Michelle Obama

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
(PRINT: COPYRIGHT 11/13/2018; PUBLISHER: Crown (First Edition); ISBN: 978-1524763138; PAGES: 448; Unabridged.)

(Digital: Yes.)

**Audiobook: COPYRIGHT 11/17/2020; PUBLISHER: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780525633747; DURATION: 19:10:20; FILE SIZE: 548869 KB; NUMBER OF PARTS: 15; Unabridged.

Film or tv: No—but it’d make a good series—someday, I predict, someone will cull from Michelle’s and Barack’s books. I only hope they can do them justice. (Perhaps Steven Spielberg?)

SERIES: No.


MAJOR CHARACTERS:
N/A

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
How I picked it: When I opened Overdrive looking for something to download quickly before the light of my cell phone woke my husband, this title was on the homepage. Since I’d just listened to Barack Obama’s “The Promised Land” (probably why it was on the homepage), I figured it might be interesting to get the story from another point of view.

What it’s about: It's an autobiography of Michelle’s life from childhood and through the two terms she was First Lady in the White House.

What I thought: This isn’t a book I’d have intentionally sought out, so it was a very pleasant surprise that Michelle, like her husband, is quite the author and narrator. This is a story of ambition, of beating the odds, of fortitude, of love, of overcoming obstacles in both family and public life, of caring about and serving a nation to the exclusion of personal preferences, of dedication to family, of making compromises and sacrifices for a greater purpose. Though it’s on a grander scale (and thus, grander extremes) than most of us experience, it is a story of the joys and the vicissitudes of life.
At this point, I’m inspired to read her other book, as well as Barack’s.

AUTHOR:
Michelle Obama:
From Wikipedia: “Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama[1] (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married to former President Barack Obama.”

NARRATOR:
Michelle Obama: Not everyone who writes can also narrate, so it’s always an added joy when an author is making the right decision to narrate her own publication.

GENRE:
Biography; Autobiography; History; Politics; Non-fiction

LOCATIONS:
Chicago; Washington D. C.

TIME FRAME:
Early-mid 2000’s

SUBJECTS: Family relations; Chicago South Side; Education; Ambition; Determination; Politics; Marriage; First Lady; President; White House life; Congress

DEDICATION:
“To all the people who have helped me become:
the folks who raised me-Fraser, Marian, Craig, and my vast extended family,
my circle of strong women, who always lift me up,
my loyal dedicated staff, who continue to make me proud.
To the loves of my life:
Malia and Sasha, my two most precious peas, who are reasons for being,
And finally, Barack, who always promised me an interesting journey.”

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From “Introduction to Paperback Edition”:
“I knew from the outset that if I was going to write a memoir, it had to include more than the shade of blue I chose for a china pattern or who was or wasn’t invited to a State Dinner. Those are parts of my story, yes, but to be honest, they aren’t very important parts. And I had no interest in using a memoir to settle scores or win a few news cycles, because I don’t care about any of that, either.
What I do care about, what I’ve always cared about, is going deeper to unearth the fullness of our stories, blemishes and all. I know that I am who I am not because of the titles I’ve held or the celebrities I’ve met, but because of the snaking paths and winding roads, the frustrations and contradictions, the constant growth that is painful and joyful and full of confusion. So I knew that if this book was going to make any difference at all, it would need to be raw, vulnerable, and unabashedly honest.
And, as a Black woman, all of that was even more important. For the better part of our history, Black women’s stories have either gone untold or been told by others—by those who haven’t walked in our shoes and sometimes by those who haven’t even cared to imagine what it might feel like to do so. That’s why it was crucial for me to tell, in my own words and on my own terms, not just the story of the first Black First Lady, but also the story of a little Black girl who studied hard, became a lawyer, and fell in love; the story of a Black woman raising children, building a career, and staying afloat amid a tumultuous world. There is great beauty within every Black woman’s story, whether or not we ever become First Lady.”

RATING:
5 stars.

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
9-7-2022 to 9-14-2022… (mais)