A Singular Woman
The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
A Singular Woman
Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
January LaVoy
-
By:
-
Janny Scott
About this listen
A major publishing event: an unprecedented look into the life of the woman who most singularly shaped Barack Obama: his mother.
President Obama has written extensively about his father, but little is known about Stanley Ann Dunham, the fiercely independent woman who raised him, the person he credits for, as he says, "what is best in me." Here is the missing piece of the story. Award-winning reporter Janny Scott interviewed nearly 200 of Dunham's friends, colleagues, and relatives (including both her children), and combed through boxes of personal and professional papers, letters to friends, and photo albums, to uncover the full breadth of this woman's inspiring and untraditional life, and to show the remarkable extent to which she shaped the man Obama is today.
Dunham's story moves from Kansas and Washington state to Hawaii and Indonesia. It begins in a time when interracial marriage was still a felony in much of the United States, and culminates in the present, with her son as our president - something she never got to see. It is a poignant look at how character is passed from parent to child, and offers insight into how Obama's destiny was created early, by his mother's extraordinary faith in his gifts and by her unconventional mothering. Finally, it is a heartbreaking story of a woman who died at age 52, before her son would go on to his greatest accomplishments and reflections of what she taught him.
©2011 Janny Scott (P)2011 PenguinListeners also enjoyed...
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,162
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,848
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,845
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Dreams from My Father
- A Story of Race and Inheritance
- By: Barack Obama
- Narrated by: Barack Obama
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 593
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 513
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 509
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a Black African father and a White American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a Black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father - a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man - has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey - first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Powerful
- By Gene R. on 10-26-21
By: Barack Obama
-
The Breach
- The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th
- By: Denver Riggleman, Hunter Walker - contributor
- Narrated by: Denver Riggleman
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 342
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 339
In The Breach, a former House Republican and the first member of Congress to sound the alarm about QAnon, Denver Riggleman, provides listeners with an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the January 6th select committee’s investigation. With unique insights from within the far-right movement and from the front lines of the courageous team investigating it, Riggleman shows how our democracy is balanced on a knife’s edge between disinformation and truth.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Extremely important book by a Former Republican Congressman
- By Steven Hassan PhD on 09-29-22
By: Denver Riggleman, and others
-
Up Home
- One Girl's Journey
- By: Ruth J. Simmons
- Narrated by: Ruth J. Simmons
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 112
Born in 1945, Ruth J. Simmons grew up the twelfth child of sharecroppers. Her first home had no running water, no electricity, no books to read. Yet despite this—or, in her words, because of it—Simmons would become the first Black president of an Ivy League university. The former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M, Texas’s oldest HBCU, Simmons has inspired generations of students as she herself made history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Inspiring memoir
- By S. Fox on 04-13-25
By: Ruth J. Simmons
-
Open
- An Autobiography
- By: Andre Agassi
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,916
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,618
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,601
From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography. Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just an Incredible Story!
- By Patrick on 12-13-09
By: Andre Agassi
-
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- A Novel
- By: Haruki Murakami
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 26 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,553
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,940
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,938
In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat—and then for his wife as well—in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists. Gripping, prophetic, and suffused with comedy and menace, this is one of Haruki Murakami’s most acclaimed and beloved novels.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book, flawed narration.
- By REBECCA on 02-08-14
By: Haruki Murakami
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,162
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,848
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,845
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Dreams from My Father
- A Story of Race and Inheritance
- By: Barack Obama
- Narrated by: Barack Obama
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 593
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 513
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 509
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a Black African father and a White American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a Black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father - a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man - has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey - first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Powerful
- By Gene R. on 10-26-21
By: Barack Obama
-
The Breach
- The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th
- By: Denver Riggleman, Hunter Walker - contributor
- Narrated by: Denver Riggleman
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 342
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 339
In The Breach, a former House Republican and the first member of Congress to sound the alarm about QAnon, Denver Riggleman, provides listeners with an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the January 6th select committee’s investigation. With unique insights from within the far-right movement and from the front lines of the courageous team investigating it, Riggleman shows how our democracy is balanced on a knife’s edge between disinformation and truth.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Extremely important book by a Former Republican Congressman
- By Steven Hassan PhD on 09-29-22
By: Denver Riggleman, and others
-
Up Home
- One Girl's Journey
- By: Ruth J. Simmons
- Narrated by: Ruth J. Simmons
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 112
Born in 1945, Ruth J. Simmons grew up the twelfth child of sharecroppers. Her first home had no running water, no electricity, no books to read. Yet despite this—or, in her words, because of it—Simmons would become the first Black president of an Ivy League university. The former president of Smith College, Brown University, and Prairie View A&M, Texas’s oldest HBCU, Simmons has inspired generations of students as she herself made history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Inspiring memoir
- By S. Fox on 04-13-25
By: Ruth J. Simmons
-
Open
- An Autobiography
- By: Andre Agassi
- Narrated by: Erik Davies
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,916
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,618
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6,601
From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography. Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match and every relationship. Never before has the inner game of tennis and the outer game of fame been so precisely limned. In clear, taut prose, Agassi evokes his loyal brother, his wise coach, his gentle trainer, all the people who help him regain his balance and find love at last with Stefanie Graf.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Just an Incredible Story!
- By Patrick on 12-13-09
By: Andre Agassi
-
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- A Novel
- By: Haruki Murakami
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 26 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,553
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,940
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,938
In a Tokyo suburb, a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife’s missing cat—and then for his wife as well—in a netherworld beneath the city’s placid surface. As these searches intersect, he encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists. Gripping, prophetic, and suffused with comedy and menace, this is one of Haruki Murakami’s most acclaimed and beloved novels.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful book, flawed narration.
- By REBECCA on 02-08-14
By: Haruki Murakami
-
Eliza Hamilton
- The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton
- By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 374
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 340
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 338
Fans fell in love with Eliza Hamilton - Alexander Hamilton’s devoted wife - in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s phenomenal musical Hamilton. But they don’t know her full story. A strong pioneer woman, a loving sister, a caring mother, and, in her later years, a generous philanthropist, Eliza had many sides - and this fascinating biography brings her multifaceted personality to vivid life.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Eliza Deserves Better
- By jmn89 on 12-20-19
By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
-
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- By: Rebecca Skloot
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16,796
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13,779
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13,818
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells - taken without her knowledge - became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Secret Life of an American Cancer Cell
- By Cynthia on 08-10-13
By: Rebecca Skloot
-
The Color of Water
- A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
- By: James McBride
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Susan Denaker
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,941
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,572
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,569
Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her ethnicity, yet steadfast in her love for her 12 Black children. James McBride, journalist, musician, and son, explores his mother's past, as well as his own upbringing and heritage, in a poignant and powerful debut, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Michael on 05-30-17
By: James McBride
-
Vanderbilt
- The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,920
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,140
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,113
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty - his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Approach to a Well Known History
- By HistoryNerd on 09-24-21
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
America's First Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,954
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,046
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,011
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, best-selling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph - a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Story Great Narration
- By MissSusie66 on 03-30-16
By: Stephanie Dray, and others
-
The Namesake
- By: Jhumpa Lahiri
- Narrated by: Sarita Choudhury
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,957
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,998
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,002
The Namesake follows the Ganguli family through its journey from Calcutta to Cambridge to the Boston suburbs. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My favorite book - in print and audio
- By Diana - Audible on 04-16-12
By: Jhumpa Lahiri
-
The Feminine Mystique
- By: Betty Friedan
- Narrated by: Parker Posey
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,067
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 926
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 918
The book that changed the consciousness of a country - and the world. Landmark, groundbreaking, classic - these adjectives barely describe the earthshaking and long-lasting effects of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. This is the book that defined "the problem that has no name", that launched the Second Wave of the feminist movement, and has been awakening women and men with its insights into social relations, which still remain fresh, ever since.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A landmark book of its time and relevant now
- By Anthony on 01-23-15
By: Betty Friedan
-
The Aviator's Wife
- A Novel
- By: Melanie Benjamin
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,900
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,651
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,667
For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Megalomaniac's Wife
- By Audrey on 01-19-13
By: Melanie Benjamin
-
Confucius Never Said
- By: Helen Raleigh
- Narrated by: Helen Raleigh
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 27
This book is a four-generation family journey from repression and poverty in China to freedom and prosperity in the United States. Their lives overlap with many significant historical events taking....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wake up America
- By K and J on 12-14-19
By: Helen Raleigh
-
Clementine
- The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,488
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,326
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,311
By Winston Churchill's own admission, victory in the Second World War would have been "impossible without her". Until now, however, the only existing biography of Churchill's wife, Clementine, was written by her daughter. Sonia Purnell finally gives Clementine her due with a deeply researched account that tells her life story, revealing how she was instrumental in softening FDR's initial dislike of her husband and paving the way for Britain's close relationship with America.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Exasperating At Times But Very Good--
- By Gillian on 04-09-18
By: Sonia Purnell
-
Extraordinary, Ordinary People
- A Memoir of Family
- By: Condoleezza Rice
- Narrated by: Condoleezza Rice
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 561
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 425
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 424
This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl - and a young woman - trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world, and of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community, that made all the difference.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fabulous!
- By Steve on 03-03-11
By: Condoleezza Rice
-
Prairie Fires
- The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
- By: Caroline Fraser
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 21 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,224
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,098
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,096
Millions of fans of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls - the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books. But the true story of her life has never been fully told. Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Don’t read if you don’t want your fond memories...
- By NMwritergal on 11-24-17
By: Caroline Fraser
What listeners say about A Singular Woman
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Barb
- 04-16-19
The title of the book may well have been, “An Exceptional Woman”
The woman in the story was an exceptional woman but you had to dig deep to find her. The beginning of the book read like an org chart or who begat whom. The rest of it was pretty academic until the last couple of chapters where the characters were fleshed out, including emotions, & became real. In the end, it would seem that Obama did not appreciate who his mother was until he no longer had her. Given the life she chose away from him, this is understandable. Still, she was a good woman and he is a good man .. no accident there.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- maggie rose
- 05-04-11
singularity can be a virtue
i have only just purchased this audiobook and am looking forward to listening to it. remarkable women are always worth hearing about. thanks to audible dot com for getting this book to us.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jacki Carton
- 04-18-16
A PhD in Anthropology?!
I had no idea how educated Barack Obama's mother was. A PhD in Anthropology no less. What an amazing woman. Unconventional, intellectual and dedicated to improving the plight of poor women, especially in Indonesia. I knew she was born in Kansas and died of cancer in her fifties. She was so much more and now I know. And she has an amazing daughter, Maya.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Margo P
- 10-27-12
Amazing story about an amazing woman
Would you listen to A Singular Woman again? Why?
Yes, I may listen to it again. The story was fascinating about a woman born before WWII who manages against many odds to make a career in a male field while raising two bi racial children in racist countries.
It is also an Americana story, life in Kansas and how people move about the country.
And it tells us a lot about Barack Obama and how he got to be who he is? Want to know Barack Obama? Forget D-nish's projections. Read this book
What other book might you compare A Singular Woman to and why?
As an American story about a singular person it reminded me of Ron Reagan's My Father At 100. I enjoyed them both and gained a lot of insight.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, too long, although I would listen to it going from North Carolina to New Jersey. It would make the time fly.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
- caithriana
- 05-14-11
Infinite star person, noble book effort, ok audio
Hopefully this woman's story will continue to be told in this and in other ways that capture her drive, romanticism and love of people and culture from different nations. I would welcome a different audible reading that is slower with pauses that allow more time to capture the spirit - her spirit, her expansive world's spirit, at the special moments, of which there are many, articulated in this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Pat
- 07-13-11
"Always on the outside looking in"
J. Scott's research pieces the details of S. Ann Dunham's life. Her life as a caring, loving mother to two inter-racial children; her hardships as a single mother with an inter-racial child growing up in the 60's in Hawaii & Indonesia; and her devoted research as an anthropologist working in Indonesia. No matter your politics, this is an interesting account of Ann's life that ultimately affected the world and basically changed history. The book has alot of detail about Indonesia and gets technical at times. As a daughter of an Italian mother who left her entire family to move to the US, I remained intrigued by Ann's need to always go back to Indonesia and somehow live a life as someone on the outside looking in.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sharlotte
- 06-09-18
Way too long!
I realize the author did a lot of research and wanted to share it all; however, at some point there should be discrimination over what the reader must wade through. This is the perfect example of far too many details and a real need of editing!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Kathleen McDonald
- 06-07-11
A Remarkable Woman
Having traveled throughout Indonesia, while paying special attention to cultural aspects of the people (funeral celebrations and so forth) and buying my fair share of local handicrafts, I was thoroughly delighted with this book. I was so impressed with Janny Scott's investigative reporting on Ann Dunham's intellect, interests, travels and anthropology studies that I just bought a copy of Dunham's doctoral thesis, "Surviving Against the Odds". While she may not have been the perfect parent, Ms. Dunham instilled superior values in her two children who have excelled beyond the expectations of most parents for their offspring. The interviews with her children were particularly enlightening and enjoyable. I highly recommend this book. It ended far too soon for me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Juno Tzu
- 06-11-23
Redundant story
Singular might reference Ann Dunham thinking primarily of herself. She does work she passionately supports, to the exclusion of much else. Her work helped women in developing countries, though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- darswords
- 10-11-11
What a Woman!
What a woman! I was very impressed with this book. I do not usually read non-fiction. But this was the first book available for Kindle from my local library. I downloaded the Audible version to help hold my attention to the text.
If there were any books that could bring the plight of women to light it is this book. Here we have a woman who had family who were college educated and encouraged their offspring to seek the highest education possible. This woman went to Indonesia to study the poor, especially the women.
Don't think about this book as an extension of the President. She was her own person even before her son was born. It seems she had all the breaks, got to travel and all, but she had the courage of her convictions and goals to help others.
I think many women who read this will see a part of themselves reflected back. Had my mother had the opportunity that Stanley Ann Durham had I think she would have been a happier person. Having a happy, well define parent could only result in happy, well defined children.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful