THE PROMISE President Obama, Year One

As both a political history and an in-depth biography, this book is an important first draft in assessing the Obama presidency. Many other writings will follow this one, but they will have a hard time matching the energy and reporting quality that the author brings to this work. It would be nice to say that Jonathan Alter is as effective a narrator as he is an author, but that’s not the case. Alter’s scratchy, hoarse voice is more of a distraction than an attribute. He reads his own words well, but that’s all he does. There’s little emotion in his voice, and he doesn’t do justice to the charismatic man he’s written about. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2010]