Barack Obama: Invisible Man

by David Masciotra

Literary Nonfiction. African & African American Studies. History & Politics. BARACK INVISIBLE MAN is a provocative examination of President Barack Obama and his legacy. Masciotra contends that most Americans, frightened over the loss of white authority, were unable to deal with the historical, racial, and political implications of electing the first black president. The right distorted Obama into a monster, while many on the left set him up to fail with unrealistic expectations. The man who emerges from the ashes of caricature is not only an accomplished—if flawed—president, but a cultural figure of profound importance who challenged America's increasingly anti- intellectual anxiety with a stirring and subversive message of hope.

150 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2017

About the author

David Masciotra is the author of the forthcoming, "Exurbia Now: The Battleground for American Democracy" (Melville House Books), and "I am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters" (Bloomsbury, 2020). His previous books are "Working On a Dream: The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen" (Bloomsbury, 2010), "Mellencamp: American Troubadour" (University Press of Kentucky, 2015), "Metallica by Metallica" (a 33 1/3 from Bloomsbury, 2015), and "Barack Obama: Invisible Man" (Eyewear Publishing, 2017).

He writes regularly The New Republic, Washington Monthly, the Progressive, CrimeReads, and many other publications on politics, music, and literature.

He lives in Indiana, where he teaches literature and writing courses at Indiana University Northwest. For more information visit www.davidmasciotra.com.

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Reviews

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

That President Obama is a reflection of where the world is headed, and America at its best, and amalgam of race, curiosity, decency, and intellect, and that few were better suited to take us there seems inarguable. That President Trump represents where the world was, and at its worst at that, toxic masculinity and patriarchy, a lack of racial, gender, and sexual parity, isolationism, seems inarguable as well.

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[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘America is a mystery no detective could solve. It is a crime without clues, and a gift of grace without precedent. It is a child waving to his mother from the Ferris wheel at the country fair, and it is the invitation of gaudy neon in the unwashed window of a seedy strip club’ (72).

This was a very enjoyable and informative book which addressed the difficulties that former US President, Barack Obama, faced in trying to knit together two very opposing attitudes in America: the far-right Republicans, (like Trump), who strive to recapture the ‘olden days’ where black people were slaves, and the country was primarily white; and the far-left democrats who believed that Obama did not do as much for black people and those of ethnic minorities as he could have done. The author makes the argument that Obama was (and still is) ‘invisible’ to most Americans and is almost at the point of deletion through Trump’s policies intent on undoing all the policies put in place by Obama during his eight years as President. The book also focuses on his family life and upbringing, and the humanity that Obama brought to the White House. Included within the centre of the book are some black and white photos of Obama at the significant points of his Presidency which are referred to in the text, as well as other black influencers of his time.

While the monologue-like narrative is obviously biased against Trump, it offers interesting but uncomfortable reading regarding the author’s perception regarding the state of America. It also raises questions as to the future of the US. The language is so accessible that I read the book in one sitting.