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Journal Entry 1 by cyber-librarian from Cary, North Carolina USA on Thursday, February 14, 2008
 I received this book in the mail on 2/1 from William in CA ... through PaperBackSwap.com
c. 2006 -- 362 pages + Index -- Hardcover -- US Legislators Biography -- African American legislators -- US Congress Senate -- Philosophy -- American National characteristics -- Ideals -- US Politics and government -- Current Affairs / Political -- 19 weeks on the USA Today top-10 Bestseller list:
#2 on 10/29/06
#3 on 10/22/06, 12/17 and 12/24
#7 on 12/10/06, 12/31 and 2/18/07
#8 on 11/5/06, 11/26, 2/25/07, 11/9/08 and 1/25/09
#9 on 1/7/07
#10 on 11/12/06, 11/19, 1/21/07, 1/28, 2/24/08 and 11/23
Back Cover: A government that truly represents these Americans -- that truly serves these Americans -- will require a different kind of politics. That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived. It won't be prepackaged, ready to pull off the shelf. It will have to be constructed from the best of our traditions and will have to account for the darker aspects of our past. We will need to understand just how we got to this place, this land of warring factions and tribal hatreds. And we'll need to remind ourselves, despite all our differences, just how much we share: common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break.
Jacket Flaps: In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. One phrase in particular anchored itself in listeners' minds, a reminder that for all the discord and struggle to be found in our history as a nation, we have always been guided by a dogged optimism in the future, or what Senator Obama called "the audacity of hope."
Now, in The Audacity of Hope, Senator Obama calls for a different brand of politics -- a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the "endless clash of armies" we see in Congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of "our improbably experiment in democracy." He explores those forces -- from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media -- that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating humor, about settling in as a senator, seeking to balance the demands of public service and family life, and his own deepening religious commitment.
At the heart of this book is Senator Obama's vision of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats -- from terrorism to pandemic -- that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy -- where it is vital and where it must never intrude. Underlying his stories about family, friends, members of the Senate, and even the president is a vigorous search for connection: the foundation for a radically hopeful political consensus.
A senator and a lawyer, a professor and a father, a Christian and a skeptic, and above all a student of history and human nature, Senator Obama has written a book of transforming power. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, he says, can Americans repair a political process that is broken and restore to working order a government that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans. Those Americans are out there, he writes, "waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them."
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Journal Entry 2 by cyber-librarian from Cary, North Carolina USA on Friday, July 24, 2009
I finished reading this book today (7/28). I found it very interesting to compare what Obama said in the book with him now being President. Its also interesting to see how he started and the road he traveled to get where he is today. I just received his 1st book, "Dream From My Father", in the mail yesterday and look forward to reading more about Obama's life.
Used in 2009 Ultimate Challenge ~ July theme ~ Nonfiction (Biographies & Memoirs)
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Journal Entry 4 by cyber-librarian at Mailed to fellow bookcrosser, Postal Release -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Released 2 yrs ago (7/31/2009 UTC) at Mailed to fellow bookcrosser, Postal Release -- Controlled Releases CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I'm mailing this book sometime this week (by Friday) to OneMorePage in CA ... to start this bookray on its journey.
DC# 0306-1070-0000-8356-1273
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Journal Entry 6 by OneMorePage from Mission Viejo, California USA on Saturday, August 15, 2009
Not that anyone asked, or cares, but here is what I think about the US Political scene: it's a bunch of egomaniacal puffed up blowhards whose favorite phrase is, "I'm right and you're an idiot."
So I think what is so appealing about Obama - even to those who disagree with him politically - is that he seems to genuinely WANT to bring back the art of the conversation. Debate and dialogue - we don't seem to understand, as a nation, how healthy and necessary it is to a vital, thriving democracy.
In fact it was this passage, in the first chapter, that moved me the most:
"Maybe the critics are right...maybe the trivialization of politics has reached a point of no return, so that most people see it as just one more diversion...We paint our faces red or blue and cheer our side and boo their side, and if it takes a late hit or cheap shot to beat the other team, so be it, for winning is all that matters.
But I don't think so. They are out there, I think to myself, those ordinary citizens who have grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found a way - in their own lives, at least, to make peace with their neighbors and themselves. I imagine the white Southerener who growing up heard his dad talk about N-s this and N-s that but who has struck up a friendship with the black guys at the office and is trying to teach his own son different...or the the former Black Panther who decided to go into real estate, bought a few buildings in the neighborhood, and is just as tired of the drug dealers in front of those buildings as he is of the bankers who won't give him a loan to expand his business...
I imagine they are waiting for a politics with the maturity to balance idealism and realism, to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised, to admit the possiblity that the other side might sometimes have a point. They don't always understand the arguments between right and left, conservative and liberal, but they recognize the difference between dogma and common sense..
They are out there, waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up to them."
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Journal Entry 9 by  JerrilynnL at by mail, a bookmoocher -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Released 2 mos ago (2/29/2012 UTC) at by mail, a bookmoocher -- Controlled Releases CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
off to a bookmoocher in IN
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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
