The Riddle of Barack Obama
A Psychobiography
Published on 3. August 2010
Book
Hardback
360 pages
978-0-313-38587-2 (ISBN)
Description
An internationally noted clinical psychologist offers readers the first psychological biography of Barack Obama.
The Riddle of Barack Obama: A Psychobiography is the first complete psychological biography of President Barack Obama written by a professional clinical psychologist. Covering Obama's life to date, as well as the lives of his parents, grandparents, and other ancestors, this fascinating volume illuminates the personal, professional, political, emotional, intellectual, and creative aspects of Obama's personality, as well as the motives-conscious and unconscious-for his beliefs and actions.
Dr. Avner Falk draws on hundreds of biographies, newspaper and magazine articles, interviews, investigative reports, and more, using psychoanalytic models developed by Sigmund Freud, Donald Winnicott, Peter Blos, Heinz Kohut, and Schiffer to probe Obama's psychological development. Examining every facet of the president's biography, he delves into his earliest feelings of abandonment and helplessness, his inner conflicts, his protective relationship with his mother, his ambivalent identification with his father, and his quest for identity. Perhaps most intriguingly, Dr. Falk explores the psychological origins of Obama's "fierce ambitions" and the ingredients of his charisma.
The Riddle of Barack Obama: A Psychobiography is the first complete psychological biography of President Barack Obama written by a professional clinical psychologist. Covering Obama's life to date, as well as the lives of his parents, grandparents, and other ancestors, this fascinating volume illuminates the personal, professional, political, emotional, intellectual, and creative aspects of Obama's personality, as well as the motives-conscious and unconscious-for his beliefs and actions.
Dr. Avner Falk draws on hundreds of biographies, newspaper and magazine articles, interviews, investigative reports, and more, using psychoanalytic models developed by Sigmund Freud, Donald Winnicott, Peter Blos, Heinz Kohut, and Schiffer to probe Obama's psychological development. Examining every facet of the president's biography, he delves into his earliest feelings of abandonment and helplessness, his inner conflicts, his protective relationship with his mother, his ambivalent identification with his father, and his quest for identity. Perhaps most intriguingly, Dr. Falk explores the psychological origins of Obama's "fierce ambitions" and the ingredients of his charisma.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Interest Age: From 7 to 17 years
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
705 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-313-38587-2 (9780313385872)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2010
1st Edition
Praeger Publishers Inc
€66.49
Available for download
Person
Avner Falk, PhD, is an internationally known clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and scholar.
Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. "Gramps" and "Toot"
2. A Girl Named Stanley
3. A Paternal Grandfather Named "The Terror"
4. A Narcissistic and Self-Destructive Father
5. The Fatherless Child and His Unhappy Mother
6. A Stepfather from Indonesia
7. Protecting His Mother
8. Adolescence and the Quest for Identity
9. In His Father's Footsteps
10. Name Change and Identity Struggle
11. The Community as Family
12. Outdoing His Father
13. Michelle: Mentor, Lover, Wife, and Mother
14. Marriage: The New Family
15. Fatherhood and Politics
16. A Humiliating Defeat
17. Fierce Ambitions
18. The Audacity of Ambition
19. Abandoning Another "Bad Father"
20. Obama's Charisma
21. Repairing "Mother America"
22. A Happy Conclusion
References
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. "Gramps" and "Toot"
2. A Girl Named Stanley
3. A Paternal Grandfather Named "The Terror"
4. A Narcissistic and Self-Destructive Father
5. The Fatherless Child and His Unhappy Mother
6. A Stepfather from Indonesia
7. Protecting His Mother
8. Adolescence and the Quest for Identity
9. In His Father's Footsteps
10. Name Change and Identity Struggle
11. The Community as Family
12. Outdoing His Father
13. Michelle: Mentor, Lover, Wife, and Mother
14. Marriage: The New Family
15. Fatherhood and Politics
16. A Humiliating Defeat
17. Fierce Ambitions
18. The Audacity of Ambition
19. Abandoning Another "Bad Father"
20. Obama's Charisma
21. Repairing "Mother America"
22. A Happy Conclusion
References
Index