An extract from the preface to Barack Obama's first book "Dreams from my Father", in which he pays tribute to his mother Ann Dunham. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama [Audiobook CD] In this 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; then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father's life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Obama's second book: The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama In The Audacity of Hope he draws on his experience as a senator and lawyer, a professor and father, a Christian and a skeptic, to illuminate the greatness of America's original ideals and to remind us how vital it is to keep them before us. Along the way he explores such charged topics as globalization, the notion of American exceptionalism, the function of religion in public life, and the struggle to find a shared language in a nation torn by differences. While sharing his personal views on family, faith, and values, he argues that our very survival depends on finding common ground. . . Keywords: Obama Barack Hillary Clinton Bush democrat republican republicans liberal liberals conservative caucus primary primaries election 08 2008 vote votes news super duper tuesday poll result win victory florida california texas ohio hawaii speech president presidential fox cnn cbs nbc abc msnbc political politics commentary