Barack Obama's memoir A Promised Land was the most anticipated book in many a year, but since the significantly overpriced volume appeared, reaction to it has been noticeably muted. That could well be because of its length; it could more likely be because some sections of its narrative read like papers drawn directly from the Journal of Policy History. Initial reviews were surprisingly mixed, with a young Black poet sharply critiquing it in Obama's hometown Chicago Tribune and a highly knowledgeable progressive journalist slamming it forcefully in a long essay in The Week.
