David Maraniss’s ‘Obama: The Story’ chronicles the President’s life, ex-girlfriends and all

David Maraniss's new book, "Obama: The Story," is excerpted in the June issue of Vanity Fair, dishing out details about the President's life at Columbia, his ex-girlfriends, and his search for a family. 

"This book is about the world that created Barack Obama and how he refashioned himself," Maraniss, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist at the Washington Post who has written biographies of famous figures ranging Roberto Clemente to Bill Clinton, told Vanity Fair. "I have done extensive research for all of his years leading up the White House and intend to write another volume, but not for many years—after more documents open up and the story of his presidency settles somewhat. I want to write for history, not for the moment." 

More from GlobalPost: Obama's secret Afghanistan trip nearly ruined by Twitter, media leaks

The six-page Vanity Fair excerpt focuses on two of Obama’s early girlfriends: Alex McNear, who Obama met at Occidental College before he transferred to Columbia, and Genevieve Cook, the daughter of a prominent Australian diplomat, the Washington Post reported. 

Obama and Cook lived together briefly in New York, but ended their relationship in May 1985, according to the Post.

“I’m left wondering if Barack’s reserve, etc. is not just the time in his life, but, after all, emotional scarring that will make it difficult for him to get involved even after he’s sorted his life through with age and experience,” Cook wrote in her journal, according to the excerpt. “Hard to say, as obviously I was not the person that brought infatuation. (That lithe, bubbly, strong black lady is waiting somewhere!)”

The excerpt also details Obama's years as a student at Columbia University, noting that he and his roommate would often spend the night at the university's Butler Library, which was open all night, because the heat in their apartment didn't work, the Daily Beast reported. To save money, the two ate $1.99 breakfast at Tom’s Restaurant, the future site of the fictional Monk’s restaurant on Seinfeld. 

More from GlobalPost: Obama documentary, 'The Road We've Traveled,' released amid criticism from GOP (VIDEO)

Maraniss told Vanity Fair that while he used the President's two novels, "Dreams of My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope" in his research, many of the details in them are composites or reflections and not fact. 

“Memoir and biography are two very different things,” Maraniss said in an interview with the magazine. “In the introduction to ‘Barack Obama: The Story,’ I say that his memoir is a remarkably insightful exploration of his internal struggle but should not be read as rigorous factual history.”

The complete book is set to be released in bookstores on June 19, according to the Daily Beast.