I agree dreams has a lot of ‘bloopers’, and Obama does not appear to be very good with dates, and ages. But I do think that it can be determined that it was the summer of 1960, that SAD was in Chicago, by looking at some more reliable ancillary evidence.
Obama mentions that a favorite movie of his mothers was ‘Black Orpheus’, and that she saw it for the first time during the summer when she was an Au Pair in Chicago. ‘Black Orpheus’ was released in the US in November of 1959. I think it’s safe to say that SAD could tell the difference between Winter, and Summer. So if the statement that she first saw the movie during the summer in Chicago, it would have had to have been the summer of 1960.
Just a couple of observations re: Dreams. First, according to a friendly biographer, Michelle took Barry’s notes and gave them to Bill Ayers. Ayers turned what was likely a rat’s nest of near-useless data points into a work of fiction and the lib spin machine took over from there.
Secondly, I can tell you from firsthand experience a that you can’t trust one word out of a Malignant Narcissist’s mouth. They can rewrite history that took place five minutes ago, come up with an unrecognizable narrative, swear it’s true, and attack your jugular if you dare to disagree. Little Barry’s notes and recollection have about the historical/accuracy level of Algore’s assessment of climate science. In point of fact, one of the surest ways to know something is probably not true is to find it stated as fact in Dreams. Sad but true.
muawiyah, here’s a discussion of Dreams you might find interesting.
Good point on ‘Black Orpheus’, but it only adds to the confusion. According to Wiki, ‘Black Orpheus’ was released on December 21, 1959 in the US.
So Ann must have seen the movie in Chicago when she was seventeen not sixteen. I wonder if movies were still in movie theaters 6-7 months after their release back in the early sixties in order for Ann to see the movie in the summer.
When Ann states “and I was there for the summer, working as an au pair”, it is not clear whether she meant that she saw the movie in the summer as well.
In conclusion, the whole statement is confusing and shouldn’t be used as evidence that Ann was in Chicago in the summer of 1960.