Structure

The memoir includes three major divisions--"Origins," "Chicago," and "Kenya"--that are organized roughly by chronology, with multiple moments of flashback within each section.

"Origins" includes six chapters that cover Obama's early years in Hawaii, his years in Indonesia after Ann Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, and his life as a student in grade school through college. Chapter 1 opens when Obama is 21 and has just received a call reporting the death of his father, then it reaches backwards in time to provide the backstories of Obama Sr. and the Dunhams. Chapter 2 recounts the two or so years that Obama spent in Indonesia. This chapter also skips about in terms of chronology. The chapter opens with an account of Obama's horror when he discovered as the story about the man who removed his black skin, but it then goes back in time to describe Obama's arrival in Indonesia three...