Did you know Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era?
As first lady of the United States of America - the first African American to serve in that role - she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the United States and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Review:
This is an interesting, beautifully written book by one of the most admired women in the world. The book includes many personal details about Mrs. Obama's background that I didn't know about and enjoyed reading.
The book "Becoming" itself is beautiful, filled with photos in color showing the chronology of her remarkable life. One cannot help but appreciate her intellect, forthright perceptions and dedication to her family and our country. Michelle's vulnerability as black child, black young woman and First Lady is a prominent spectacle of our society. There are small incidents that stand out as a child for herself and her brother. It is a sorry reflection of our society, but Michelle (with Barak) changed our history. Their civility and parenting is a remarkable example.
Many of us feel like we truly know Barack and Michelle Obama from their eight years in the White House. We grew to appreciate and love them both. But in this memoir, this treasure, Becoming, Michelle Obama not only relates her life but manages to inspire and show us that she and her famous husband are full, rich, mostly ordinary folks. Michelle lets us know how passionate she is about the welfare of kids, especially her own. She gives details of her accomplishments in that arena as FLOTUS, First Lady of the United States. But she makes it clear that her primary focus is being a good mother, good daughter, and good wife.
Her main objective as a mother in the White House was to see that her daughters led as normal and as spontaneous lives as possible in that fishbowl with all America looking in. With clarity, structure, and fine writing, Michelle Obama tells her story, from growing up in a middle class African American family on the south side of Chicago, where love abounded, common sense was instilled, and education stressed, to her becoming a lawyer, a public servant, a wife, a mother, and the First Lady.
She did it all cheerfully, finding ingenious ways to tamp down stress, have a career, and raise her girls whose father was absent some of the time because of his political ambitions. In Becoming, she tells sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching anecdotes of her meetings with famous figures, wounded soldiers, young people, and mothers who lost their children to violence. She also makes it very clear that she hates politics. She did a lot of politicking to support her ambitious, brilliant, and beloved husband. But she, herself, is glad she is “out of the game” except for an occasional stump speech.
And surprisingly, she lets us know that this man she adores has his own warts. The Obama we know as a public figure and love as a down-to-earth but somewhat god-like figure does indeed suffer some human traits that drive his wife up against the wall! And that’s what makes this book so wonderful. Michelle Obama is brilliant, wise, educated, a talented writer, and her book is indeed a treasure—as is she.
As first lady of the United States of America - the first African American to serve in that role - she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the United States and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Review:
This is an interesting, beautifully written book by one of the most admired women in the world. The book includes many personal details about Mrs. Obama's background that I didn't know about and enjoyed reading.
The book "Becoming" itself is beautiful, filled with photos in color showing the chronology of her remarkable life. One cannot help but appreciate her intellect, forthright perceptions and dedication to her family and our country. Michelle's vulnerability as black child, black young woman and First Lady is a prominent spectacle of our society. There are small incidents that stand out as a child for herself and her brother. It is a sorry reflection of our society, but Michelle (with Barak) changed our history. Their civility and parenting is a remarkable example.
Many of us feel like we truly know Barack and Michelle Obama from their eight years in the White House. We grew to appreciate and love them both. But in this memoir, this treasure, Becoming, Michelle Obama not only relates her life but manages to inspire and show us that she and her famous husband are full, rich, mostly ordinary folks. Michelle lets us know how passionate she is about the welfare of kids, especially her own. She gives details of her accomplishments in that arena as FLOTUS, First Lady of the United States. But she makes it clear that her primary focus is being a good mother, good daughter, and good wife.
Her main objective as a mother in the White House was to see that her daughters led as normal and as spontaneous lives as possible in that fishbowl with all America looking in. With clarity, structure, and fine writing, Michelle Obama tells her story, from growing up in a middle class African American family on the south side of Chicago, where love abounded, common sense was instilled, and education stressed, to her becoming a lawyer, a public servant, a wife, a mother, and the First Lady.
She did it all cheerfully, finding ingenious ways to tamp down stress, have a career, and raise her girls whose father was absent some of the time because of his political ambitions. In Becoming, she tells sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching anecdotes of her meetings with famous figures, wounded soldiers, young people, and mothers who lost their children to violence. She also makes it very clear that she hates politics. She did a lot of politicking to support her ambitious, brilliant, and beloved husband. But she, herself, is glad she is “out of the game” except for an occasional stump speech.
And surprisingly, she lets us know that this man she adores has his own warts. The Obama we know as a public figure and love as a down-to-earth but somewhat god-like figure does indeed suffer some human traits that drive his wife up against the wall! And that’s what makes this book so wonderful. Michelle Obama is brilliant, wise, educated, a talented writer, and her book is indeed a treasure—as is she.
