Posted on: Tuesday, August 3, 2004
Obama's political ascent renews interest in his memoir
By Christopher Wills
Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The surge of interest in Hawai'i-born Barack Obama after his speech to the Democratic National Convention is spilling over to the book he wrote a decade ago, with a first-edition copy going for $255 on eBay and pre-release orders for a new edition already putting it on best-seller lists. At a campaign stop, Obama, a 1979 graduate of Punahou School, noted that a new edition is coming out Aug. 10 — "not a moment too soon. I don't want people spending that much for my book."
Amazon.com shows $13.95 as the list price for the paperback edition.
The publisher of Barack Obama's memoir decided to reprint the 1995 book after the Illinois state senator won a primary election for U.S. Senate in March. While the new edition is due out next week, a first-edition copy up for auction on eBay was drawing bids of more than 10 times its original list price. It was published in 1995 to strong reviews but only modest sales. Obama said 15,000 copies were printed, and he still has several boxes of them in his basement.
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, decided to reissue the book after Obama won the Illinois Democratic Senate primary in March. Then he delivered a keynote address that thrilled Democrats, and interest in the book took off.
Crown plans to print 50,000 copies initially and is prepared to pump out more, said senior editor Rachel Klayman.
"The timing is very, very fortuitous, but I think it's really well-deserved," Klayman said. "He's a real rarity. He's a politician who can really write."
The first edition of the U.S. Senate candidate's "Dreams From My Father" had started at $20 on eBay, but after 28 bids on the Internet auction site, it was up to $255 last night.
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama
"Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" is Obama's memoir of growing up in Hawai'i as the son of a black man and white woman. He discusses trying to come to grips with his racial identity, a period of rebellion that included drug use, traveling to Africa and becoming a community activist in Chicago.
His story, hana hou
