Michelle Obama is an extraordinary woman and her memoir is equally so. It's a fascinating and inspiring story, and obviously written in her true voice...you only have to be familiar with her speeches and many appearances on TV talk shows to know it. In fact, the writing rings so true that you can "hear" her. Were I still commuting, it would have been a wonderful audio book experience, but no matter, reading it was just fine as it came across as so immediate and animated. The 400-plus pages just flew by.
The book is divided into three main sections, plus an epilogue.
"Becoming Me" explores her childhood and teen years in the working-class South Side of Chicago, and her young adult years as she navigates her Ivy-League undergraduate experience at Princeton, law school at Harvard, and her partner-track work at a leading law firm – where she first met Barack Obama when he came on as a summer associate and she mentored him.
The second section is "Becoming Us", which describes their coming together as a couple, as ambitious young marrieds, and parents to Malia and Sasha. This is where we find out exactly what Barack Obama was doing as a Community Organizer, and how he moved on to the Illinois State Senate, to US Senator and then President of the United States. Through it all, their career and personal decisions for themselves and a couple were completely entwined, so theirs is truly a joint story.
Michelle Obama's professional accomplishments during this time are not as widely known or celebrated as her husband's, but they are equally impressive. She left the law firm, and became one of the forces behind a non-profit organization, Public Allies, which was created to help young people find their way into careers in public service and in non-profits. Following that, she became the Executive Director for Public Affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
"Becoming More" covers the Obamas' White House years. It is fascinating to read how they rose to the demands of their positions, how they made adjustments to the way a First Family lives within the spotlight of the Presidency, and of the many experiences they all had in that setting. The pressure on them was even more intense than on other Presidents and their families, as the first African-Americans in that role. Being the first is always the most challenging and the most scrutinized, and we all know, and mainly due to the efforts of Michelle Obama, they more than rose to the occasion and became a shining example of what America is all about – a concept that is now being torn down and refuted by the Oval Office's current occupant.
Michelle Obama's time as First Lady is over, but at the age of fifty-five, we can expect to see much more from her. Just the other day, it was announced that a half-million dollars of earnings from the sale of her book would be donated to promote education and opportunities for girls. Every day I continue to be impressed by her. She is a force for what is good and positive, and how she reached the place she now occupies as a public figure should encourage millions of average Americans, especially young people, to do and be more. Reading her book can provide the inspiration for that.
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