In the first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama talks about how he went from being a deprived teenager to being the most loved leader of the world. He talks about his historic first term. From his early interest in politics to his election as the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American to do so on November 4, 2008, Obama took me on a political journey. While describing his this journey, he actually emphasizes on the "journey" part of it. Obama took me to places like Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, the Oval Office, and the Situation Room. I heared his deepest thoughts as he chooses his cabinet, deals with the global financial crisis, judges Vladimir Putin, gets the Affordable Care Act passed despite strong opposition, talks with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tries to change Wall Street, deals with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and gives green signal to the raid that kills Osama bin Laden.

Obama is aware of the moral problems that come with high-stakes actions and of the hopes of a generation that grew up with the slogan "hope and change." He was honest to me; about his self-doubt, disappointment, and the things he did, both right and the wrong ones. This is what I loved about the book. The sheer transparency of it; the honesty of it.

Obama claims that writing a book was “hardly a financial plan” and the book delivers the message pretty well. Besides, a president does not need to earn financial stability through a book duh! If he wants, that's a different discussion. Rating the book is tough as it only shows one side of the coin from one man's perspective. It does not talk about the American hegemony; neither it mentions its cruel past. This is one lacking I though Obama could have touched on pretty well I felt.

Barack Obama is definitely a knowledgeable writer. His sentences and large array of opinions and analysis give his stories of bureaucratic fights and boring senate sessions imagery and life. His imagination and conveying those through words were clear, prompt and convincing. Overall, I loved reading A Promised Land, and appreciate Mr. Barack Obama for his honest writing.