Book #51 of 2019:
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Overall a fantastic memoir from the former First Lady, spanning from her 1970s childhood in the South Side of Chicago through her departure from the White House in 2017 at the end of her husband’s second term. As an author, Michelle Obama is a consummate storyteller, reflective and engaging as she traces the unlikely pathway of her life. She is candid about the struggle she’s had in subsuming her own interests and career under Barack’s, while always foregrounding the clear love and trust they share as a couple.
My biggest critique about this book, in fact, is that the president’s story often (and perhaps understandably) eclipses the writer’s own. The earliest sections of Becoming are richly detailed and insightful, the sign of a talented memoirist working through her own understanding of her origins. Yet as her primary role transitions into that of a politician’s wife, it feels as though she is sometimes leaving out certain key steps of her personal narrative — we are often told of a new job, or a new initiative, for instance, without always understanding what precise factors have motivated the shift in her focus and goals.
All told this is still a powerful work, full of Mrs. Obama’s commitment to increased opportunities for children of under-privileged backgrounds like herself. It’s worth reading for the inside look at her family and the recent presidency, as well as the excellent first chapters examining who she was before they came into being.
★★★★☆
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