Columnist’s note: The book review below has been reprinted in its entirety with the permission of the book reviewer, Dr. Quina Whitted, Associate Professor of English and African-American Studies at the University of South Carolina. I am grateful to Dr. Whitted for the kind and generous words about my upcoming book, Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers Did It. You can read Dr. Whitted’s great literary blog at www.Literary Obama.com.
Appearing exactly one year into Barack Obama’s presidency, Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers Did It takes us back to the early days of Obama’s political career and reminds us not of bumper sticker slogans and punditry blood sport, but of the hard work of campaigning – one handshake, one yard sign, one petition signature at a time.
Author John Presta is the co-owner of an independent Chicago bookstore who, along with his wife Michelle, became supporters of Obama’s vision shortly after his memoir, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, appeared on their shelves. Indeed, the book is the driving force behind the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots. Obama’s memoir encouraged the Prestas to learn more about the local community organizer who aspired to political office. But before becoming a best seller, Dreams From My Father sold poorly and was collecting dust around the time of Obama’s first failed run for Congress. Presta writes:
We kept his book on our shelves. In spite of the fact that the book was out-of-print. In spite of the fact that it was not our “modus operandi.” Books stay for so long and then move on. Sometime sixty, ninety days, at the most, unless they show saleability. It is that simple. We could not and would not give up on this book for emotional reasons. No one ever advised us not to get emotionally involved with our books. We would not and could not give up on the book or on Barack Obama.
Presta uses other well-known books and their plot points to convey the challenges and successes of Obama’s work with titles such as The Road Less Traveled, The Pied Piper, and stories by Dr. Suess. Popular publications such as The Da Vinci Code and Oprah’s Book Club selections help mark the ups and downs of the campaigns in particularly creative ways. Yet as the nation moves from one literary moment to the next, Presta describes how the 300 volunteers tirelessly spread Obama’s message by organizing debates, phone calls, and fundraisers. He even writes movingly about how his own Italian heritage and family motivated him to seek out “ringside seats to American history.”
Again and again, Presta tells us, “Change comes slowly, gradually, incrementally, and suddenly.” Although his book closes as Obama’s campaign moves from Illinois to the national stage, it is clear that without the energy and enthusiasm of volunteers like him, Barack Obama would not be President today. Filled with photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, and a heartfelt personal account, Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots is a loving archive of the power of change in our social and political moment. Chicago City Hall Examiner and The Chicago Grassroots Political Examiner.
John is the author of an upcoming book, Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. The book can be ordered from many places, preferably your local independent bookseller at Indie Bound. It can be ordered from another great independent, Powells Bookstore in Portland, OR. Or if you insist, from Amazon.com. Or Barnes and Noble. Or Borders. Or even Sears.
Read the Chicago City Hall Examiner’s and the Chicago Grassroots Political Examiner’s recent pieces on many issues: First booksigning for the Obama book that celebrates books and bookselling. Robert Gibbs lashes out at Limbaugh. Mayor Richard M. Daley is vulnerable. Obama book is a celebration of books and bookselling. Pamela Cotten is endorsed for Subcircuit judge of Cook County.
