Dreams from my Father • Non-Gaming • Books • Eurogamer.net

morriss 7 Oct 2008 12:54:04 71,293 posts
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I'm reading this at the moment as part of my studies for my thesis. I really am taken aback by just how good it is. Not because it gives an special insight into Obama, but mainly because the prose. is just so good.

Everything flows so well, no overly descriptive. Very insightful, too. I thoroughly recommend it, whether you're a fan of Obama's politics or not.

I've got Audacity of Hope to come next.

Deleted user 7 October 2008 12:59:32

There are quite a few theories around that Bill Ayers wrote it for him.

mrblackett 7 Oct 2008 13:00:59 855 posts
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I'd prefer it if it was Roy Ayers that wrote it for him.

Jeepers 7 Oct 2008 13:01:36 16,616 posts
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Or even Pam Ayres.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:03:05 71,293 posts
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Whoever wrote it, it's a damn good book.

/just got Kalel's joke

Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:05:09

morriss wrote:
Whoever wrote it, it's a damn good book.

Yeah, but if he didn’t write it then that kind of negates it being held up as an example of his intelligence and such.

Still, the whole Ayers controversy thing is pretty blatant smear. I’m sure he did write it, and yes, he’s an extremely good writer.

Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:06:05

Um...joke?

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:07:12 71,293 posts
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Oh, I thought you were joking.

And anyway, having read most of it, I don't see how Ayers could have written something that is so intrinsically personal to another individual with such clarity. So many random thoughts and idiosyncrasies are on display that Ayers would have had to basically have known Obama astonishingly well, have lived the same life, or simply made it up.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:07:56 71,293 posts
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kalel wrote:
Um...joke?

Yeah, sorry. I thought you were mucking around after the latest smear campaign. I had no idea the was a rumour of that nature.

MrWorf 7 Oct 2008 13:08:10 64,187 posts
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Quick question. Is it pronounced Ba raark or Ba rack?

StarchildHypocrethes 7 Oct 2008 13:08:42 33,974 posts
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Terrorists profitting from book sales make my blood boil.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:09:11 71,293 posts
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Ba'rak

MrWorf 7 Oct 2008 13:10:17 64,187 posts
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cheers, no wonder the lady in Waterstones chuckled at me when I said "Baraark" :/ Stupid American TV.

StarchildHypocrethes 7 Oct 2008 13:10:57 33,974 posts
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Looks like a Star Trek character

MrWorf 7 Oct 2008 13:11:54 64,187 posts
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I've never been into reading peoples memoirs but it's been a quality read so far.

Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:14:11

morriss wrote:
Oh, I thought you were joking.

And anyway, having read most of it, I don't see how Ayers could have written something that is so intrinsically personal to another individual with such clarity. So many random thoughts and idiosyncrasies are on display that Ayers would have had to basically have known Obama astonishingly well, have lived the same life, or simply made it up.

Well, ghostwriters will write with the official author. They don’t just write a book based on their own knowledge.

In most cases I think they actually rewrite the book after it’s written, and structure is properly and such,

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:14:14 71,293 posts
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So you're reading it, Razz? I really like it. Reads more like a piece of prose than a straight up biography.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:15:43 71,293 posts
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kalel wrote:

morriss wrote:
Oh, I thought you were joking.

And anyway, having read most of it, I don't see how Ayers could have written something that is so intrinsically personal to another individual with such clarity. So many random thoughts and idiosyncrasies are on display that Ayers would have had to basically have known Obama astonishingly well, have lived the same life, or simply made it up.

Well, ghostwriters will write with the official author. They don’t just write a book based on their own knowledge.

In most cases I think they actually rewrite the book after it’s written, and structure is properly and such,

Oh ok. Do you know if the same is true for Audacity of Hope? (the rumour the someone else wrote it, I mean) As if that's a noticeable difference in quality then it might lend weight to the theory.

Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:15:59

morriss wrote:
So you're reading it, Razz? I really like it. Reads more like a piece of prose than a straight up biography.

Do you mean a novel?

MrWorf 7 Oct 2008 13:16:31 64,187 posts
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I wouldn't know. It's the first non-fiction book I've read since school.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:16:36 71,293 posts
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Yeah. That's the word I was looking for.

Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:19:01

morriss wrote:
Yeah. That's the word I was looking for.

I don’t know about his other book. I think people are suspicious of the first one as it’s exceptionally well written for a first book from someone who isn’t a writer, but that’s the point really. He’s a very intelligent bloke. Bush on the other hand gets a ghostwriter in to help him with his signature.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:19:36 71,293 posts
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Razz: Read A Bound Man: Why we are excited about Obama and why he can't win next. It's written by Shelby Steele.

"Breathtakingly insightful...Anyone concerned with the endless standoff that is black-white relations in this country has a duty to read Shelby Steele" - Chicago Times.

Really has changed the way I look at myself and my inherent, white, middle-class guilt.

Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:22:00

You should also read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:23:06 71,293 posts
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Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:23:09

Gremmi wrote:
You should also read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Really has changed the way I look at myself and my inherent, white, middle-class desire to eat fruit.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:27:13 71,293 posts
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I sense I'm being mocked.

Deleted user 7 October 2008 13:38:48

Not really. Just general non-targeted mirth.

morriss 7 Oct 2008 13:41:34 71,293 posts
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I deserved it after a statement like that, anyway. Still, that Shelby Steele book is well worth a go.

Suddenly my thesis doesn't seem as overwhelming as it did a few weeks ago. Just gotta read, read, read.

craigy Staff 7 Oct 2008 13:46:13 9,500 posts
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I've read both of them. Audacity of Hope is a lot heavier on politics (since it's basically him talking about his position on a variety of subjects like the economy, education, foreign politics) and can be quite dense at times. It also demands that you know how the American political systems work.

It's great, but Dreams from my Father is much more interesting, especially the section about when he's workining in Chicago.