A BOUND MAN Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win

A lot has transpired since Shelby Steele wrote A BOUND MAN--so much so that it's not clear whether the book is even relevant anymore. Steele's premise is that Barack Obama is caught between the two ways in which blacks have traditionally operated in the U.S.--by bargaining or challenging. But Obama's more recent pronouncements on race and racism, and the voting public's apparent comfort with them, seem to undermine some of Steele's strongest arguments. Richard Allen's narration is not one of his better efforts, in part because of what seems to be a slightly "hot" microphone. While clear, Allen's voice sometimes seems tinny and artificially fast. J.B.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2008]