I read books: Audacity of Hope
I just finished (like, today; 5 hours ago) Obama’s latest book: The Audacity of Hope.
I don’t really want to do a line by line review of the book, so I’ll just give a few thoughts on it.
- I liked it.
- Obama talks about issues that affect everybody, but, at least for me, those issues entail and affect more things than I know about. Generally, the way I hear about issues is from CNN or Fox News. When it comes from those, it’s generally made to get ratings and generate anger, since that drives more ratings. Suddenly, issues become 4 or 5 competing bullet points, and the actual compromises and factors going into the decision get lost in one of Bill O’Reilly’s retarded rants. Obama calms things down a bit in his book and explains his viewpoint, without having to worry about being cut off or screamed at.
- The book covered a wide range of topics, from constitutional law to family. Even though Obama’s got an entirely different life from me, it was interesting to see parallels. From fights we’ve both had with our wives to our thoughts on free speech. What I really liked about the book, though, was that in covering different topics so thoroughly, it gave me lots of time to craft my own opinions on issues that he didn’t discuss.
- With the upcoming election, and the inevitable dinner table political discussions, I’m glad to have read it. At least I’ll know where one candidate stands on issues, and his reasoning behind it. I won’t know McCain’s underlying reasoning, but oh well, I’ll still be 50% cooler than the guy I’m talking with.
Next up: Into the Wild.