The Bridge

I’ve read quite a number of books about Obama, from the ones that were available during the 2008 campaign like David Mendell’s “Obama: from Promise to Power” to the ones covering his first year in office like Richard Wolffe’s “Revival”, Bob Woodward’s “Obama’s Wars” and Jonathon Alter’s “The Promise”, not to mention Obama’s two books. I list these books to brag but rather to show how David Remnick’s book “The Bridge” is different.
Even though Remnick’s book goes through all the events of Obama’s life like any biography would, it offers an analytical look into those events. It reviews Obama’s first book and tries to look into the author’s intentions sometimes. It’s a little skeptic on some aspects of the author memories of certain events. Maybe my focus on this analytical look is because I’ve read an Obama biography before, but I think it’s also because it’s the intention of Remnick who chooses to cover the 2008 campaign in its relation to Race rather than cover the day to day events or uncover new secrets like “Game Change” does for example.
However, the book does shed some light on events that weren’t covered in other biographies of Obama like this time in Hawaii, the story of his mother, the process of selecting him as president of the Harvard Law Review, and other.
One thing I like about “The Bridge” is the dive into the history of other characters that affects Obama’s life even in indirect ways. The election of Harold Washington as Mayor of Chicago is a good example. Also, I liked the review of Obama’s performance as a Law Professor, it’s a good indication of how thinks.
I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator does a good job at changing voices to reflect the different characters participating in any dialog. He’s at good pace and made following a 20+ hours books easy.
“The Bridge” is a good biography of Obama whether you already read another biography or not. Hope you enjoy it too.
Watch David Remnick on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart interviewed about the book.