'A Promised Land': Here is what Obama says about Manmohan, Sonia, Rahul Gandhi in his memoir

'A Promised Land': Here is what Obama says about Manmohan, Sonia, Rahul Gandhi in his memoir

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has reviewed Obama's memoir 'A Promised Land', in which among other issues, the first Black American President has talked about political leaders from around the world.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Friday, November 13, 2020, 12:11 PM IST
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Former US President Barack Obama | AFP

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi find a place in the new memoir by former US President Barack Obama.

Omaba describes Rahul Gandhi as someone having a "nervous, uninformed quality" while directing warm, not-so-political praise at Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi, according to a book review Thursday in the New York Times.

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has reviewed Obama's memoir 'A Promised Land', in which among other issues, the first Black American President has talked about political leaders from around the world.

On Rahul Gandhi

"Rahul Gandhi has a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who`d done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject," notes the review.

On Sonia Gandhi

"We are told of the handsomeness of men like Charlie Crist and Rahm Emanuel, but not the beauty of women, except for one or two instances, as in the case of Sonia Gandhi," writes Adichie.

On Manmohan Singh

"Secretary of Defense Bob Gates and the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh both come across as having a kind of impassive integrity," Obama said.

Incidentally, Obama and his wife Michelle Obama had for their first official state dinner hosted Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur in November 2009.

Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He visited India twice as the US President - in 2010 and 2015.

On Joe Biden

Writing about Joe Biden, Obama senses he "might get prickly if he thought he wasn't given his due - a quality that might flare up when dealing with a much younger boss."

On Vladimir Putin

It added that Russian President Vladimir Putin reminds Obama of the tough, street-smart ward bosses who used to run the Chicago machine. "Physically, he was unremarkable," Obama writes of Putin.

Obama's latest book, coinciding with the return of his Vice President Joe Biden to the White House, takes readers on a journey from his earliest political aspirations to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation`s highest office.

'A Promised Land', a 768-page memoir published by Crown, is expected to hit the stands on November 17, chronicles Obama's childhood and political rise, before diving deeply into his historic 2008 campaign and first four years in office.

The former President said he had written the memoir for young people. "More than anyone else, I wrote my book for young people--as an invitation to once again remake the world, and to bring about, through hard work, determination, and a big dose of imagination, an America that finally aligns with all that is best in us," Obama tweeted.

Obama's other books include 'Dreams from My Father' and 'The Audacity of Hope'.

(With agencies)

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