Literary Nonfiction. African & African American Studies. History & Politics. BARACK OBAMA: INVISIBLE MAN is a provocative examination of President Barack Obama and his legacy. Masciotra contends that most Americans, frightened over the loss of white authority, were unable to deal with the historical, racial, and political implications of electing the first black president. The right distorted Obama into a monster, while many on the left set him up to fail with unrealistic expectations. The man who emerges from the ashes of caricature is not only an accomplished--if flawed--president, but a cultural figure of profound importance who challenged America's increasingly anti- intellectual anxiety with a stirring and subversive message of hope.