Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
Whether he was trying to keep busy after leaving the oval office or just hoping to give people some insights about his life at the White House, former President Barack Obama has recently announced his upcoming book – A Promised Land. Here comes the good news if you think you will end up craving for more – this is only half the story. The former politician has disclosed plans for a second book as well.
The book has been scheduled for November. There are 768 pages to keep you busy for a while. In the attempt to avoid affecting the upcoming elections in the USA, the former President has decided to release his book on the 17th of November. You can already find a few parts of it over the Internet – just some hints about what to expect.
Now, what else should you know about this book? Are there any highlights? Anything spicy to keep you going? All in all, here are the main things you should know about Barack Obama’s upcoming memoir.
This is not his first book
What most people do not know is that Barack Obama is not at his first writing venture. He was not just a prolific politician appreciated all over the world for his sense of humor, style and elegance. He was also a writer way before he became the President of the USA.
His first book – Dreams From My Father – came out in 1995. It was released by Times Books – Peter Osnos. Prior to this venture, Barack Obama had a contract with Simon & Schuster. However, he took too long to finish the book, so the contract was canceled.
Peter Osnos saw this cancellation as a great opportunity. He took the contract over and even paid $40,000 in advance for it. The result? Astonishing. Before he knew it, the contract was worth $65 million – an incredible loss from Simon & Schuster and an amazing deal for Times Books.
Dreams From My Father sold over 3.3 million units only in the USA and Canada.
Another famous release from Barack Obama came out in 2006. The Audacity Of Hope was a hit and sold over 4.2 million copies. Obama narrated the audio version of it and turned it into an international success. He even won a Grammy for it.
Just like you have probably guessed already, he will also read the audio version of his upcoming book A Promised Land. Regarding the second part of this memoir, there are no official dates yet.
He talks about his relationship with Michelle Obama
While the book will mostly cover Obama’s years at the White House, his relationship with Michelle Obama is just as important. In fact, she has always been a very appreciated figure, whether it came to her elegance, style or fashion.
The pair has been together for around three decades – they married in 1992. They have two daughters – Malia and Sasha – and their marriage seems to be perfect. According to the author, it was not just him who took a journey while being the most powerful person in the world. His wife tagged along and enjoyed the experience just as much.
He provides some ideas about the future and the past
The book aims to describe Barack Obama’s vision about a better world. It describes some of his ideas and plans for the USA – things that he still tries to push forward. According to his own words, the country goes through an enormous challenge, while the upcoming elections are some of the most important events in the modern history.
He mentions a few ideas about how to clear out and heal the divisions throughout the country, only to make democracy a plan for everyone. He agrees that there is no better way to move forward as a country. Furthermore, this task is not just the president’s, but also the citizens’.
Ex-president Obama takes the readers through the oval office, as well as a few international destinations. Readers will tag along to Beijing, Moscow or Cairo. You will learn more about how he tackled the global financial crisis or dealt with Vladimir Putin. Some of his challenges include the clash with generals regarding the war tactics in Afghanistan, the Affordable Care Act, the Wall Street reform or the Deepwater Horizon blowout.
Those who are eager to find out more about Osama Bin Laden’s death will get a fair amount of details too, yet the author still leaves a series of secrets behind.
He wrote and edited the book himself
If you read other memoirs before, you are probably aware of how it works. Someone famous grabs a collaborator to interview them. The collaborator will then write or at least correct most of the story, only to make it more appealing and interesting.
Barack Obama has some experience from a few other projects. Instead of relying on a ghostwriter, the former President has decided to write the first draft himself. Classic! He grabbed a pen, some paper and go to work.
He did not even hire a professional for the editing part. Instead, he started typing it himself into his computer – just part of a personal editing process. The book is 100% natural and authentic. There are no fancy words and tricks to make the book more exciting. Instead, you can go through it and almost read it in the former President’s voice, with his classic sense of humor.
Perhaps this is why it took him so long to deliver his first book.
Chances are the second volume will follow the same steps, but Mr. Obama claims he has not started working on it yet. All in all, the first volume has been printed in three million copies. You can preorder it, but the official release date is on the 17th of November.
His wife has already released her memoir
Obama’s wife has already released a memoir back in 2018. Michelle Obama’s Becoming is described to be a personal experience regarding her years at the White House, with a few glimpses from her past as well. She discussed her first years, as well as how she found her vision.
Michelle Obama has also talked about her family life and her role as a mother of two. The book came out in 24 different languages. She sold over 1.4 million copies in the first week. In fact, her memoir became the best selling book in the USA – it broke the record after a couple of weeks only.
The author donated a million copies to First Book, a local nonprofit that helps children. Based on the couple’s success in writing, it is pretty obvious they know a few things about this industry. In other words, Barack Obama’s upcoming book is expected to be a major success as well – probably even better than the previous books.
He included both private and public pictures
Apart from the nearly 800 pages, Barack Obama’s A Promised Land also comes with a couple of inserts. Each insert has 17 different pages with both private and public pictures – most of them from his years at the White House, of course.
Photos are full color and help the author describe certain aspects of his life in a more efficient manner.
He chose to release the book after the elections
Generally speaking, Barack Obama chose the 17th of November for his new book – soon after the 2020 elections for the presidency. There are a few reasons wherefore he chose this date.
First of all, he did not want to influence the elections. He believes releasing a book about his vision would affect the final results. After all, he was one of the most appreciated presidents in the world. While one of the main candidates shares the same vision, the other does not. It would not have been a fair fight.
Second – and more importantly, Barack Obama supports Joseph R.. Biden Jr. for the presidency. According to the former President’s spokeswoman, he did not want to discuss his book, publishing ideas and marketing plans during the campaign. He believes this campaign is extremely important and the next president will have plenty of work to do.
Simply put, he wanted to focus on helping his vice president campaign without having any distractions whatsoever.
Conclusion
As a short final conclusion, Barack Obama’s A Promised Land comes out on the 17th of November and you can already preorder it. The book has been printed in three million copies. Chances are you will find it in every bookstore once it comes out, so there is not much to be concerned about.
At this point, it is interesting to see who the new President of the USA will be – an aspect that will most likely be discussed in the second chapter of Obama’s memoir. While he did not even start working on it, it is pretty obvious that the presidential campaign these days will be analyzed in the upcoming chapter.