Clearly, Bruce did not carefully read Dreams from My Father. Otherwise, he would have realized that the book was reflection of the journey Barack took while growing up as a biracial kid in Hawaii, Indonesia, and later on, as an adult in LA (Occidental College), New York City (Columbia and after), and Chicago. It may come as a shock, but many biracial kids (and African American kids for that matter, particularly those who have grown up in an all-white environment) have a tough time reconciling the fact they are viewed strictly by their “race” by the larger society. Thus many take a personal journey to find where they best fit in that larger society.
And if Bruce carefully read the book, he would have further realized that by the end of it Barack understood that his Dad was not someone to be idolized as he imagined as a young boy. Barack’s opinion of his father evolved as he got older; from a young kid who really only knew his Dad through great stories as told him by numerous people in Hawaii, to a younger man who could see through the fa√ßade and clearly see his father’s many flaws. Take the book for what it is/was: a personal narrative of a person’s life story to that point. But based on the comments posted, I doubt many of the commentators have the intellectual-wherewithal to figure it out.
