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Title details for A Singular Woman by Janny Scott - Available

A Singular Woman

by Janny Scott
January LaVoy
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
The New York Times bestseller-an unprecedented look into the life and character of the woman who raised a president.

Barack Obama has written extensively about his father but credited his mother for "what is best in me." Still, little is known about this fiercely independent, spirited woman who raised the man who became the first biracial president of the United States. This book is that story.

In A Singular Woman, award-winning New York Times reporter Janny Scott tells the story of this unique woman, Stanley Ann Dunham, who broke many of the rules of her time, and shows how her fierce example helped influence the future president-and can serve as an inspiration to us all.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 3, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781101978276
      • File size: 296948 KB
      • Duration: 10:18:38

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      President Obama's mother, Stanley Anne Dunham, was a champion of the unconventional, blasting through social mores across two hemispheres. NEW YORK TIMES journalist January Scott combs every possible correspondence, photograph, professional paper, and interview to elucidate the mother of President Obama. Still, tackling a biography of a person who was never a public figure is difficult. The second half of the book sounds at times like a fleshed-out resume. Narrator January LaVoy helps make the book engaging with an astonishingly fast-paced narration that manages to be clear as well. At times, she speed-talks, a welcome approach for audiobook listeners, who lack the ability to skim for the good stuff. J.T. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 2, 2011
      The mother of a path-breaking politician was a quiet revolutionary in her own right, according to this vibrant biography. Former New York Times reporter Scott paints Stanley Ann Dunham (1942â1995) as a study in unconventionality: a white woman who entered an inter-racial marriage at a time when they were illegal in many states; bore a son at 18; became an expatriate who thrived in the alien culture of Indonesia after her divorce from Obama's father. In Indonesia, she remarried and bore a daughter but ultimately became a single mother who forged a significant career as an anthropologist and economic-development expert. Drawing on Dunham's personal and professional writings and reminiscences by friends, colleagues, and the president and his half-sister, the author sensitively portrays a woman of both the warm sociability and charisma and a sharp, strong-willed and sometimes prickly intellect. Scott links Dunham to her son's commitment to community organizing and public service and to her own mother's pioneering success as a banker. But what is most striking in this account is how much Dunham was her own woman, determined to follow a wandering star despite personal setbacks and social disapproval. Scott gives us a vivid, affecting profile of an unsung feminist pioneer who made breaking down barriers a family tradition and whose legacy extends well beyond her presidential son. Photos.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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