The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama's call for a new kind of politics--a politics that builds upon those shared understandings that pull us together as Americans. Lucid in his vision of America's place in the world, refreshingly candid about his family life and his time in the Senate, Obama here sets out his political convictions and inspires us to trust in the dogged optimism that has long defined us and that is our best hope going forward.

Reviews

The Democrats' rising star wants U.S. politicians to start thinking big again. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Obama reads his own words with the conviction and strength that listeners would expect from the Ilinois Democratic senator. The audacity of his hope echoes in each sentence he speaks as he lays the groundwork for reclaiming the values and inner strength that makes the United States so grand. While Obama is a great public speaker, those same skills could be overwhelming within the confines of an audiobook. Listeners will rejoice that he does not turn this reading opportunity into a six-hour speech. Instead, his cadence, speed and tone work to bring the listener from point to point, building inspiration through provocative thought rather than intense voice and personal charisma. Political inclinations will determine whether Obama's solutions or intentions are valued or disregarded. However, in his sincerest moments, he seizes hold of the problems plaguing the nation while criticizing both sides' failure to grasp the actual problem and to become bogged down in petty politics. He emphasizes the complexity of politics in a pluralist country spread out over millions of square miles. But even in his exploration of the political landscape, he does not hesitate to admit to his own limitations within the system. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 2). (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

"Barack Obama is that rare politician who can actually write--and write movingly and genuinely about himself."
--"The New York Times"
"Obama writes convincingly about race as well as the lofty place the Constitution holds in American life.... He writes tenderly about family and knowingly about faith."
--"Los Angeles Times"
"An upbeat view of the country's potential and a political biography that concentrates on the senator's core values."
--"Chicago Tribune"
"He is one of the best writers to enter modern politics."
--Jonathan Alter, Newsweek.com
"What's impressive about Obama is an intelligence that his new books diplays in aubundance."
--"Washington Post Book World"
"The self-portrait is appealing. It presents a man of relative youth yet maturity, a wise observer of the human condition, a figure who possesses perseverance and writing skills that have flashes of grandeur. Obama also demonstrates a wry sense of humor...His particular upbringing gives him special insights into the transition of American politics in the 1960s and '70s from debates over economic principles to a focus on culture and morality, and into the divisiveness, polarization and incivility that accompanied this transition."
--Gary Hart, "The New York Times Book Review"
"America's founders set a high standard for political writing, and most contemporary efforts fall woefully short. How nice, then, to have a politician who can write as well as U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. ... The Audacity of Hope ... is fascinating in its revelation of Obama as someone who considers and questions, rather than asserts and declares. In nine focused chapters, Obama shows himself anagile thinker. This is an idea book, not a public-policy primer."
--Elizabeth Taylor, "Philadelphia Daily News"
"Not only is Obama a good writer, his mind is top-shelf, his heart tender."
--Les Payne, "Newsday"
"A thoughtful, careful analysis of what needs to be done to preserve our freedoms in a time of terror."
--Newton N. Minow, "Chicago Tribune"