Richard Wolffe was with the Obama campaign from the beginning. He had exclusive and direct access to the candidate, his inner circle and the campaign in general. The book is based on interviews with Obama and the people around him.

It is a sober and well-told description of Obama’s worldview, both professionally, politically and personally.

For me, it was a quick read. I had read Obama’s two books, so I feel like I know much about him already from that. As I read Renegade, I found myself skimming over sections giving background of the candidate’s childhood and formative years, since I already knew many of the facts. Renegade is a perfect introduction to Obama, the man, if you have not read Obama’s books. For me, there was repetition.

But that aside, it was fascinating to see how the Obama campaign created the engine that drove it all, from a whole new way of fundraising, to an entirely different way of looking at politics. Nobody had ever put together a more powerful and effective campaign, and reading the Renegade provides excellent views behind the curtain into a fascinating man and his inner circle.

I read the Kindle edition, and I was surprised how poor the proofreading was. There were at least 30 places in the book where periods after sentences were missing. I am puzzled about this. Do they actually have to retype the books for the Kindle? How can you miss that many periods? I can write a computer program to detect this condition and highlight it. Amazon should pay more attention to the quality of  the Kindle editions.

Rating: **