of Obama, both by working on the election and via conversations within their families. There was virtually none of that.
The Rev. Wright story was pretty well fleshed out from several perspectives.
Audacity of Hope was available on CDs tonight, and since I have never gotten it read, I checked it out and will continue to immerse myself in the saga of Barack Obama for a few more days.
Actually, I am looking forward to Bush's book as well, but suspect the waiting list for it will be longer in my community! 
Pepper
