USA Book Tour

USA Book Tour 2014/11/4

For Immediate Release: Aug. 12, 2014
For more information contact: Jessica Plaskett (203)458-4511

Mark Obama Ndesandjo to Launch US Media Tour in NYC

New York, NY-― President Obama’s brother, Mark Obama Ndesandjo will begin his national media tour on September 15, 2014, with the launch of his much-awaited book: An Obama’s Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery Across Three Cultures at a book signing in NYC.

Mark’s revealing memoir (Globe Pequot, Sept. 16, 2014, 978-1-4930-0751-6, hard cover, $25.95) recounts his complex relationship with his older half-brother, President Barack Obama, including their first meeting in Kenya over twenty years ago. The book also offers the author's inspiring personal story about identity and multiculturalism. Rare family photos add to the book's personal nature as does the intense recounting of domestic violence in the home of Barack Obama Sr. and his third wife, Ruth Baker, Ndesandjo’s Jewish-American mother.

The book also attempts to set the records straight on several points of the president’s best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father. In its connection to President Obama, Mark's story takes on an even greater significance because it becomes all the more directly, a story of American identity and a window into the complex figure of the father they share, Barack Obama Sr., their roots in Kenya, their multicultural identities, and their relationships with America.

The book’s approaching release has gained national and international attention from outlets such as BBC News, CBS News, Huffington Post, New York Daily News and The Washington Post, as well as accolades from such scholars as Charles Ogletree Jr., founder of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.

Mark will be donating a portion of this book’s profits to his Foundation to promote art education among disadvantaged children worldwide.

Mark will be available for a limited number of New York-based media interviews beginning September 10-15th. Please contact Jessica Plaskett at (203) 458-4511/jplaskett@rowman.com for more information or to request a review copy of An Obama’s Journey.

PRAISE FOR AN OBAMA’S JOURNEY:

“The book is captivating. It gave me new insights into Mark’s life with his half-brother, President Barack Obama, as well as the limited time that he had with his father, Barack Obama Sr. This book is a compelling read for those who are very interested in learning more about President Obama and his family, as well as the work Mark has done…When you read this book, you’ll get a good sense of him, of the family history, and for his commitment to justice and equality.”
—Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard University, and founding and executive director of Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice

“An Obama’s Journey is a touching story of one man’s transnational search for identity, cultural understanding, and forgiveness. It’s a riveting, stunningly honest read that transcends being the biography of the president’s half-brother; from his early years in Kenya to his coming of age in the United States and final passage to China, Mark Obama has a remarkable tale to tell in his own right.”
—Jenni Marsh, South China Morning Post

"With gut-wrenching honesty, Mark Obama Ndesandjo exorcises demons from his past while delicately balancing diverse cultures that straddle three continents. His candor covers failures, successes, racism, a scandal or two, musical joys, charitable pleasures, and amazement at watching from a distance as his rival sibling performed political miracles."
— John Cairns, author of All Aboard! Planet Expat

“Like any great autobiography, this book is about more than a person. It is about humanity and relationships and holds lessons for all to learn. I enjoyed reading the full and nuanced description of Africa’s beauty and savagery and about its curiously admirable indifference….”
—Fritz Galt, author of China Gate

Mark Obama Ndesandjo is an American pianist, writer, artist, and businessman. Born in Kenya and a twelve year Shenzhen resident, he has a BSc in physics from Brown University, an MSc in physics from Stanford, and an EMBA from Emory. He is an HSK L7 Mandarin speaker and an avid brush calligrapher. He has published three piano CDs, including his own compositions. His 2009 novel, Nairobi to Shenzhen, was critically acclaimed and a global sensation. He is now writing a book on Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin (‘China’s Kafka').For his work with orphans, he was appointed Volunteer Image Ambassador and Special Olympics Image Ambassador by China. Mark runs an international consulting company and the Mark Obama Ndesandjo Foundation Ltd. Visit him at markobamandesandjo.com.

Globe Pequot Press/A division of Rowman & Littlefield