“He was trying to find his place in the whirl of humanity, while at the same time refining the literary riffs that filled up page after page of his journals.”
Does Maraniss claim to possess these “journals”? First I have ever heard of them.
The journals were obtained by David Maraniss of The Washington Post, whose biography, “Barack Obama: The Story,” will be published next ...
When Mr. Obama met Ms. Cook, Mr. Maraniss wrote, she “engaged him in the deepest romantic relationship of his young life.” Her journal entries described a long effort to understand Mr. Obama that eventually failed when they broke up.
“How is he so old already, at the age of 22?” she wrote. “I have to recognize (despite play of wry and mocking smile on lips) that I find his thereness very threatening.” She added, “Distance, distance, distance, and wariness.”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/obamas-ex-girlfriend-details-their-relationship/