http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303901504577461660023302338.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
He was an efficient worker (Barf) and an aloof colleague (Of Course). Unlike many of his young co-workers, he never arrived at work late (Barf)—and never stayed late (Of Course). He did what the job required (Barf), "no more and no less."(Of Course)
When one co-worker, knowing that Mr. Obama was a runner, suggested that they jog together after work, Mr. Obama declined, saying: "I don't jog, I run." (Pretentious Jerk - Barf) It appears that he was simply biding time in a world he did not like. (Hurl)
In a letter found by Mr. Maraniss, Mr. Obama's mother wrote a friend: "He calls it working for the enemy (Just like being pResident) because some of the reports are written for commercial firms that want to invest in [Third World] countries."
"Barack Obama: The Story," by David Maraniss, which comes out June 19, discusses the president's early education in Jakarta as well as his years in Hawaii, in college, and beyond. In Jakarta, Mr. Obama was sometimes jokingly referred to as "Bahasa tarzan" and inspired curiosity for having a white mother.
One friend from Occidental College remembers the young Mr. Obama's explanation of his nickname, Barry, as a sort of protective barrier.
According to the book, "one day, as Moore recalled the scene, he and Obama were 'sitting around, discussing the world . . . and I said, 'Barry Obama? What is that derivative of?' And he told me the story of how his mom had met his father. And I had been to Kenya. . . . It was a bit of serendipity in our lives. We were just kind of chatting. I was heckling a bit. . . . 'Barry Obama, what kind of name is that for a brother?' And he said, 'Well, my real name is Buh-ROCK. Barack Obama.' And I said, 'Well, that's a strong name. Rock, Buh-ROCK.' And we laughed about it.'"
Maraniss writes: "He said, 'I go by Barry so I don't have to explain myself to the world. You're my bro, I can give you the background on it.' But it was basically an accommodation to the Anglo world, Anglo society. You don't want to be singled out, necessarily."
Mr. Obama and Moore also bonded over music, debating the meaning of Bob Marley's album "Survival" and the work of Stevie Wonder.
He later transferred to Columbia University, where he became friends with a group of Pakistani students and spoke about his desire to one day become president, according to one friend interviewed in the book.
Mir Mahboob Mahmood, a student at Columbia Law School and a friend of Mr. Obama's in those days, remembers that the two "had known each other only a few months when Obama posed this question to him: 'Do you think I will be president of the United States?'"
"If America is ready for a black president, you can make it," Mahmoud says he told him.