This autobiography is one of the very few, you can´t walk by. Michelle Obama was an outstanding First Lady who didn´t ask for that position but filled it with grace, dignity, and her very own way of thinking. She is an icon and probably belongs to the pool of women who are the most-watched and photographed of our time. Respected and loved not only by many Americans but most of the rest of the world as well. And she showed us and still does, that you can be in a powerful position and still act and speak with laureateship and respect for others. I´ve heard so many great things about this book, that I couldn´t wait to get my hands on it. And after reading it, I can say for sure, that I will get my own copy.
Becoming*
by
Michelle Obama
Publisher Crown on November 13, 2018
Genre Autobiography
Pages 448
Format Hardcover, Audiobook
Source Library, Purchased
Goodreads
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In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, 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 establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. 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 readers 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 her own terms.
The tone in this book is incredible and exactly what I always heard when I was watching her on a TV show or saw a video clip she had done. For me, it was sure, that I bought the audiobook too. I divided my time reading the print edition mainly at home and listening to the audio while outside. Michelle Obama lets you see insight into her family life, what her parents taught her, how she got raised, and what she always wanted from life. The fact, that she is obviously a control freak – in the most positive way I can imagine – was completely new to me. I never thought that of her. Or that she wasn´t at all happy when her husband went into politics. I remember the TV pictures only too well after her husband became elected president, and she stepped with her family late at night into the limelight and the famous “Yes, we can” sounded through the air.
This autobiography is full of emotions, wisdom, respect, grandeur, humbleness, and style. And with a stunning elementariness. I felt inspired and it was actually very comforting to read that she too, had to struggle and find her own way not only while growing up in the South Side but also when she was First Lady and an entire country and the world was watching her every move or commented what she was wearing and she had to get used to it. I saw a completely different woman in here than the one I noticed during her time as First Lady. In a positive way. Many things she describes here, I knew from the yellow press or had heard of it in the news on CNN or BBC. Things I actually hadn´t seen the way it was later discussed there.
Conclusion
I guess I can say without a doubt, that Michelle Obama was, and still is, one of THE First Ladies, who stand out from the others who were/ are in the same position. Not only because she was the first African-American woman to become First Lady, but also because of the way how she filled and shaped that role with elegance, dignity, and respect for herself and others. There are only three other names I put on the same level as I see her. All former First Ladies. One of them is a late FS. Thank you, Michelle Obama, for this great insight into your life and your years at the White House. It was one great reading pleasure.
Happy reading
*I read the German edition published by
Goldmann on November 13, 2018
Michelle Obama
Michelle Robinson Obama served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Mrs. Obama started her career as an attorney at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama. She later worked in the Chicago mayor’s office, at the University of Chicago, and at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Mrs. Obama also founded the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an organization that prepares young people for careers in public service. The Obamas currently live in Washington, DC, and have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
