Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham was serious and insightful. It was a story I will remember for a long time to come.

Vinson Cunningham's Great Expectations is a powerful and insightful novel that explores the complexities of race, politics, and identity in contemporary America. I was not sure what to expect going into this novel, but I appreciated the unique voice of the author, while exploring the American presidency.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

Interesting, but for some reason this book fell flat for me. It wasn't my favourite reading experience, I felt it could have went deeper with its themes

I was really looking forward to this book. I loved the cover and hoped that the writing would meet my expectations. Unfortunately, it did not. The author seems to be a wonderful person, but the book just didn't hold my attention.

This book was so compelling, that I repeatedly had to check that it was not nonfiction. The intricate depiction of politics, behind the scenes, was a fascinating and thought-provoking tale.

Good solid literary fiction but I will say something about it seemed a little bit scattered (maybe tried to address too many topics?).

This was such an interesting novel. I came of age into adulthood during the Obama administration, and to see this time reflected in such an interesting way is truly fascinating. As someone who also loves Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, I appreciate the ways in which this feels like a novel that defines a time, a generation, and the narrative arc of a human. It felt a little slow to start, but it was captivating.

Great writing! But the story did not grip me and I did wonder how autobiographical the story was under the guise of fiction. Ended up pausing it about a third of the way through and was never driven to pick it back up. Maybe this is about the pacing or just the fact that I’m not sure what the stakes were. But I do hope to return to the book one day to learn where the author was headed!

I actively wanted to read some timely political fiction, and when if not during a particularly thrilling and tumultuous election season? I can vividly recall the budding optimism of the era depicted here (late 2000s), and I can't help but make parallels to the present moment. If anything, this is a novel that's heavy on ideas, and slight on plot. A young, aimless, black man finds himself a fundraising staffer for a historic and idealistic presidential campaign. All sorts of ruminations in various subjects persist in lengthy stretches (religion, philosophy, childhood, music, basketball, etc.), but I'm unsure if those many explications did the book any favors. As far as debuts goes, there's deft and illuminating passages found throughout, and the high caliber of Vinson Cunningham's craft isn't in question. I personally wanted more to latch onto in terms of character development (there's next to none), agency, and pacing. This reads almost diaristic, and that's not how the book was marketed. I hoped for more excitement in stretches to model this barrier-busting campaign, even if it was from something tawdry like having naive David find an anonymous dossier or flash drive that exposes "the Senator's" secret love child or something. (But this is a Barack Obama story, not John Edwards's.) I'm very curious what exactly is modeled from real events versus pure imagination. Another thing that bothered me was the inexplicable way the author had no problems name-dropping certain famous figures to set the era (like Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Cornel West, etc.), but then gave other characters thinly veiled substitutions (the Senator's controversial religious leader in Chicago was clearly modeled on Jeremiah Wright, for example, but not named that, and "the war hero" being the late John McCain). Other characters weren't even given names, like David's infant daughter that he barely bothers seeing, and the baby's mother who's only referred to as "the dancer" (because she danced in a college hip-hop group). I give debut works additional leeway when I can see future potential, but I doubt if another editorial pass would have helped all that much. This is the novel the author clearly wanted to write, for better or worse.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth for ARC access.

Nope! No! Absolutely did not work for me. I’m sorry to feel this, but it’s simply a fictional version of Obama’s presidential campaign. No intrigue, no mystery, you know the story because we all saw it. So what then is the point of this book?

This was very interesting Look about dave who's working as a campaign for a senator who wanted to become president. Dave go through Book based on historical facts and it's all tied together. It's interesting Had different emotions is the book Close on. Dave changes as the Fuck goes on.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham. The author worked on the Obama campaign, and the novel is loosely based on his experience there, I assume. This is pretty introspective, not racy at all like some other campaign novels I have read. Or at least not the part that I got through. I tried this twice but just could not get into it. So did not finish.

i really love metafiction, but this got bogged down in autobiography: consumed in conveying an alarmingly accurate rendition of the obama '08 campaign, it didn't do much else to make it a narrative.

This novel felt a bit sleight of handy to me in the very best way. On my first read I thought it modest almost to a fault (though always enjoyable), but the closeness of the observations and the narrator's ingenue-nesss are incredibly skillful and clever.

The flexible timeline of memory and in the moment was satisfying to read, and the cadence of the narration was pleasant, but I had a hard time observing change (or lack thereof) in the main character. David almost felt as if he were only there to give the reader an opportunity to sit in these rooms and observe these people—basically just a body for us to inhabit as we moved around this world.

After having read several political nonfiction titles, though, I will say that the frenetic energy of a campaign, especially a grassroots one, is always a little bit addicting. I enjoyed this peek behind the curtains, especially because the election that this book seems to center around took place before I was old enough to be paying close attention.

Thank you to Hogarth & Random House for the opportunity to read and review!

Rating this a generous three stars. The author has talent for writing, but I didn’t find what he was writing about interesting or engaging. I don’t know why he had to refer to Obama as ‘the senator’ and I don’t know why it irritated me so much, but a plot device employed for no apparent reason has no place in a well written novel. If he writes a memoir about his experiences working on ‘the senator’s’ campaign I might read it but this novel didn’t do anything for me.

I had great hopes or dare I say "expectations" for this one.

The story follows an early 20's man working in political fundraising for a prominent senator, (aka Barack Obama - although he is never named).

The gorgeous cover initially caught my eye, and after learning it's loosely based on the author's experience working on the first Obama campaign, I was excited to dive in.

And while I loved the small number of bits that did talk about the campaign, David's co-workers, the political events/happenings, etc, I found that much of the book focused on David's rambling introspective musings on religion, and a variety of uninteresting-to-me things and not so much about the political aspects that I wanted.

I just struggled to stay engaged in the ramblings but perked up when things wandered back into the political realm.

So, unfortunately, the story wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but I do think that there are others that will enjoy David's journey.

A big thank you to @randomhouse and @netgalley for the #gifted copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I was able to read this novel thru NetGalley and though it’s not one of my favorites it is an interesting read. The main character is a young volunteer on a Presidential campaign , obviously Obama’s, and each chapter mixes his campaign experience along with events from his past. The author is a great writer.

Great Expectations" by Vinson Cunningham offers readers a peek behind the scenes of fundraising a presidential campaign. What kept me reading was the novels relatable characters and the detailed portrayal of their lives on the campaign trail. From the campaign managers to the interns, each character feels like someone you might meet in real life. Humans who have made mistakes, that are full of hope and sadness, and with aspirations of their own.

However it's worth noting that some readers might find themselves scratching their heads at certain references or nuances in the narrative. Cunningham’s writing is rich with detail, and while this adds depth to the story, it may also leave some readers feeling like they've missed out on something.

The novel's descriptions were framed as reflections from David's older self, contemplating his past self and his perspective at a pivotal moment in American political history. While weaving in themes of faith and spirituality, showing how personal beliefs can shape political decisions. Unfortunately while we are exposed to David’s perspective, I couldn’t help but feel secluded or removed from the real voice of David. Which is self evident in the last portion of the book were we are given a glimpse, albeit though pursed lips, of David’s childhood between Chicago and New York.

Ultimately, "Great Expectations" offers a compelling glimpse into David’s perspective of the political machine, leaving readers (if your willing to work for it) both contemplative and engaged.

I had high hopes for this one, but it never came together as a novel for me. It felt as though I was reading pages out of a journal, but nothing exciting happened.

This is David’s story. He’s a 22 year old black man from New York who organizes fundraising events during 2008 for the Obama (who is only referred to as “the Senator”) campaign. He had a child when he younger, but he doesn’t take care of her and rarely speaks of her. This was a downer. He seems quite religious and talks about a lot.

In my personal opinion, David was boring, which made this story boring. I just didn’t see the point of this book.