Well over a hundred Barack Obama books have been published in the
last year, a number exponentially larger than the number of John McCain
books published in the same time. In the last month, I’ve read nearly
two thousand pages of Obama-lit, a tiny fraction of the total
tsunami. Most of them were awful.
Barack Obama: In His Own Words (Public-
Affairs, $12.95)
is exactly the kind of shoddy publication that makes publishing look
antiquated: a collection of quotes by Barack Obama. Years ago, these
quotationaries were actually useful—a concise way to learn your
candidate’s position on a multitude of issues. But Google’s boundless
knowledge has rendered this sort of book completely useless.
The Faith of Barack Obama (Thomas Nelson, $19.95) was, in
theory, a helpful book for this campaign, an intelligent and
considerate biography of Obama’s spiritual life intended for
issues-hungry Christians. But it, too, has been rendered useless, but
in this case by an unforeseeable, catastrophic circumstance: Sarah
Palin. Her candidacy declared to the world that the evangelical
vote isn’t concerned about a candidate’s actual faith; they’re just
looking for barely disguised hate speech. The Faith of Barack
Obama, then, is useful for evangelicals only as a nutcracker,
disciplinary device, or other simple tool. The rest of us need no
reassurance that Obama is a Christian.
Despite its narcissistic title, Change We Can Believe In: Barack
Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise, with a foreword by
Barack Obama (Three Rivers Press, $13.95) is a nuts-and-bolts
collection of Obama’s policies, written in formal but comprehensible
prose. The book also includes seven speeches by Obama. Again, Obama’s
website and the moving YouTube videos of the speeches made this
book obsolete before it was ever printed, although it could probably
work as a visual aid to parry with someone who says that Obama is just
an empty suit without any plans or policies.
But two other books are actually useful and a reminder that books
can be successful political instruments. Yes We Can: A Biography of
Barack Obama (Feiwel & Friends, $6.99) is intended for young
readers, but could also persuade barely literate adults. It
doesn’t flinch from discussions about religion or race and doesn’t
insult the intelligence of the reader, making it a novelty in both the
political and young-adult genres.
Best of all, The Rise of Barack Obama (Triumph Books, $27.95)
is a collection of photographs by Pete Souza, a photojournalist who has
followed Obama since the beginning of his tenure in the Senate. His
gorgeous black-and-white photographs give Obama the gravitas of a
great American. It precontextualizes him as a historical figure,
making this the only one of the books to transcend mere political
usefulness to become a real work of art. 
Paul Constant uses “evangelical” much the same way as Sarah Palin uses “socialist”, as a term of abuse that betrays their paucity of knowledge concerning evangelicals or socialists.
Dios mío: “But Google’s boundless knowledge has rendered this sort of book completely useless.”
So…
1) All of the Obama quotes I’ll read on the Internet can really be attributed to him, and I can assume they’re never taken out of context or warped, and that they’re (well) cited?
2) EVERYBODY who wants to learn about Obama quotes has access to the Internet?
3) Things on the Internet will be preserved and just as accessible years from now as they are in a book in a library or on your shelf?
Dios mío: “But Google’s boundless knowledge has rendered this sort of book completely useless.”
So…
1) All of the Obama quotes I’ll read on the Internet can really be attributed to him, and I can assume they’re never taken out of context or warped, and that they’re (well) cited?
2) EVERYBODY who wants to learn about Obama quotes has access to the Internet?
3) Things on the Internet will be preserved and just as accessible years from now as they are in a book in a library or on your shelf?
There is a McCain-Palin ad, that uses the Obama O, right below this articles. Just thought The Stranger should know.