Long before Barak Obama became president of the United States , he wrote a memoir called Dreams from My Father :A Story of Race and Inheritance , which has since become a bestseller . It is a compelling book which includes a sentimental account of his childhood along with his his early struggles in life . Obama had little contact with a father whose roots were in Kenya because he left home when Obama was very young . His mother remarried to a student from Indonesia , and shortly after the family moved to Jakarta . A few years later , Obama came back with his grandparents to Hawaii ,where he attended a private high school . He then studied at Columbia . in New York City , before entering Harvard Law School . This autobiography also touches heavily on Obama's exposure to racism. Readers will find his reflections of childhood experiences which involved racial discrimination to be especially moving.