At its core, An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up From My American Dream is a campaign book. A campaign book for former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas and former HUD secretary under President Obama Julian Castro as he prepared for his 2020 Presidential Campaign. It tells the story of Castro's childhood in a poverty-stricken neighborhood and how he beat all odds and get his way out of the neighborhood -- and out of poverty. It tells the story of his political career and rise from Mayor of San Antonio, Texas to HUD Secretary under President Obama to potential Vice Presidential Candidate for Hillary Clinton to now... a Presidential candidate. In that sense, An Unlikely Journey is a memoir. But it also illuminates some of Castro's positions on issues like the economy.
At release, An Unlikely Journey received positive -- although not universally positive -- reviews. Kirkus Reviews called the book "A timely, inspiring memoir" and called the book "eloquent" and "moving." Concepcion de Leon of the New York Times Book review, however, offered up a more negative review, writing "There are many interesting threads in Castro’s book, but little in the way of introspection. In the first half, especially, which covers his childhood, many anecdotes seem presented for dramatic effect, and their purpose in the larger story never becomes clear .." Greg Jefferson of The San Antonio Current offered up a more mixed review as well, writing "With less to hold readers’ interest, one begins to pay more attention to Castro’s habit of writing about his life as though it’s played out in a series of neat lessons. Every couple of pages, he stops the action to spell out what he learned from whatever action he’s just described." An Unlikely Journey is no doubt a decent book, but it is not among the most absolutely significant pieces of literature written by politicians (while the book which An Unlikely Journey tries so hard to emulate, Barack Obama's Dreams of My Father, is one of the best books ever written by a politician).
