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امرأة متفردة: القصة غير المروية عن والدة باراك أوباما
ŷ Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2011)لم يكشف وصف الرئيس أوباما لأمه في مؤتمر الحزب الديمقراطي عام ٢٠٠٨ بأنها «عالمة أنثروبولوجيا من ولاية كانساس»، وبأنها «امرأة عزباء تتلقى المعونة الغذائية من الحكومة»، وبأنها «المرأة التي ماتت بمرض السرطان أثناء صراعها مع شركة التأمين في نهاية حياتها» —ع� هويتها الحقيقية، أو عن الحياة غير التقليدية التي عاشتها، أو الأثر الذي تركته بالرئيس المستقبلي للولايات المتحدة.
في هذا الكتاب، تقتفي جاني سكوت أثر حياة ستانلي آن دونام الغامضة ونشأتها وزواجها من رجلين من عرقين مختلفين وحياتها في إندونيسيا أكثر من نصف عمرها كراشدة، وسط ثقافة عتيقة ومعقدة، في بلد به أكبر تعداد سكاني للمسلمين في العالم. كذلك تتناول تربيتها طفلين من والدين من عرقين مختلفين كامرأة عاملة وعزباء أغلب الوقت. عشقت ستانلي آن ابنها وابنتها وآمنت أن ابنها على وجه الخصوص يملك قدرات تؤهله لأن يصير عظيم الشأن، وربته ليصير � كما قال هو مازحًا � مزيجًا من ألبرت أينشتاين وماهاتما غاندي وهاري بيلافونت، ثم ماتت في الثانية والخمسين من عمرها، ولم تعلم قط ما سيصل إليه. يقول أوباما إن الفضل يعود إلى أمه في القيم والمبادئ التي قادته إلى المسار الذي سلكه بعد ذلك.
في هذا الكتاب، تقتفي جاني سكوت أثر حياة ستانلي آن دونام الغامضة ونشأتها وزواجها من رجلين من عرقين مختلفين وحياتها في إندونيسيا أكثر من نصف عمرها كراشدة، وسط ثقافة عتيقة ومعقدة، في بلد به أكبر تعداد سكاني للمسلمين في العالم. كذلك تتناول تربيتها طفلين من والدين من عرقين مختلفين كامرأة عاملة وعزباء أغلب الوقت. عشقت ستانلي آن ابنها وابنتها وآمنت أن ابنها على وجه الخصوص يملك قدرات تؤهله لأن يصير عظيم الشأن، وربته ليصير � كما قال هو مازحًا � مزيجًا من ألبرت أينشتاين وماهاتما غاندي وهاري بيلافونت، ثم ماتت في الثانية والخمسين من عمرها، ولم تعلم قط ما سيصل إليه. يقول أوباما إن الفضل يعود إلى أمه في القيم والمبادئ التي قادته إلى المسار الذي سلكه بعد ذلك.
332 pages, ebook
First published April 25, 2011
162 people are currently reading
2,889 people want to read
About the author
Janny Scott
4books30followersJanny Scott is the author of "The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, and the Story of My Father" (April 16, 2019) and "A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother." She was a reporter for The New York Times from 1994 to 2008 and was a member of the Times reporting team that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for the series "How Race is Lived in America." She was previously a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey. Her first book, a New York Times bestseller, was the runner up for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography and one of Time magazine's top ten nonfiction books of 2011. She is a graduate of Harvard College and lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 278 reviews
November 25, 2012
The theme of this biography of Barack Obama's mother is that she was more complex, more interesting and had more depth than the various different perceptions that people have of her today. The book succeeds in that goal, her work in her anthropology studies in Indonesia and her later work with the banking community in providing credit to rural women in 3rd world copies anticipated the development of the microcredit movement.
The author, Jenny Scott, also writes of Obama's mother early life including background of her parents' lives; my favorite chapter may have been her high school years in Mercer Island. She also addresses how Obama's mother changed her first name throughout her life and resolves the issue for the biography by referring to her by the name that she used during the time of her life the biography was looking at the time
Scott also addresses the big issue, Obama's mother's decision to send Barack to Hawaii at age 13 to be with his grandparents and go to school while she returned to Indonesia to work in anthropology. Scott is sympathetic on this issue, she argues that she her professional opportunities were limited by staying in Hawaii and that Obama's educational opportunities would be limited if he went back to Indonesia. Still, I was somewhat unconvinced especially as you read of her some of her travels during that time, there were times it appeared that she chose to make personal travels instead of going to Hawaii to see her son in his high school years.
I finished the book feeling that while I learned about Obama's mother, I did not feel that I "knew" her the way I usually do after reading a biography. I think this is because the biography often felt like a long newspaper article instead of a biography, which of course is consistent with the book starting out as a series of long articles for the New York Times
The author, Jenny Scott, also writes of Obama's mother early life including background of her parents' lives; my favorite chapter may have been her high school years in Mercer Island. She also addresses how Obama's mother changed her first name throughout her life and resolves the issue for the biography by referring to her by the name that she used during the time of her life the biography was looking at the time
Scott also addresses the big issue, Obama's mother's decision to send Barack to Hawaii at age 13 to be with his grandparents and go to school while she returned to Indonesia to work in anthropology. Scott is sympathetic on this issue, she argues that she her professional opportunities were limited by staying in Hawaii and that Obama's educational opportunities would be limited if he went back to Indonesia. Still, I was somewhat unconvinced especially as you read of her some of her travels during that time, there were times it appeared that she chose to make personal travels instead of going to Hawaii to see her son in his high school years.
I finished the book feeling that while I learned about Obama's mother, I did not feel that I "knew" her the way I usually do after reading a biography. I think this is because the biography often felt like a long newspaper article instead of a biography, which of course is consistent with the book starting out as a series of long articles for the New York Times
May 28, 2015
The author warns the reader that if they are looking for a book about Barack Obama and his mother this is not it. And won’t the majority of readers pick this book up out of curiosity about their relationship and what led his mother to Indonesia and why Barack was raised as much by his maternal grandparents as he was by his mother? Of course we will. Other books will undoubtedly address that issue more thoroughly. But this important book lays the groundwork for not yet written biographies of President Obama by examining his mother’s life and anthropological work.
In fact, I will say that it takes an interest in anthropology and public affairs to appreciate this book and its intent. It would also be of interest in women’s studies and feminism. For that is the substance of who Stanley Ann Dunham was. She married an Indonesian man, but her studies and work always came first � for herself and for her children. Though I, a layman, felt bogged down by the technicalities of her studies, by the end of the book I felt like I knew her very well. The author could hardly have been less thorough in interviewing people who had known her.
Ironically, the most difficult source work surrounded her family and ancestors. Though extensive in tracing her lineage, there was little to no written record and few alive or willing to be interviewed. And even then the author ran into admittedly unreliable information.
Even her young adult years in Hawaii and how she came to meet Obama Sr. and bear his child is largely unknown. But once her college years are done and she begins her fieldwork in Indonesia the book plumps up. And what she accomplished and how her personality shaped her ability to become as Indonesian as a western woman possibly could is highly admirable. This is a laudatory biography. But somehow it feels okay because she was so human and humane.
Unfortunately, I was not the best audience for this book. I highly recommend it to students interested in the above mentioned fields. I just too frequently had to push my way through.
In fact, I will say that it takes an interest in anthropology and public affairs to appreciate this book and its intent. It would also be of interest in women’s studies and feminism. For that is the substance of who Stanley Ann Dunham was. She married an Indonesian man, but her studies and work always came first � for herself and for her children. Though I, a layman, felt bogged down by the technicalities of her studies, by the end of the book I felt like I knew her very well. The author could hardly have been less thorough in interviewing people who had known her.
Ironically, the most difficult source work surrounded her family and ancestors. Though extensive in tracing her lineage, there was little to no written record and few alive or willing to be interviewed. And even then the author ran into admittedly unreliable information.
Even her young adult years in Hawaii and how she came to meet Obama Sr. and bear his child is largely unknown. But once her college years are done and she begins her fieldwork in Indonesia the book plumps up. And what she accomplished and how her personality shaped her ability to become as Indonesian as a western woman possibly could is highly admirable. This is a laudatory biography. But somehow it feels okay because she was so human and humane.
Unfortunately, I was not the best audience for this book. I highly recommend it to students interested in the above mentioned fields. I just too frequently had to push my way through.
September 14, 2020
This is a book that contradicts all the negative press about President Obama's mother. She should be highly praised as a champion who actually developed policies that helped the poor progress economically. Through her Anthropological studies in Indonesia, she grew into a highly - skilled and intellectual professional who was sought after and hired by several international non-profit agencies around the world. This book also eliminates the "birthplace" controversy about Obama, as she was 17 and at the University of Hawaii when she met his father, who was a visiting student from Kenya. There is no reason or way she would go to Kenya to have a baby at age 17, while a student at the University. Her Kenyan husband stayed in Hawaii until Barack was 10 months old, then he abandoned her to study at Harvard. Also to be admired is her mother, whose support enabled her to pursue her dreams. I highly recommend this as a biography of a strong and inspiring woman!! You will also learn tons about anthropology, Indonesia, and Aid organizations!
January 26, 2013
As the title depicts, Stanley Ann Dunham (to be referred to subsequently as Ann), was indeed a “singular� individual. It takes a lot of drive and personality force for a woman to remove herself from her cultural roots and go and live in an entirely different country (Indonesia). As the author suggests, Ann found her niche in Indonesia and thrived. She learnt the language (well one of the main languages) and spent close to half her life there. She became part of Indonesia � but never forsook her American roots � the education she insisted on and provided for her two children attests to this.
Even if she was not the mother of a President of the United States this book would still be of interest � and that is its strength. Ann’s story and her life passages are of great interest. We come away with a picture of an altruistic and complex person � who to some extent could not fit the mold, but who also kept true to herself.
Both the author and her son qualify her restless and itinerant lifestyle as being made possible by the constant support of Ann’s parents. This is a family where there were no recriminations � as in Ann’s failed marriages or her career choices � their love and support for each other was a constant.
The last chapter of Ann’s death from cancer is poignant where we gain more insight into the American health insurance as a private business.
A few more comments:
There is no index in my paperback edition.
The author tends to skip back and forth chronologically which I found frustrating.
This book is primarily concerned with Ann (not Barack).
The author gives us some speculation as to why she was named “Stanley� Ann.
For those who think that America does nothing but exploit Third World countries this book demonstrates otherwise.
This is very much a highly enjoyable read.
Even if she was not the mother of a President of the United States this book would still be of interest � and that is its strength. Ann’s story and her life passages are of great interest. We come away with a picture of an altruistic and complex person � who to some extent could not fit the mold, but who also kept true to herself.
Both the author and her son qualify her restless and itinerant lifestyle as being made possible by the constant support of Ann’s parents. This is a family where there were no recriminations � as in Ann’s failed marriages or her career choices � their love and support for each other was a constant.
The last chapter of Ann’s death from cancer is poignant where we gain more insight into the American health insurance as a private business.
A few more comments:
There is no index in my paperback edition.
The author tends to skip back and forth chronologically which I found frustrating.
This book is primarily concerned with Ann (not Barack).
The author gives us some speculation as to why she was named “Stanley� Ann.
For those who think that America does nothing but exploit Third World countries this book demonstrates otherwise.
This is very much a highly enjoyable read.
January 8, 2012
I thought this biography of Stanley Ann Dunham, the mother of Barack Obama, was interesting on the whole, but ultimately unsatisfying. The professional portion of Ann's life, the well-documented part, is covered in stultifying detail. I put the book aside for six months or more to recover from the endless facts about which villages she went to and what interviews she did. Ann Dunham deserves to have her working life recognized. She was intrepid, thorough, tenacious and successful, ultimately making an impact in both anthropology and the financial health of women in the Third World. She proved in her field work that local tiny businesses like ironworking and fabric weaving are more profitable than agriculture in rural life and a government could support economic and social progress by investing small amounts with the women who were often supervising family business enterprises while husbands farmed. Had she lived longer, she would have attended the Beijing conference at which Hillary Clinton made her famous speech about women's rights. But by that time she had become ill with the cancer that took her life at 52.
Ann Dunham was an unconventional woman from a somewhat dysfunctional family background whose declaration of independence from her midwestern parents included an early pregnancy and marriage to a haughty African student who left her almost immediately . Single motherhood did not prevent her from pursuing her dreams of world travel and study. She relied on her mother, with whom she had a distant relationship, to provide the stability, financial and otherwise, that her young son needed. As Barack Obama has said, when she made her decisions about her employment, considerations such as health care and retirement savings were not a factor. Without her parents' support, she could not have done as she did, and Barack would not have had the firm foundation and superior education that he had.
After marrying an Indonesian man, Ann had a second child, a daughter named Maya. That marriage also ended in divorce, and when Barack was about ten, his mother decided that his future depended on getting a good American education. She sent him home to Hawaii, to her parents, who helped pay his tuition at a private school. He never lived with his mother again, and when he went off the the mainland for college, he did not return to Hawaii to start his career. He had met his future wife by then, and moved to her home, Chicago to make his mark. His mother died just before he ran for office. He was not at her side.
Barack Obama wrote a book about his father, but has said since then that had he known he would lose her so soon, he would have paid more attention to his mother. It seems to me, reading between the lines, that Barack Obama did not have an easy relationship with his mother, though he speaks of her in a mostly complimentary fashion now, recognizing her generosity of spirit and intellect while taking her gently to task for her failure to be practical or organized.
The subject of A Singular Woman seems to have been a very private person. She didn't leave a heap of letters explaining herself, and she didn't share her deepest feelings with anyone. I suppose it's hard to write a satisfying biography of such a silent person, so I am sympathetic to the author, but disappointed that I didn't learn more about what made the unconventional Stanley Ann Dunham tick.
Ann Dunham was an unconventional woman from a somewhat dysfunctional family background whose declaration of independence from her midwestern parents included an early pregnancy and marriage to a haughty African student who left her almost immediately . Single motherhood did not prevent her from pursuing her dreams of world travel and study. She relied on her mother, with whom she had a distant relationship, to provide the stability, financial and otherwise, that her young son needed. As Barack Obama has said, when she made her decisions about her employment, considerations such as health care and retirement savings were not a factor. Without her parents' support, she could not have done as she did, and Barack would not have had the firm foundation and superior education that he had.
After marrying an Indonesian man, Ann had a second child, a daughter named Maya. That marriage also ended in divorce, and when Barack was about ten, his mother decided that his future depended on getting a good American education. She sent him home to Hawaii, to her parents, who helped pay his tuition at a private school. He never lived with his mother again, and when he went off the the mainland for college, he did not return to Hawaii to start his career. He had met his future wife by then, and moved to her home, Chicago to make his mark. His mother died just before he ran for office. He was not at her side.
Barack Obama wrote a book about his father, but has said since then that had he known he would lose her so soon, he would have paid more attention to his mother. It seems to me, reading between the lines, that Barack Obama did not have an easy relationship with his mother, though he speaks of her in a mostly complimentary fashion now, recognizing her generosity of spirit and intellect while taking her gently to task for her failure to be practical or organized.
The subject of A Singular Woman seems to have been a very private person. She didn't leave a heap of letters explaining herself, and she didn't share her deepest feelings with anyone. I suppose it's hard to write a satisfying biography of such a silent person, so I am sympathetic to the author, but disappointed that I didn't learn more about what made the unconventional Stanley Ann Dunham tick.
May 26, 2011
When I read Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, I came away strangely unsatisfied. (You can see that review here: .)
I wanted more about what made him the man he became. This book provides some of that missing information and describes a woman who was very interesting in her own right.
Stanley Ann Dunham was born in Kansas but raised all over the United States, landing in Hawai'i in 1960 with her parents. She met an African exchange student at the University of Hawai'i early in her freshman year, was immediately smitten, got pregnant, married him and set herself on a path much different from what her parents expected for the baby girl they had in 1942.
The marriage to Barack Obama Sr. was very brief. A more profound change in the direction of Ann Dunham's life came through a subsequent marriage to an Indonesian exchange student which produced another child and a life long love affair with Indonesia and its culture.
This is a book about Ann Dunham, but it gives a fascinating peek into the influences that created President Obama. It is well worth reading on both accounts. I discovered an interesting woman who followed a very unusual path and learned more about the family that formed the man who became President Obama.
I wanted more about what made him the man he became. This book provides some of that missing information and describes a woman who was very interesting in her own right.
Stanley Ann Dunham was born in Kansas but raised all over the United States, landing in Hawai'i in 1960 with her parents. She met an African exchange student at the University of Hawai'i early in her freshman year, was immediately smitten, got pregnant, married him and set herself on a path much different from what her parents expected for the baby girl they had in 1942.
The marriage to Barack Obama Sr. was very brief. A more profound change in the direction of Ann Dunham's life came through a subsequent marriage to an Indonesian exchange student which produced another child and a life long love affair with Indonesia and its culture.
This is a book about Ann Dunham, but it gives a fascinating peek into the influences that created President Obama. It is well worth reading on both accounts. I discovered an interesting woman who followed a very unusual path and learned more about the family that formed the man who became President Obama.
September 9, 2012
Author Janny Scott spent 2 years in research that spanned the US mainland, Hawaii and Indonesia. She interviewed over 200 friends and colleagues and read Dunham's field reports, letters and research papers. She had the cooperation of the Payne family, Maya Soetoro and even interviewed President Obama.
The result; however, is not as impressive as the effort. I think this is because the approach is that of a reporter and not a biographer. Interviews are dutifully reported. Some say that Ann boasted about her children all the time, but others say they were surprised to learn she had kids. Some friends report that she shunned doctors but her actions contradict this. Some say she was not judgmental but others say she was highly opinionated.... and so it went.
The clearest interview, that with President Obama, is not contradicted since he mentions new points, missed by others, and perhaps Scott too. He says that his mother was disorganized and that his grandparents sheltered him from the chaos of her life. This comes at the end, and is nowhere developed or critiqued in the text.
The reporting style works for the history of the Paynes and the Dunhams and for documenting the saga of Ann's health care claim. These are important biographical pieces. The well reported sections on anthropology, microfinance, Indonesian villages, the people Ann worked with and the 5 pages describing the East-West Center in Honolulu, with the few biographical elements removed could stand as independent articles on these topics.
There are a lot of good pictures. There are good plates and relevant photos printed side by side with the text. The page 27 photo of the President's great-great-grandparents is worth 1000 words. There is no index.
The subject is fascinating. This is the only biography of Stanley Ann Dunham that I know of, and for this alone, it is worth a read. Hopefully, someone more experienced in the biographical writing will take this up in the future. While this review, might dwell on the negative, Scott has made a contribution by providing a blueprint for the next person to try to define this fascinating and indeed, singular, person.
The result; however, is not as impressive as the effort. I think this is because the approach is that of a reporter and not a biographer. Interviews are dutifully reported. Some say that Ann boasted about her children all the time, but others say they were surprised to learn she had kids. Some friends report that she shunned doctors but her actions contradict this. Some say she was not judgmental but others say she was highly opinionated.... and so it went.
The clearest interview, that with President Obama, is not contradicted since he mentions new points, missed by others, and perhaps Scott too. He says that his mother was disorganized and that his grandparents sheltered him from the chaos of her life. This comes at the end, and is nowhere developed or critiqued in the text.
The reporting style works for the history of the Paynes and the Dunhams and for documenting the saga of Ann's health care claim. These are important biographical pieces. The well reported sections on anthropology, microfinance, Indonesian villages, the people Ann worked with and the 5 pages describing the East-West Center in Honolulu, with the few biographical elements removed could stand as independent articles on these topics.
There are a lot of good pictures. There are good plates and relevant photos printed side by side with the text. The page 27 photo of the President's great-great-grandparents is worth 1000 words. There is no index.
The subject is fascinating. This is the only biography of Stanley Ann Dunham that I know of, and for this alone, it is worth a read. Hopefully, someone more experienced in the biographical writing will take this up in the future. While this review, might dwell on the negative, Scott has made a contribution by providing a blueprint for the next person to try to define this fascinating and indeed, singular, person.
July 23, 2011
On the plus side, the impression unveiled of this previous mystery woman is fascinating, even very telling v-a-v her son.
Equally important, this woman's story is very much the story of the 1969s-70s liberated woman who was not burning her bra or marching for rights - thoroughly necessary activities - but the more typical young woman, one who found herself in an immeasurably expanded world and went out into it, with determination, smarts, and considerable personal difficulties. Stanley Ann was very much of her time.
But I do have some problems with the first half of the book. While it's chockful of information, it feels confusing. There is no narrative thrust. Consequently,this spilling cornucopia of so many people, so many locations, so many events - seems to me to demand an index, a family tree, possibly even a timeline, and a photo listing. And it might have had a more fulfilling conclusion.
With all that, it's a rewarding read for all the effort the reader - as well as the fact-oriented author - puts into it.
Equally important, this woman's story is very much the story of the 1969s-70s liberated woman who was not burning her bra or marching for rights - thoroughly necessary activities - but the more typical young woman, one who found herself in an immeasurably expanded world and went out into it, with determination, smarts, and considerable personal difficulties. Stanley Ann was very much of her time.
But I do have some problems with the first half of the book. While it's chockful of information, it feels confusing. There is no narrative thrust. Consequently,this spilling cornucopia of so many people, so many locations, so many events - seems to me to demand an index, a family tree, possibly even a timeline, and a photo listing. And it might have had a more fulfilling conclusion.
With all that, it's a rewarding read for all the effort the reader - as well as the fact-oriented author - puts into it.
Read
August 10, 2011Because I grew up in Kansas, I was intrigued to learn more about Barack Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who President Obama described, rather simply and succinctly, as “� a white woman from Kansas.�
I was disappointed to discover that although Stanley Ann Dunham was born in Wichita, and her parents and grandparents had Kansas roots, Stanley Ann’s Kansas roots were very shallow. She spent her childhood in Kansas, California, Oklahoma and Texas, then lived her formative teen years in Mercer Island, Washington—a far cry from Midwest values and experiences.
After high school in Washington, Stanley Ann moved with her parents to Hawaii and enrolled at the University of Hawaii. (Or more correctly, as I learned from the book, the University of Hawai‘i, spelled with an okina between the two i’s. The okina looks like a single open quote or reverse apostrophe and signifies a phonetic glottal stop.)
At the University of Hawai‘i, Stanley Ann was drawn to the new East-West Center designed to bridge understanding and exchange ideas, information and beliefs between various cultures. It was at the University that Stanley Ann met the charming and intelligent man from Kenya, Barack Obama, Sr. Evidently, Stanley Ann and Barack shared more than a few ideas and information. Stanley Ann became pregnant at the early age of seventeen and the couple quickly married before Barack Obama, Jr. was born in 1961. It is unclear whether they ever lived together as a family, but Barack Sr. left within a few months to pursue his studies at Harvard.
Stanley Ann moved back to the Seattle area and resumed her studies at the University of Washington. About a year later, she returned to Hawaii, where her parents could help her raise her son, and continued studying at the University of Hawai‘i. There Stanley Ann met her second husband, Lolo Soetoro (sometimes spelled Sutoro), from Indonesia. They married and later had a daughter, Maya, born in 1970. Ultimately, this marriage, too, would end in divorce.
Ann became an anthropologist, and a very accomplished researcher. A large portion of the book is devoted to Ann’s field work studying “cottage industries� in Indonesia. She spent a lot of time with native blacksmiths in Kajar, a cluster of hamlets in Indonesia. She kept extremely detailed field notes and immersed herself in her work.
But the responsibilities of a family interfered with her work, plus Ann couldn’t find a suitable school for Barack. She tried a Catholic school and a Muslim school, but neither worked out. So, when Barack was nine years old, Ann sent him to live with his grandparents in Hawaii. Although, Ann kept in touch with Barack through letters, phone calls and occasional visits, her work was the major driving force in her life.
(His early years in Indonesia, the immersion in Muslim culture, and then growing up in Hawaii, goes a long way to explain Barack’s world view and his notion that America is not an exceptional nation.)
Completing her doctoral dissertation was a struggle for Ann. She worked on it off and on, sometimes having to put the dissertation aside in order to work to pay the bills.
For several years Ann worked for the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, a microfinance program designed to give small loans to women and artisan-caste members. Later, she worked for the Bank Rakyat Indonesia, whose aim was to make small loans on a broad scale to low-income rural households across the country.
When she finally completed her dissertation, it was a massive one-thousand-forty-three page tome: “Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving and Thriving Against All Odds.� It was also a very detailed and comprehensive work. When a redacted version of the dissertation was published in 2009 by Duke University Press (after Ann’s death), it was hailed as “one of the richest ethnographic studies to come out of Java in the past generation.�
Ann completed her dissertation almost twenty years after she had first entered graduate school.
When Ann decided to return to the United States, at age 50, she had spent almost half of her adult life in Indonesia. She found a job with Women’s World Banking in New York. Again, she was working for an institution that favored helping the less connected. However, life in New York didn’t suit her, Ann soon returned to Indonesia.
Unfortunately, Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro died at the young age of fifty-two. She didn’t live long enough to see her son elected President. And, unfortunately, she didn’t live long enough to be interviewed for this biography. Although the author does a commendable job of piecing together Ann’s life through interviews, letters and other documents, the book leaves many questions unanswered. Mainly: what was Ann thinking when she shuttled Barack off to his grandparents?
Reportedly, Ann was puzzled and hurt when later in life Barack seemed to distance himself from her and identify more with his Kenya-born father, who had deserted him when he was an infant. But she had pushed him away: What was she thinking?
I was disappointed to discover that although Stanley Ann Dunham was born in Wichita, and her parents and grandparents had Kansas roots, Stanley Ann’s Kansas roots were very shallow. She spent her childhood in Kansas, California, Oklahoma and Texas, then lived her formative teen years in Mercer Island, Washington—a far cry from Midwest values and experiences.
After high school in Washington, Stanley Ann moved with her parents to Hawaii and enrolled at the University of Hawaii. (Or more correctly, as I learned from the book, the University of Hawai‘i, spelled with an okina between the two i’s. The okina looks like a single open quote or reverse apostrophe and signifies a phonetic glottal stop.)
At the University of Hawai‘i, Stanley Ann was drawn to the new East-West Center designed to bridge understanding and exchange ideas, information and beliefs between various cultures. It was at the University that Stanley Ann met the charming and intelligent man from Kenya, Barack Obama, Sr. Evidently, Stanley Ann and Barack shared more than a few ideas and information. Stanley Ann became pregnant at the early age of seventeen and the couple quickly married before Barack Obama, Jr. was born in 1961. It is unclear whether they ever lived together as a family, but Barack Sr. left within a few months to pursue his studies at Harvard.
Stanley Ann moved back to the Seattle area and resumed her studies at the University of Washington. About a year later, she returned to Hawaii, where her parents could help her raise her son, and continued studying at the University of Hawai‘i. There Stanley Ann met her second husband, Lolo Soetoro (sometimes spelled Sutoro), from Indonesia. They married and later had a daughter, Maya, born in 1970. Ultimately, this marriage, too, would end in divorce.
Ann became an anthropologist, and a very accomplished researcher. A large portion of the book is devoted to Ann’s field work studying “cottage industries� in Indonesia. She spent a lot of time with native blacksmiths in Kajar, a cluster of hamlets in Indonesia. She kept extremely detailed field notes and immersed herself in her work.
But the responsibilities of a family interfered with her work, plus Ann couldn’t find a suitable school for Barack. She tried a Catholic school and a Muslim school, but neither worked out. So, when Barack was nine years old, Ann sent him to live with his grandparents in Hawaii. Although, Ann kept in touch with Barack through letters, phone calls and occasional visits, her work was the major driving force in her life.
(His early years in Indonesia, the immersion in Muslim culture, and then growing up in Hawaii, goes a long way to explain Barack’s world view and his notion that America is not an exceptional nation.)
Completing her doctoral dissertation was a struggle for Ann. She worked on it off and on, sometimes having to put the dissertation aside in order to work to pay the bills.
For several years Ann worked for the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, a microfinance program designed to give small loans to women and artisan-caste members. Later, she worked for the Bank Rakyat Indonesia, whose aim was to make small loans on a broad scale to low-income rural households across the country.
When she finally completed her dissertation, it was a massive one-thousand-forty-three page tome: “Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving and Thriving Against All Odds.� It was also a very detailed and comprehensive work. When a redacted version of the dissertation was published in 2009 by Duke University Press (after Ann’s death), it was hailed as “one of the richest ethnographic studies to come out of Java in the past generation.�
Ann completed her dissertation almost twenty years after she had first entered graduate school.
When Ann decided to return to the United States, at age 50, she had spent almost half of her adult life in Indonesia. She found a job with Women’s World Banking in New York. Again, she was working for an institution that favored helping the less connected. However, life in New York didn’t suit her, Ann soon returned to Indonesia.
Unfortunately, Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro died at the young age of fifty-two. She didn’t live long enough to see her son elected President. And, unfortunately, she didn’t live long enough to be interviewed for this biography. Although the author does a commendable job of piecing together Ann’s life through interviews, letters and other documents, the book leaves many questions unanswered. Mainly: what was Ann thinking when she shuttled Barack off to his grandparents?
Reportedly, Ann was puzzled and hurt when later in life Barack seemed to distance himself from her and identify more with his Kenya-born father, who had deserted him when he was an infant. But she had pushed him away: What was she thinking?
February 17, 2012
This is a captivating biography on the unconventional life of Stanley Ann Dunham, President Barack Obama’s mother. She is a woman who lived life to the fullest and shunned normal standards in order to follow her true calling, a profoundly tolerant education. We are allowed a glimpse of an exuberant and joyful woman who cared for the plight of all people, regardless of race or religion. Ann Dunham spent the majority of her life in academic circles in pursuit of a PhD in Cultural Studies. She was a woman who married men from two entirely different cultures and had children who tagged along with her as she immersed herself into Indonesian studies. Through all the diversity she exposed her children to it is obvious how they grew to be such compassionate and charitable adults. Dunham’s life was complex and often chaotic but somehow she managed to place education at the forefront of her life. Most impressive was her involvement in some of the first International micro-financing programs to help the underprivileged women she worked so closely with and how in doing so she helped entire communities. She had a love of Indonesian crafts and handiworks and would spend great lengths of time among the craftsmen and women. But it’s her small influences that seem so relevant today, her ability to instill intelligence into a new generation and how her enlightened kindness towards all people left an optimistic idealism in her wake. She is a woman I would have loved to have known.
August 15, 2011
The amazing rating comes more from the subject of the book than writing flash and wizardry. It's a very well-researched and smoothly presented biography of a woman bolder than most, with incredible energy and generosity and vision who died way too young. Can't help but wonder what more she might have contributed beyond what she'd already done - especially to micro-loan banking and improving the lot of women around the world - if she hadn't died at 52. I confess I began reading for insights into her famous and important son, but came away with a new heroine in my personal pantheon. There were times when I got a bit bogged down in names, as there are so many of them, not a few multi-syllabic. But it was worth sorting out. In some ways I see her as bordering on saintly. Not through any kind of pious manner - which she did not seem to have - but through daily, yearly, lifelong hard work on behalf of people who benefitted from her intelligent, wise help. She loved fun, she loved beauty, she loved the particulars of things, she loved people and she loved to figure out how to bring them together to help them help themselves to a better life than industrialization and profit-motive capitalism tend to offer. Good read.
September 29, 2011
Janny Scott's research and rendering of Ann Dunham's life and her work as a microcredit queen in Indonesia is perceptive, matter-of-factly and makes an excellent read. The story would have been equally interesting even without knowing that she at the age of 18 gave birth to the current US President, but it does add depth to know that all this time she instilled in Barack Obama many of his values. He has just a minor role in the book, along with his sister Maya. The focus is on Ann Dunham's achievements and struggles, and she had many! I am impressed with how she chose to live her life, with her catching, curious and both stern and generous personality, and enjoyed reading about her professional dedication. It took her 20 years of research to complete her PhD in anthropology, not because she was slow, but the task was immense, and she raised and put two kids through college as a single mother, helped by her parents during periods. On a personal level I felt very inspired reading about her, as I am also an itenerant anthropologist dedicated to gender equality who raises two kids alone with absent dads from two different continents. One of the kids is bound to become head of state, by the looks of it.
May 28, 2011
The title of this book is perfect, because Stanley Ann Dunham was an utterly unique woman. Janny Scott does an incredible job exhaustively detailing her life, having spoken to hundreds of Ann's colleagues and family.
That exhaustive research contributes to one of the problems I had with this book - there is so much attention to chronicling every aspect of Ann's professional life that it becomes overwhelming at times. The bombardment of technical details of Ann's work and the seemingly hundreds of intimate friends she had become too much after a time. The other flaw I found was that the author seemed to lose her objectivity in her admiration for her subject. Not that that admiration was necessarily misplaced, but it made me question her credibility just a little.
I recommend this book if you're interested in reading about accomplished women or curious about how the President took as his core values such things as education, hard work, intelligence, tolerance for the views of everyone, and working to make the world a better place for the least among us. His mother didn't just teach these values, she lived them all her life.
That exhaustive research contributes to one of the problems I had with this book - there is so much attention to chronicling every aspect of Ann's professional life that it becomes overwhelming at times. The bombardment of technical details of Ann's work and the seemingly hundreds of intimate friends she had become too much after a time. The other flaw I found was that the author seemed to lose her objectivity in her admiration for her subject. Not that that admiration was necessarily misplaced, but it made me question her credibility just a little.
I recommend this book if you're interested in reading about accomplished women or curious about how the President took as his core values such things as education, hard work, intelligence, tolerance for the views of everyone, and working to make the world a better place for the least among us. His mother didn't just teach these values, she lived them all her life.
August 27, 2011
Scott reveals many aspects of Stanley Ann Dunham’s life, which for the most part have escaped general public knowledge prior to this book.
There’s a huge focus on Dunham’s career as an anthropologist and her work in Indonesia. I would have liked to have known a bit more about what was really going on in her personal life, but it seems that that information is lost forever with the woman. My tendency is to be judgmental about her choices to leave her children at various points in their lives, but I don’t think that’s fair given that the book does touch on how difficult it was for her during those separations. However, I did come away with the impression that she definitely always put herself first.
The book was enlightening to a point, but Scott’s research was only able to unearth just so much, and the rest of Dunham’s personality was reflected through the filter of friends and family interviews. Maybe that really was her full story but I felt there were a few too many missing pieces about who Dunham really was personally. Closer to 3-1/2 stars.
There’s a huge focus on Dunham’s career as an anthropologist and her work in Indonesia. I would have liked to have known a bit more about what was really going on in her personal life, but it seems that that information is lost forever with the woman. My tendency is to be judgmental about her choices to leave her children at various points in their lives, but I don’t think that’s fair given that the book does touch on how difficult it was for her during those separations. However, I did come away with the impression that she definitely always put herself first.
The book was enlightening to a point, but Scott’s research was only able to unearth just so much, and the rest of Dunham’s personality was reflected through the filter of friends and family interviews. Maybe that really was her full story but I felt there were a few too many missing pieces about who Dunham really was personally. Closer to 3-1/2 stars.
September 4, 2011
Having read Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, I was very interested to read the story of his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham's life. Ms. Scott does a wonderful job describing the logistics of Ann Dunham's life and I found her to be a fascinating person. She made choices in her life (especially regarding the raising of her children) which I would not be comfortable with but she comes across as an open minded, caring and adventurous spirit. Reading about her life and her choices did provide me with some insight into the life and character of her son, our 44th President. Although I really enjoyed reading this book, I couldn't help but feel that I ended up knowing a lot of facts about Ann Dunham but I really didn't develop a true sense of what sort of woman and mother she was on a personal level. Perhaps that is because she, like her son, preferred to keep her innermost feelings more to herself. I did come away from this book though feeling very strongly that she would have been thrilled and very proud of the man her son became.
February 7, 2017
To describe Stanley Ann Dunham as only Barack Obama's mother, is one of her many loves. She was, indeed Obama's mother, but she was also many other things. She had two children, Barack and Maya. She was a well respected anthropologist and woman's advocate. She was a giving and loving person, who fell in love with Indonesia and spent half of her adult life studying the people who lived there.
She was a strong willed woman, who followed her dreams, and made sure that even when she couldn't be with her children, they were at least taken care of. Their education was one of her top priorities.
In a time when women were going to school to gain "MRS" degrees, she was blazing a new trail for women and anthropologists. An amazing woman, whose love and belief that we can all work together and help each other, definitely matches with her sons philosophy. A great read!
She was a strong willed woman, who followed her dreams, and made sure that even when she couldn't be with her children, they were at least taken care of. Their education was one of her top priorities.
In a time when women were going to school to gain "MRS" degrees, she was blazing a new trail for women and anthropologists. An amazing woman, whose love and belief that we can all work together and help each other, definitely matches with her sons philosophy. A great read!
July 10, 2011
rarely, in narrative non fiction, does this density of reporting give way to graceful, easy writing. janny resisted the impulse to bury us in hard-to-digest detail..................and best of all resisted the impulse to write this amazing woman's story as if it were an appendage to her son's. fascinating and complicated in her own right, it id doubtful we would know anything about her were she not the president's mother but how much we learn about an early feminist, a free spirit and someone who made the difficult choices that accomplished women who are also mothers make every day. were that more biographies were written of such extraordinary/ordinary people.......
May 28, 2011
Janny Scott writes about a subject that died far too early -- Ann Dunham, the mother of Barack Obama. She was an idealist that made helping the poor a focus of her life. Her parents both regretted not going to college and they instilled in her an ambition and love of education. Dunham passed that onto her children who are now President of the United States and a college Education professor at the University of Hawaii. She was a free spirit, who would have surely gone on to influence micro credit and women's programs more significantly if she had not died of uterine cancer in 1995.
June 2, 2014
A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother isn't just about a woman whose kid grew up to be President. My first suggestion is to forget everything you have heard about her in the press- bohemian, hippy chick who traveled to the other side of the world to learn basketweaving; naive, midwestern girl who fell for the exotic charms of an older man from Kenya; selfish single Mom who put her dreams before her children. All this is far too simplistic. I found her life to be just as remarkable (if not more) than her history-making son.
January 22, 2013
This was a great book to read on the eve of the reelection of President Obama. Ann was a woman five years my senior...with a wanderlust and intelligence I can only admire, but a woman with whom I can identify. However, where she turned left into adventure and self-identity, I turned right into safety and reluctance. She is who I wish I could have been. Her son and daughter, tributes to their mother.
June 17, 2018
The story of Stanley Ann Dunham would be interesting, important and moving even if she were not the mother of a president of the United States. Although her PhD was in Anthropology, she was a pioneer in microlending projects. Stories of her unconventional character, family relationships and experiences in Indonesia are fascinating.
March 11, 2021
Stanley Ann Dunham was a fascinating woman who led a challenging life on her own terms, and also happened to be the mother of Barack Obama. This biography focuses on her, and she is such a genuine character it is easy to forget about her son while reading, but it is also clear the influence she had on her children. I am adding her to my personal list of sempai-mamas who guide me in raising bicultural American children abroad.
March 19, 2019
Good.
June 12, 2019
It wasn't Andre Agassi's "Open" or anything, but I did find it interesting for the most part.
April 28, 2013
Overall, this was not a very comfortable read, as I only had access to the Indonesian translation rather than the original English language version. So either my Indonesian comprehension was not up to scratch or the book was rather poorly translated. But in any case, the remarkable story of Stanley Ann Dunham transcended the linguistic challenges I faced.
This woman truly led an extraordinary life, where time and again, the choices that she made demonstrated that she was brave, that she was strong, and that she was authentic. I daresay that the fact that she was Barack Obama's mother is the least of her many outstanding accomplishments. And it is a pity that Barack Obama mentions her so little, when she clearly was one of the strongest influences in his life.
What inspires me the most is the way she embraced Indonesia head on, and it puts me to shame. This is a woman who truly and passionately cared about my country, lived and devoted herself here for many years and really tried to do something meaningful. Makes me feel incredibly fake and frivolous for feeling sorry for myself after only living here for nine months, and especially when I have not even contributed a single thing I can be proud of!
I did not have the privilege of knowing Stanley Ann Dunham (though, I really wish I did), but after reading this unforgettable biography, I sincerely hope that one day, I will find the courage to do perhaps just half the things she managed to do.
This woman truly led an extraordinary life, where time and again, the choices that she made demonstrated that she was brave, that she was strong, and that she was authentic. I daresay that the fact that she was Barack Obama's mother is the least of her many outstanding accomplishments. And it is a pity that Barack Obama mentions her so little, when she clearly was one of the strongest influences in his life.
What inspires me the most is the way she embraced Indonesia head on, and it puts me to shame. This is a woman who truly and passionately cared about my country, lived and devoted herself here for many years and really tried to do something meaningful. Makes me feel incredibly fake and frivolous for feeling sorry for myself after only living here for nine months, and especially when I have not even contributed a single thing I can be proud of!
I did not have the privilege of knowing Stanley Ann Dunham (though, I really wish I did), but after reading this unforgettable biography, I sincerely hope that one day, I will find the courage to do perhaps just half the things she managed to do.
December 26, 2011
Making this book entailed many interviews and reading of histories, letters, and anything else that Janny Scott could get her hands upon. As a result, there are many references to people to whom she talked. That made the beginning 80 pages almost turn me off for I wanted to get to know Barack Obama's Mother, not her antecedents. Stanley Ann Dunham was a strong unusual woman as the other book reviews in ŷ.com detail here. What interested me most was trying to envision what made Barack the kind of leader he is. The best example for me was when the book describes the typical Indonesian as a person who perfers no direct accosting when talking, but who listens with patience and puts themselves into the thinking of the person talking and infers what they mean. By growing up in Indonesia, Barack has evolved with this trait. He listens, considers, and then answers without rancor.
I find it interesting that his mother was criticised for sending him to her parents in Hawaii. She took care of him and home schooled him until he was twelve, then sent him to Hawaii to get a better education. His mother was not a person of means, but people of means in the US and Britain who can afford it, send their children to prep school at 12 or 14 and no one criticises them for so doing.
I find it interesting that his mother was criticised for sending him to her parents in Hawaii. She took care of him and home schooled him until he was twelve, then sent him to Hawaii to get a better education. His mother was not a person of means, but people of means in the US and Britain who can afford it, send their children to prep school at 12 or 14 and no one criticises them for so doing.
August 12, 2011
You'd think a woman who was born in Kansas, moved to Hawaii, married an African national in 1961, gave birth to the first African American president, then left the country for Indonesia would have a life more interesting than the one portrayed here.
I very nearly did not finish this book. As it is, I have to confess to skipping over several pages of detailed descriptions of Dunham's field work among the peasants in Indonesia and her various job duties and recollections of her many coworkers.
The author is very thorough and has done an admirable job of tracking down probably hundreds of people who knew Stanley Ann Dunham during her lifetime. But I think a lot of the minutiae could have been left out.
This book is told mostly through the recollections of her friends, family and acquaintances. There are so many of them that it really got confusing, and I often read quotes from people I had no idea who they were and what relation they had to Ann Dunham's life.
I think this book could have done with a lot less detail and bit more story telling.
I very nearly did not finish this book. As it is, I have to confess to skipping over several pages of detailed descriptions of Dunham's field work among the peasants in Indonesia and her various job duties and recollections of her many coworkers.
The author is very thorough and has done an admirable job of tracking down probably hundreds of people who knew Stanley Ann Dunham during her lifetime. But I think a lot of the minutiae could have been left out.
This book is told mostly through the recollections of her friends, family and acquaintances. There are so many of them that it really got confusing, and I often read quotes from people I had no idea who they were and what relation they had to Ann Dunham's life.
I think this book could have done with a lot less detail and bit more story telling.
June 27, 2011
I debated giving this book a 3.5 or a 4. But as I finished the book I felt strongly about it being a 4. It well-researched, very thorough and well-written. I had not been so captivated by all of the details of all the particular programs and research Ann Dunham conducted in Indonesia even though I was a Non-Western History and Diplomacy major in college. I was really more interested in broader themes about this individual -- her childhood, her adult life as an anthropologist, mother and sometimes wife -- as well as the themes of race and women and careers in America, not to mention the history and culture of Indonesia. In the end, however, I think that the details were important in unveiling a complex woman, anthropologist and mom.
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January 22, 2017This biography is worth your while, especially if you are a nerd as I am. Or if you are interested in the value system imbued into President Obama. Or if you are interested in global development. Dr. Stanley Ann Dunham--what a woman. Basically a pioneer of microlending, a single mother who earned her PhD, a citizen of the world. You can clearly tell the author is a NYT journalist as her sourcing is exhaustive. An incredibly thorough portrait of a remarkable woman, daughter, mother, scholar.
October 31, 2017
I had no idea what an amazing woman Stanley Ann Dunham was. Hers was a life lived in the service of others but when she needed help she was let down. Her life was one of the most meaningful Ive read about in a long time and I don't want to water it down with politics but she died because of a system that does not care about the sick and we must get our healthcare system out of the hands of insurance companies.
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