An Obama's Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery across Three Cultures - Hardcover

Ndesandjo, Mark Obama

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1493007513 ISBN 13: 9781493007516

Publisher: Lyons Press, 2014

Synopsis

In this revealing and beautifully written memoir, Mark Obama Ndesandjo, recounts his complex relationship with his older half-brother, President Barack Obama, including their first meeting in Kenya over twenty years ago. The book also offers the author's inspiring personal story about identity and multiculturalism. Rare family photos add to the book's personal nature as does the intense recounting of domestic violence in the home of Barack Obama Sr.’s  and his third wife, Ruth Baker, Mark’s Jewish-American mother. 
The book also attempts to set the records straight on several points of the president’s best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father. In its connection to President Obama, Mark's story takes on an even greater significance because it becomes all the more directly, a story of American identity and a window into the complex figure of the father they share, Barack Obama Sr., their roots in Kenya, their multicultural identities, and their relationships with America. 

About this title

About the Author:

Born in Kenya and a twelve year resident of Shenzhen, People's Republic of China, Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo is an accomplished pianist, writer, artist and businessman. He has a BSc. Physics rom Brown University, an MSc Physics from Stanford and is an Emory EMBA graduate. He consults worldwide, using over 15 years of telecommunications and international marketing and branding experience gained as a senior manager at Lucent, Nortel and other companies. He is an HSK L7 (advanced) Mandarin speaker and writer, and an avid brush calligrapher. In addition to his first book the novel Nairobi to Shenzhen, he has published 3 piano CDs, The Untimely Ones, Night Moods and his own composition Reflections on William Blake.
His current projects include a translation of Tang Dynasty poems. He regularly gives piano lessons to orphans in and around Shenzhen. Mr. Obama Ndesandjo has been appointed Volunteer Image Ambassador and Special Olympics Image Ambassador by China. Recently he established the Mark Obama Ndesandjo Foundation Ltd for cultural exchange, which brings art to youth and the disadvantaged. He lives in Shenzhen, China. http://www.markobamandesandjo.com/

Review:

An Obama's Journey is a jaw-dropping memoir which casts a pall not only over Barack, Sr. but over Barack as well. . . .Lucky for us, the author happens to be blessed with a refreshingly-unguarded honest and introspective nature which in combination with a wonderful way with words add up to a must-read regardless of how you feel about his very famous sibling. (Tennessee Tribune)

"It is fascinating in its own right, a riveting transcontinental tale of survival, accomplishment, adjustment, transformation and, ultimately, triumph taking the reader from Africa to America to China and back."-Kam Williams, syndicated book and film critic
“The book is captivating. It gave me new insights into Mark’s life with his half-brother, President Barack Obama, as well as the limited time that he had with his father, Barack Obama Sr. This book is a compelling read for those who are very interested in learning more about President Obama and his family, as well as the work Mark has done...[Mark] is a remarkable person. When you read this book, you’ll get a good sense of him, of the family history, and for his commitment to justice and equality.”
- Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard University, and founding and executive director of Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
“An Obama’s Journey is a touching story of one man’s transnational search for identity, cultural understanding, and forgiveness. It’s a riveting, stunningly honest read that transcends being the biography of the president’s half-brother; from his early years in Kenya to his coming of age in the United States and final passage to China, Mark Obama has a remarkable tale to tell in his own right.”
—Jenni Marsh, South China Morning Post

"With gut-wrenching honesty, Mark Obama Ndesandjo exorcises demons from his past while delicately balancing diverse cultures that straddle three continents. His candor covers failures, successes, racism, a scandal or two, musical joys, charitable pleasures, and amazement at watching from a distance as his rival sibling performed political miracles."
— John Cairns, author of All Aboard! Planet Expat

“Like any great autobiography, this book is about more than a person. It is about humanity and relationships and holds lessons for all to learn. I enjoyed reading the full and nuanced description of Africa’s beauty and savagery and about its curiously admirable indifference. Mark captures the heady days before the tech bubble in America, and lands in China just in time to witness the vibrant new life the Chinese are creating for themselves. The scenes where he meets Barack crackle with electricity. Their evolving friendship is fascinating to watch. Masterly writing, with poignant anecdotes and insightful, quotable thoughts, yet is cohesive with breathtaking transitions.”
—Fritz Galt, author of China Gate

About this edition

• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1493007513
• ISBN 13: 9781493007516
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 392