President Barack Obama: The Kindle Singles Interview

by David Blum

In this Kindle Singles Interview, President Barack Obama decried the "change in culture" that has changed our view of the American Dream. "There was not that window into the lifestyles of the rich and famous," the President said. "Kids weren’t monitoring everyday what Kim Kardashian was wearing, or where Kanye West was going on vacation, and thinking that somehow that was the mark of success." He addressed the jobs issue from a personal perspective, reflecting on how his own life might have been different had he not experienced success in politics. "I could picture myself being a good teacher," the President mused. <br> <br>In the interview, which took place on July 30, 2013, at an Amazon facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Obama discussed the increasing need for government programs that can actually make a difference. Sticking close to his standard message, he spoke frankly about the increasing polarization of American politics since the Great Recession and Republican Party intransigence over his agenda. On a personal note, he reflected that he and First Lady Michelle Obama are constantly reminding their daughters of the “slightly unreal environment that they’re in,” as children of privilege in a world constrained by unemployment and recession.<br> <br>The interview was conducted by David Blum. Blum works for Amazon as the editor of Kindle Singles. He began his career as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal, and has been the editor-in-chief of The Village Voice, the New York Press and 02138 Magazine. He was previously a writer and editor at The New York Times Magazine, and a contributing editor at New York and Esquire magazines. He has written two books: "Flash in the Pan: The Life and Death of an American Restaurant" (1992), and "Tick...Tick...Tick...: The Long Life & Turbulent Times of 60 Minutes" (2004). He received his B.A. degree in English literature at the University of Chicago.<br> <br>Cover design by Adil Dara Kim/Official White House Photo

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Biography, History, Ebooks, Memoir, Presidents

15 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2013

Reviews

[Cathy DuPont · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, who am I to pass up a free Kindle read?

Mostly, if not all, softball questions and the answers which may or may not have been prepared. Who knows?

Not much new here and given an opportunity as David Blum was, I would sit down with the POTUS, too! Not sure that I would have asked about the same things that Blum asked. I would have gotten a bit more personal, such as what do you like to read? Do you keep track of what you read?

All this was a rehash (Q&A) but gives the flaming Republicans another forum to bash the President of the United States. It really doesn't matter what the bashing is about...it's about anything and everything and has been since 2008. (I still contend they don't like the color of his skin although my Republican friends say "no, that's not it." I know my friends very well, and that's it regardless of what they say. But cannot say the same about any Republicans reading this.)

Noticed on Amazon though, as of right now, there re 561 reviews...some long, some short. Of the 561, 242 gave it one star and there are some (a lot of) rants thrown in. 198 gave it five stars...78 with four stars. The remaining ones, two to three stars.

When I read Amazon reviews (mostly on political books) mostly there are rants on something and I always check to see if they've reviewed any other books. Looked on one review of one-star rant and the last thing reviewed was for the stock of some rifle...no surprise there. Needless to say that I hold very little credibility in Amazon reviews of just about everything.

Yes, I supported and worked for OFA in both campaigns but still, not much new here and wouldn't have bought it. (Well, except maybe to offset an Amazon reviewer who said she got it and read it to write review, to put in her two cents in about a president who was not born in the United States of America anyway.)

Get my drift here? Want to borrow it, let me know...or it's still free on download, now. But same, same if you watch the news. (BTW, unemployment is down again to 7.4% which tells me things ARE getting better.)

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Allow me to meander a bit on a related issue. This new (and currently free) Kindle single brings up a concern of mine when Goodreads was bought by Amazon. If you go to the review page on Amazon for this book you will find over a hundred reviews with about one hundred of them getting one star. Most of those, if not all, are rants by people who hate Obama and clearly didn't even read the Kindle single. My still present fear is that Goodreads will be linked to Amazon in a way that these "reviewers" migrate onto the Goodreads universe. This Kindle Single hasn't received the attention here that it does on Amazon. At the time I wrote this there is only one somewhat unhelpful review but at least he read the book...I think. Hopefully Goodreads will remain a place for those who actually read books and not, like Amazon has turned out to be, a place for those with other agendas.

Now. About President Barack Obama: The Kindle Singles Interview. Yes, there is nothing new here if you are familiar with the president's viewpoint but what he says is interesting and insightful. Obama was interviewed by Kindle Singles Editor David Blum as part of the president's push for his economic and job programs. It's a softball interview but Obama gives a interesting insights on his family past and on the changes in our country's values: "Kids weren't monitoring every day what Kim Kardashian was wearing, or where Kanye West was going on vacation, and thinking somehow that was the mark of success.". He also has some interesting comments about how governmental progress has been affected by different definitions of the American Dream by our parties. It a nice springboard for more discussion. However, and this is why i gave it a tepid three stars, there is no real information on specifics of either his programs or how to break the stalemate in Washington. Philosophical musings are interesting but it doesn't help run the country. But if you have any kind of open mind regardless of your political leanings, you will find some worthwhile things in this too short interview.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

This in NOT a review of my political opinions. This is a review of this specific book, a Kindle Single, that was offered for free on Amazon.

In July of 2013 President Obama visited an Amazon fulfillment center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and while he was at the center he was interviewed by David Blum. This short e-book is the text of their interview, and is a short 15 pages.

While this could have been a nice idea, the interview was sadly lacking. Nothing new was covered. David Blum didn't give us anything we cannot read anywhere else. He had a opportunity to interview the President, and he got nervous and just went back to the basic. And honestly, I really don't care that the author was a college friend with David Axelrod, who was also a campaign adviser for the President. Amazon should have picked someone else to conduct this interview if the plan all along was to publish it as a book.

[Byron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amazon and Barack Obama are incahoots, probably as part of the Illuminati's plan to sell us all back into slavery. (Full Disclosure: I get four checks a month from Amazon, for like $8 each.) He went down to one of those towns in Tennessee somewhere where they don't have unions to give a speech about his plan to bring jobs back to 'Merica, and while he was there he gave an interview to the guy who does Kindle Singles, the same guy from NY mag who coined the term "Brat Pack" back in the '80s. All this is is that same NBC evening news interview with Tom Brokaw you've seen a million times, only in ebook form. Obama's responses are so speech-like it's a wonder he comes up with them extemporaneously, even if he has been at it for five years now. In general, he comes off as a talented, well-meaning guy who's hamstrung as far as what he can actually do, but he can't go in on the people standing in his way either -- there's still a little bit too much time left in his second term. But hey, it don't cost shit, and I'm sure Amazon still somehow made a billion dollars from it anyway.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really was a joy to read and it is just a shame that the interview isn't longer.

My perception of Barack Obama, being from the UK and observing his Presidency, has always been positive and I have found him to be a superb speaker. This comes across in this transcript of his interview by David Blum, conducted whilst visiting an Amazon warehouse. It is clear that President Obama had a clear vision for a better America with more opportunities being available to all.

One quote that really caught my attention was:

We weren't exposed to the things we didn't have in the same way that kids these days are. There was not that window into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Kids weren't monitoring every day what Kim Kardashian was wearing, or where Kanye West was going on vacation, and thinking that somehow that was the mark of success.

I feel this sums up well some of the issues of modern life and the current generation and is a challenge across the globe. One that is hard to combat.

[Garun Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Hey mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

今回のKindle Singlesインタビューのなかで、バラク・オバマ大統領は「文化の変化」に非難の矛先を向けた。そのおかげでアメリカン・ドリームに対する私たちの見解は変わってしまったという。「今と違い、かつては金持ちや有名人のライフスタイルを垣間見る手段がなかった」と大統領は指摘する。「子どもたちはキム・カーダシアンが何を着ているか、カニエ・ウェストがどこで休暇を過ごしているかを毎日確認したりしなかったし、それが成功の証だと考えることもなかった」。また、彼は雇用問題を個人的な視点から語り、政治で成功を経験していなければ、今とは違うどんな人生を歩んでいたかに思いを巡らせた。そして「良い教師になっている自分は想像できるね」と答えてくれた。

この2013年7月30日にテネシー州チャタヌーガにあるAmazonの施設で行われたインタビューで、、政府のプログラムには具体的な成果が伴わなければならないと、オバマ大統領は力説する。そのうえで従来のメッセージから脱線しないよう配慮しつつ、世界同時不況をきっかけに深刻の度を深めているアメリカ政治の分極化、自分の取り組みに対する共和党の非協力的な姿勢について率直に語った。プライベートについては、大統領とファーストレディという特殊な立場の人間を親に持った娘たちに対する教育方針を披露。失業と景気後退に苦しむ世界で「ふたりの置かれている環境は少し現実離れしている」ことを常に自覚してもらうよう、妻ミシェルと共に心がけているという。

[Mark Wilkerson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simply put, this was a boring, lazy interview by David Blum, who simply threw softball-sized questions (mostly about the economy and jobs and the middle class) that allowed Obama to stick with his standard responses. I proudly voted for Obama (twice) but was hoping to find some tougher questions here by Blum, be they questions about the NSA, drone strikes, the recent Supreme Court decisions, the race issues still facing the country, anything more recent or headline-grabbing than the economy.... A disappointment all around, this interview...

[Sheldon Lee Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

今回のKindle Singlesインタビューのなかで、バラク・オバマ大統領は「文化の変化」に非難の矛先を向けた。そのおかげでアメリカン・ドリームに対する私たちの見解は変わってしまったという。「今と違い、かつては金持ちや有名人のライフスタイルを垣間見る手段がなかった」と大統領は指摘する。「子どもたちはキム・カーダシアンが何を着ているか、カニエ・ウェストがどこで休暇を過ごしているかを毎日確認したりしなかったし、それが成功の証だと考えることもなかった」。また、彼は雇用問題を個人的な視点から語り、政治で成功を経験していなければ、今とは違うどんな人生を歩んでいたかに思いを巡らせた。そして「良い教師になっている自分は想像できるね」と答えてくれた。

この2013年7月30日にテネシー州チャタヌーガにあるAmazonの施設で行われたインタビューで、、政府の

[sanjay dut · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book have lot of information about Personality.

私はこの本を読むたびに、非常に素晴らしい本は、私はこの本は私のインスピレーションであると感じ

[Rich Weber · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not going to write a review of this, since the review would probably be longer than the interview itself. And, at the risk of sounding arrogant, it's likely that it would have more substance.

[Asher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple read

Not much beyond what is to be expected. One could read and complete this "book" in one bathroom session or during a commercial break.

[البحرالبحرالبحر]

真的不错

[Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si me tuviera que sentar con alguien a hablar sobre política sería con este tipo. Siempre he visto que ha sido una persona carismática, pero sobretodo inteligente. Un tipo que viene de la clase media y ha llegado a presidente de un país como USA, lo cual es increíble.

Pero hay algo que siempre no me cuadra de los políticos, y es que dicen una cosa y hacen otra. Me gustaría realmente preguntarle a este hombre por qué llevo tantas guerras en el mundo y por qué ha sido uno de los presidentes con más deportaciones en su país. También me gustaría preguntarle por qué en su gobierno inventaron las jaulas donde ponían a los niños separados de sus padres en la frontera. Siendo un tipo tan inteligente (y lo pienso genuinamente), al mismo tiempo hacer cosas que no son “demócratas” como su partido político. Por un momento sentí que leía a Juan Manuel Santos, ese hipócrita expresidente colombiano.

Un libro en forma de entrevista hecho por un buen periodista que te deja ver entrelíneas lo muy inteligente que es el expresidente y su forma de pensar. Tanto en contexto humano como político. Pero repito; ¿ por qué tantos políticos dicen una cosa y hacen otra?

[Cidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this on my kindle around easter, which was my improvement month on learning more about historical figures, I know I know but I read so much that sometimes I give myself a month to read on a certain subject whilst still reading fictional books, I need to have several books on the go at the same time!

This was an incredibly short book, I didn't realise that it was just one interview with a journalist from Amazon who interviewed Barack Obama in an almost empty amazon warehouse! He did ask some searching questions, most of which I've forgotten now, but what struck me was just how ordinary Barack Obama was. He was an incredibly intelligent, hard working man, but one who fundamentally at his core was a thoroughly decent man, a family man, who cared very much about america and its people.

I think this book must have been written about the time he was elected for the second time, when he was still continuing his policy of creating more jobs for people and still on his quest for affordable health care for all and higher education available for all those who want it.

[Prabud+Revbookus1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book. . . Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .Good book. . .

[sara fb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kindle Singlesインタビューのなかで、バラク・オバマ大統領は「文化の変化」に非難の矛先を向けた。そのおかげでアメリカン・ドリームに対する私たちの見解は変わってしまったという。「今と違い、かつては金持ちや有名人のライフスタイルを垣間見る手段がなかった」と大統領は指摘する。「子どもたちはキム・カーダシアンが何を着ているか、カニエ・ウェストがどこで休暇を過ごしているかを毎日確認したりしなかったし、それが成功の証だと考えることもなかった」。また、彼は雇用問題を個人的な視点から語り、政治で成功を経験していなければ、今とは違うどんな人生を歩んでいたかに思いを巡らせた。そして「良い教師になっている自分は想像できるね」と答えてくれた。

この2013年7月30日にテネシー州チャタヌーガにあるAmazonの施設で行われたインタビューで、、政府のプログラムには具体的な成果が伴わなければならないと、オバマ大統領

[Rachel ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boa entrevista

Gostei, apesar de ser uma entrevista completamente chapa branca e explicitamente eleitoreira. A realidade que Obama apresenta que a nova geração americana está passando é muito parecida com a nossa. E ele apresenta sempre em contraste com a vida que ele e Michele viveram. A solução igualitária para sociedade que Obama apresenta é obvia, mas não é isso que está acontecendo em nosso país atualmente.

[John Michael Strubhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a "Kindle Single." It's a short interview with Barry O. It's full of softball questions with prepared answers. Very presidential. Very safe. However, Barry shows his smarts. The guy does have class. I got some insight into his approaches (he doesn't have just one, you know). It's worth the read.

[Alex Lutomirski-Kolacz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great constructive way of thinking.

Eloquent and outspoken President Barack Obama answers questions in this interview in a very intelligent, respectful and simple way. No boasting, no self-praises - just insightful and very humble in its form message to the contemporary constituents/readers.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interview. His presidential legacy. His family roots.

Lots of room for improvement in politics post Obama presidency.

F. U. Trump. ;)
F. U. Greed and corruption and republicans. Still hate ya'll, and your gun hard ons.

[Patricio Larrain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Estupendas reflexiones de Obama sobre una USA cuyo modelo podría cambiar, como ya lo hizo una vez, al resto del mundo.

Estupendas reflexiones de Obama sobre una USA cuyo modelo podría cambiar, como ya lo hizo una vez, al resto del mundo.

[Juana Alcantara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Can undertand much better some parts of that mindset. There was clarifying information here that made me feel that things are different depending on the point of view that we saw them.

[Frieda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was done whilst he was still President and shows just how much of a thinker and carer of others he is. My view is somewhat biased from the current incumbent being an imbecile and makes Obama look even better.

[camilo santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mirada a gran escala de la economía de los EEUU en la coyuntura de Obama.

Una entrevista fluida que deja leer al Presidente Obama en su mejor estilo de frescura política y vida pública, resaltando el estilo de vida americano.

[Bob Colwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interview David Blume conducted with President Obama while he was in Chattanooga for the opening of an Amazon warehouse. The transcript is good reading, predictable, insight into the President's thoughts on general issues...nothing too groundbreaking, but still a good quick read.

[Jefferson García]

Entrevista para entender la realidad actual

David Blum hace una excelente entrevista al ya expresidente estadounidense Barack Obama en donde aborda temas de la política, la sociedad americana y sobre todo los desafíos actuales a los que se enfrenta el país más poderoso del mundo.

[Just · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

An enjoyable and interesting read. President Obama explained several areas of American politics that had been confusing. A very thought-provoking interview. Well worth reading.

[Linda Luz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siempre es un placer leer o escuchar a Barack Obama, es un hombre con las ideas claras y la habilidad para expresarlas muy bien. Me encanta la devoción que tiene por su esposa, no pierde una entrevista para mencionarla y demostrar lo mucho que le ha enseñado.

[Melinda]

It was kind of expected. He was so closely followed by the media, that it's really hard not to know some of these things. Our media loves to over-emphasize the flaws and realism of almost every president.