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What Obama Means: ...for Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future – A Sharp and Timely Analysis of the Watershed 2008 Election
“Provocative and compelling.”
— New York Newsday “Both entertaining and insightful.”
— Washington Post Book World
“It should be on the required reading list.”
— Chicago Sun-Times What Obama Means by Jabari Asim, renowned cultural critic and author of The N Word, is a timely and sharp analysis of how the “Obama phenomenon” exhibits progress in American politics and society. A frequent guest and commentator on “The Colbert Report,” “The Today Show,” NPR’s “Diane Rehm Show” and many other media programs, Asim also examines how cultural and political forces led to the watershed 2008 presidential election while indicating what the election means for every American.
— New York Newsday “Both entertaining and insightful.”
— Washington Post Book World
“It should be on the required reading list.”
— Chicago Sun-Times What Obama Means by Jabari Asim, renowned cultural critic and author of The N Word, is a timely and sharp analysis of how the “Obama phenomenon” exhibits progress in American politics and society. A frequent guest and commentator on “The Colbert Report,” “The Today Show,” NPR’s “Diane Rehm Show” and many other media programs, Asim also examines how cultural and political forces led to the watershed 2008 presidential election while indicating what the election means for every American.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 2009
About the author
Jabari Asim
35 books353 followers
Praise for Only The Strong
"Jabari Asim is such an elegant writer that you won't realize how smoothly he drew you in until you're halfway through this book. Humane and humorous, compassionate and willing to get a little rough, this describes both the writer and the novel. Only The Strong does for St. Louis what Edward P. Jones has done for Washington D.C., Raymond Chandler for Los Angeles---marked it as place on the literary map where you'll want to stay for a long while. A riveting novel." --Victor LaValle, author of The Devil in Silver
“Only the Strong is a lushly atmospheric and passionately written piece of work, bursting with colorful characters that shine on every page.” ---Bernice L. McFadden, author of Gathering of Waters
"Only the Strong effortlessly transmits Jabari Asim’s profound affection for this book's charismatic and varied characters. This is a vivid, revelatory portrait of 1970s America in the disheartened aftermath of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death." —Rafael Yglesias, author of The Wisdom of Perversity
"There's an eerie timeliness to the publication of this fictional study of Saint Louis black communities of the 1970s. Only the Strong reminds me of Chester Himes’ Harlem entertainments—in its deceptively light handling of desperately serious subject matter. Jabari Asim is a writer to watch, and to listen to closely, in these difficult times." —Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls’ Rising and Zig Zag Wanderer
"It is like stepping into a time capsule of my old neighborhood in the 1970s...to read about Gateway City, Jabari Asim’s fascinating rendition of St. Louis, as an adult brings back memories of time and place, and also admiration for his storytelling." —Susan Straight, author of Between Heaven and Here and A Million Nightingales
Praise for A Taste Of Honey
"A Taste of Honey has the power of memoir and the poetry of fiction. Suddenly, it is 1968 once more, with all of the hope and violence and seismic change that rocked the cities that summer. It's all here and it's all beautifully rendered. This books is a gem."
—Chris Bohjalian, author of Secrets of Eden
"Jabari Asim has written a brilliant coming-of-age tale filled with compelling characters navigating race relations in 1968, navigating familial and neighborhood demands, and triumphantly reaffirming what it means to be human. A lovely, lyrical collection of connected stories that will leave readers breathless and ecstatic with passion and joy."
—Jewell Parker Rhodes, author of Yellow Moon
"Offering the bitter with the sweet, Jabari Asim's first collection of stories, A Taste Of Honey, serves up a multilayered dish. Asim ranges through and across a Midwestern African American community in the wake of the civil rights movement and the social changes of the last forty years, writing from the inside out and unforgettably bringing to life a world that still is too seldom seen in American fiction."
—John Keene, author of Annotations
"Jabari Asim's rich short stories read like a novel . . . full of people we love getting to know—Rose, Gabriel, Pristine, Ed, Reuben, and Guts. I particularly loved the male characters in these pages . . . men who live by their brains and their brawn, shelter their children, their community. They embrace their wives. They love hard, laugh deep, and cry inside."
—Denise Nicholas, author of Freshwater Road
"Asim successfully delves into politics, domestic violence, racial identity, young love, and more in this humorous and poignant collection..."
—Publishers Weekly
"With his debut work of fiction, the Guggenheim Fellow proves himself to be a promising storyteller." -Library Journal
"This fiction rings true." -Kirkus Reviews
More about Jabari Asim
He is the author of What Obama Means . . . For Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future,, The N Word
"Jabari Asim is such an elegant writer that you won't realize how smoothly he drew you in until you're halfway through this book. Humane and humorous, compassionate and willing to get a little rough, this describes both the writer and the novel. Only The Strong does for St. Louis what Edward P. Jones has done for Washington D.C., Raymond Chandler for Los Angeles---marked it as place on the literary map where you'll want to stay for a long while. A riveting novel." --Victor LaValle, author of The Devil in Silver
“Only the Strong is a lushly atmospheric and passionately written piece of work, bursting with colorful characters that shine on every page.” ---Bernice L. McFadden, author of Gathering of Waters
"Only the Strong effortlessly transmits Jabari Asim’s profound affection for this book's charismatic and varied characters. This is a vivid, revelatory portrait of 1970s America in the disheartened aftermath of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death." —Rafael Yglesias, author of The Wisdom of Perversity
"There's an eerie timeliness to the publication of this fictional study of Saint Louis black communities of the 1970s. Only the Strong reminds me of Chester Himes’ Harlem entertainments—in its deceptively light handling of desperately serious subject matter. Jabari Asim is a writer to watch, and to listen to closely, in these difficult times." —Madison Smartt Bell, author of All Souls’ Rising and Zig Zag Wanderer
"It is like stepping into a time capsule of my old neighborhood in the 1970s...to read about Gateway City, Jabari Asim’s fascinating rendition of St. Louis, as an adult brings back memories of time and place, and also admiration for his storytelling." —Susan Straight, author of Between Heaven and Here and A Million Nightingales
Praise for A Taste Of Honey
"A Taste of Honey has the power of memoir and the poetry of fiction. Suddenly, it is 1968 once more, with all of the hope and violence and seismic change that rocked the cities that summer. It's all here and it's all beautifully rendered. This books is a gem."
—Chris Bohjalian, author of Secrets of Eden
"Jabari Asim has written a brilliant coming-of-age tale filled with compelling characters navigating race relations in 1968, navigating familial and neighborhood demands, and triumphantly reaffirming what it means to be human. A lovely, lyrical collection of connected stories that will leave readers breathless and ecstatic with passion and joy."
—Jewell Parker Rhodes, author of Yellow Moon
"Offering the bitter with the sweet, Jabari Asim's first collection of stories, A Taste Of Honey, serves up a multilayered dish. Asim ranges through and across a Midwestern African American community in the wake of the civil rights movement and the social changes of the last forty years, writing from the inside out and unforgettably bringing to life a world that still is too seldom seen in American fiction."
—John Keene, author of Annotations
"Jabari Asim's rich short stories read like a novel . . . full of people we love getting to know—Rose, Gabriel, Pristine, Ed, Reuben, and Guts. I particularly loved the male characters in these pages . . . men who live by their brains and their brawn, shelter their children, their community. They embrace their wives. They love hard, laugh deep, and cry inside."
—Denise Nicholas, author of Freshwater Road
"Asim successfully delves into politics, domestic violence, racial identity, young love, and more in this humorous and poignant collection..."
—Publishers Weekly
"With his debut work of fiction, the Guggenheim Fellow proves himself to be a promising storyteller." -Library Journal
"This fiction rings true." -Kirkus Reviews
More about Jabari Asim
He is the author of What Obama Means . . . For Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future,, The N Word
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 18, 2009
some interesting points, with somewhat more depth than the typical newspaper story or op-ed on any particular incident or statement from the 2008 campaign. I can understand from the author and publisher viewpoint wanting to strike while the topic is hot, but in some ways the book felt premature. If I remember to do so (somewhat unlikely at my age), I'd like to reread this in 5-10 years and see how it strikes me. At the moment it felt as though the source material were too fresh to really require book-length treatment so soon -- I paid a lot of attention to the last campaign and found that in most instances (Biden quote about Obama's being the first "clean" "articulate" Black guy to run for office, Hillary Clinton's pointing out that it's not over yet b/c we all know Robert Kennedy was assasinated in California, Obama's brushing the dirt off his shoulder, Jeremiah Wright controversy.........) I remembered what had happened or what had been said and had already processed some back-and-forth on what to make of it.
Beyond that, there's the whole element of subjectivity with a topic like this one. I don't think there's one answer to "what Obama means", nor that learning more about Barbara Jordan's 1976 democratic national convention speech will necessarily change what he means to, say, a current college student. He means what he means to you, I guess.
Don't mean to drift negative with the review -- it's a good book. I guess my conclusion would be that reading it is like having a good conversation with a politics/culture-knowledgeable friend about his and your reactions to Obama, as opposed to a definitive uncoverng of THE answers on the subject posed by the title.
Beyond that, there's the whole element of subjectivity with a topic like this one. I don't think there's one answer to "what Obama means", nor that learning more about Barbara Jordan's 1976 democratic national convention speech will necessarily change what he means to, say, a current college student. He means what he means to you, I guess.
Don't mean to drift negative with the review -- it's a good book. I guess my conclusion would be that reading it is like having a good conversation with a politics/culture-knowledgeable friend about his and your reactions to Obama, as opposed to a definitive uncoverng of THE answers on the subject posed by the title.
March 19, 2013
Asim looks at President Obama's first run for president.(The book was published in 2009) I so support Obama and it means a great deal to me to have him in the White House even if I don't agree 100% with his policies. It is so unfair that people expected Obama to be the second coming.Asim discusses a lot of the over the top expectations people had. He is a great president and a great man. Alas, he can't control everything, for example Republicans!
It will be interesting to see how history will view Obama's presidency. I put a hold on Sabato's Barack Obama and the New America about the 2012 election.
It will be interesting to see how history will view Obama's presidency. I put a hold on Sabato's Barack Obama and the New America about the 2012 election.
July 20, 2010
It was a quick read. It felt more like a collection of magazine articles, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews