Paul

I bought this book to be entertained...and I cannot deny that it has many more laughs scattered throughout (especially the first half) than any other semi-autobiographical book I have ever read. ...but as the book goes on she spends more time reminding me I should be sorry for having a penis or rationalizing the social commentary behind her art than entertaining.

Still worth burning a credit on.....but.........

I have to admit I got this book purely to understand more about Obama's background...it did get me a good understanding of what formed the man I admire.

...I probably enjoyed the portions of the book where Obama (seemed to take great pride in masterful mimicry while he) voiced persons and situations from his past. I gotta say, there is nothing more enjoyable on audio books so far than to hear the Commander-in-Chief, most power man on earth, say: "You ain't my bitch, n****. Buy your own damn fries!" and “S***’s gettin’ way too complicated for me.” I laughed over the top of the story many times.

I am not denying I love hearing these tales....but Bryson has a meandering style of story telling which is unable to stay focused on the subject at hand. A chapter would start with a hallway mop...and end up talking about tea in China. Usually about 5 minutes into each chapter I would have no idea how any of this related to which part of the house we had been talking about - which I couldn't remember by that time either -- oh well, none the less each tale was a jewel on its own.