Becoming by Michelle Obama

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Categories Community & Culture
Author Michelle Obama
Publisher Crown; Reprint edition (March 2, 2021)
Language English
Paperback 464 pages
Item Weight 2.31 pounds
Dimensions
5.49 x 1.02 x 8.24 inches

I. Book introduction

Becoming is the memoir by former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, published on November 13, 2018. Described by the author as a deeply personal experience, the book talks about her roots and how she found her voice, as well as her time in the White House, her public health campaign, and her role as a mother. The book is published by Crown and was released in 24 languages. One million copies were donated to First Book, an American nonprofit organization which provides books to children.

It was the highest-selling book published in the United States in 2018, setting the record 15 days after its publication, with over two million copies sold.

Synopsis

The book’s 24 chapters (plus a preface and epilogue) are divided into three sections: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More.

The preface sets the stage for Michelle Obama’s story to open by sketching a scene in her post-First Lady life. Becoming Me traces Obama’s early life growing up on the South Side of Chicago with her parents, Fraser and Marian Robinson, in an upstairs apartment where she got her first piano lessons and learnt to be an independent girl under the nurturing care of her parents. There, Obama shared a bedroom with her brother Craig. The book continues through her education at Princeton University and Harvard Law School to her early career as a lawyer at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met Barack Obama. While this section talks considerably at length about Obama’s Princeton experience and Sidley Austin, Harvard Law school’s experiences are mentioned marginally by comparison.

Becoming Us departs from the beginning of the Obamas’ romantic relationship and follows their marriage and the beginning of his political career in the Illinois State Senate. This section also notes Obama’s career “swerve” from corporate law to the non-profit realm as she continued to work while raising her daughters and speaking at political events, becoming gradually more involved in her husband’s campaign. The book shares Obama’s balance between her position as the first African American First Lady of the United States of America, her motherly duties, and her marital commitments. The section ends with election night in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

Becoming More takes the readers through Barack Obama’s presidency, Michelle Obama’s focus on her Let’s Move campaign, and her role of “head mom in chief” to her two daughters – Malia and Sasha Obama, along with the other aspects of the Obama’s life as first family. The Epilogue talks about the last day of Obamas in the White House which was also Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony and Michelle Obama’s reflection on Optimism. She also expresses her lack of desire to ever run for office.

About the Author (Michelle Obama)

Author Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (née Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.

Raised on the South Side of Chicago, Obama is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. In her early legal career, she worked at the law firm Sidley Austin where she met her future husband. She subsequently worked in nonprofits and as the associate dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago. Later, she served as vice president for community and external affairs of the University of Chicago Medical Center. Michelle married Barack in 1992, and they have two daughters.

Michelle Obama campaigned for her husband’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. She was the first African-American woman to serve as first lady. As first lady, Obama worked as an advocate for poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating. She has written three books including her The New York Times best selling memoir Becoming (2018) and The Light We Carry (2022).

II. Reviewer: Becoming by Michelle Obama

Reviewer Becoming by Michelle Obama

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1. CINDY reviews Becoming

I’m surprised at how much I thoroughly enjoyed this. I was engrossed the whole time and even teared up at some parts. Even when I wasn’t reading the book, I was still thinking about Michelle Obama’s story. I loved that rather than a rehashed Wiki article of her successes, this was a reflective coming-of-age story that will be inspiring to so many women and people of color who are struggling to find themselves. I loved experiencing Michelle’s life alongside her with all her triumphs and heartbreaks. She gives insight not only to what her experiences were like in the White House, but also why she chose certain initiatives during her time as FLOTUS, and how her childhood and upbringing added to her perspective. I especially loved that for all the success she’s had, she always brings it back to how there are so many other kids out there possible of change who just needed the right guidance and opportunities. Her perspective is valuable and very much needed. I was moved hearing her story, and very much appreciate the reminder that even in a bleak country, there are good human beings out there.

2. YUN reviews Becoming

Whatever was coming next, this was a story we could own.

What an extraordinary and formidable undertaking it must have been, to be the one standing next to the first black President of the United States. And it was made all the more so because Michelle Obama was scrutinized and held to a bar far higher than any previous First Lady. And yet, she came through it with grace, intelligence, and humor, and in the process, inspired an entire generation of women and people of color, including me.

Becoming feels like I’m not just reading the words of one woman’s incredible journey from lower middle class to being one of the most respected women of our time, but also the potential story of what could be for so many women of color. Michelle makes clear that her life was able to take its remarkable trajectory in large part due to the influence of her parents, extended family, teachers, and mentors, who all loved and invested in her through her crucial formative years.

Reading this, I’m struck by how honest and forthright she is. She is open with all the difficulties and struggles she has gone through, both public and personal. She talks about how she tries to balance her drive for a career in public service with her husband’s political calling, all while raising two young children. It must have been extraordinarily challenging, yet she handled it all with enviable poise.

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book is its message of optimism and hope. She’s incredibly resilient and driven, even in the face of so much opposition, criticism, and disparagement of herself and her family. She accomplished so much during her time as First Lady, and reading her words in this memoir is a true inspiration.

Michelle Obama encompasses all that I admire: authenticity, kindness, and resilience. And this book is not just a candid self-reflection, but also a hopeful call for us all that we can do better and can achieve anything we put our minds to, as long as we aren’t afraid of hard work.

I’m so glad I picked up this memoir of a truly exceptional woman. There’s a lot in here to digest, and I will be taking the time to think over all that I’ve read in the coming weeks and months. I know her words will stay with me for a long time.

3. CHRISTY reviews Becoming

4.5 stars!!

I’ve had Becoming pre-ordered since I saw it was coming out. I was so excited to read it. Per my Amazon account, I purchased The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama in early 2007. When I read this book, I was moved and hoped this man would be president one day. When I was in my early 20’s, I volunteered for his 2008 campaign. My point is, I’ve always loved the Obamas, but I never knew much about Michelle. After reading this book, I feel like I know so much more. Her story is inspiring, fascinating, and I adore her.

If you’re going to read this book, I can’t recommend the audio book enough. Michelle herself narrates it and I always love when authors narrate their own stories. It makes them that more personal and captivating. I loved reading about her past, her family, and of course when she met Barack and their story. I could relate to some of her story and learned a lot of new things about her. This was a fantastic autobiography and I can’t recommend it enough!

4. BRANDICE reviews Becoming

Becoming like Michelle Obama herself, is both eloquent and relatable. She talks about becoming her, becoming us, and finally, becoming more.

As most of us know by now, Michelle is from Chicago, grew up with loving and supportive parents, attended Princeton followed by Harvard for law school, then began her position as an associate at the prestigious law firm of Sidley Austin, where she eventually met Barack.

My favorite section of the book was by far, Becoming Us, in which Michelle describes meeting Barack and the evolvement of their relationship.

Michelle does not pretend living in the White House was not a privilege or shy away from the associated perks. She doesn’t pretend it was always amazing and wonderful either. There were plenty of tough days with the various events happening around the world. The pressure and scrutiny of trying to raise 2 daughters with some semblance of normalcy could also be taxing on the family of 4. Through it all, Michelle always remained committed to being the best mom to Sasha and Malia.

The nostalgia and longing for the former Obama reign in the White House, was, as I read this memoir, and is, still real.

The Obamas are admirable not just for their smart talents but also their continued relatability. They are genuine people who want more for their kids, for their country, and just doing their part to contribute to this goal. A tad oversimplified? Maybe, but if it’s not clear yet, I’m a huge fan.

”For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it more as a forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to continuously reach toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end. I became a mother, but I still have a lot to learn from and give to my children. I became a wife, but I continue to adapt to and be humbled by what it means to truly love and make a life with another person. I have become, by certain measures, a person of power, and yet there are still moments when I feel insecure or unheard.

It’s all a process, steps along a path. Becoming requires patience and rigor. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing up to be done.“

Highly recommend Becoming for fans Michelle, Barack, and the Obama administration.

5. S MAC reviews Becoming

Thoroughly enjoyed it…

I finished the book, gave it 5 stars, and left it at that…until I read some of the lower star reviews. I have been stewing for hours at people saying there wasn’t enough about Barack. This is Michelle’s book. (While reading it, I actually had moments of thinking there was TOO much about him.) Or that it was self-centered. THIS IS MICHELLE’S BOOK about HERSELF – on whom else should it be “centered”? I didn’t pay attention to politics until recent years (as is probably true for many), but when he ran, I could see that the Obamas were genuine and intended to do good. When Barack was originally elected, I told my infant son that it was a whole new world. (We’ve since reverted back decades, but that’s neither here nor there.) Michelle is an amazing person and an inspirational woman. I found the book very easy to read and well written. (I have a degree in English Lit, but everyone’s style of speech and reading is different. For me, it was perfect.) I agree with what one person said about it being (slightly) reserved, but I understand that from many angles. However, I also found it revealing and inspirational. Even before reading this, I thought, “Michelle Obama for president.” She specifically stated in the book that wasn’t on her radar, but she should consider it. She is intelligent, confident, focused, organized, experienced, compassionate, and human. I have since searched for many references in her book like the Ellen push-up contest or the Jimmy Fallon Mom Dance. We are years past her First Lady-ism, and I am more impressed by her time in the White House, and being able to remain “normal”, now than I was capable of being then. She should be celebrated for always trying to be herself.

6. ELSEWHERE reviews Becoming

I Hate Autobiographies But Loved This

Beautifully written and full of interconnected threads that weave, not only Michelle Obama’s story, but the ties that bind all of us and why the essence of a candidate – or people who shape our lives – matters. It argues that we can overcome feelings of inadequacy and, instead of lashing out at the world because our lack of assurance leaves us feeling vulnerable, use those doubts as fuel to build the best version of ourselves – become stronger, better people. It’s a candle in the dark of hopelessness and I’m so grateful for having FINALLY taken the time to read it.

7. FRANS G. DUNN reviews Becoming

An Honest And Well Told Story

I bought Michelle Obama’s book principally because I wanted to have read it when I heard others discussing what I knew would be a book much talked about.

I have admired Michelle Obama from the beginning, but I admit, essentially because of Barack Obama. What I discovered was how little I knew of her, and how much of her depth I had only seen on the surface, coming through her major addresses.

Hers is a story compelling, riveting, and profoundly moving. I have rarely read an autobiography so lucid about one’s fears, mistakes, hopes, dreams, challenges. It goes without saying that no one who is known principally through a political lens these days can be seen or heard under the burden of all sorts of projections. But Michelle Obama, whatever one might think of her at a distance, could not have written this book were she not authentic. No one simply trying to put on a mask, or to work an agenda of defensiveness could have or would have written in so vulnerable a vein.

Until I bought the book and actually looked at it I would have imagined it to focus on the White House Years. It does not. Rather, it is the whole story of how the author’s becoming who she is, starting from the Southside of Chicago, going to Princeton, Harvard, and then courageously changing careers. She gives intimate glimpses of her marriage and parenting without being gossipy or giving too much information. Hers is a stunning tale of a black woman’s experience in a world inhospitable to both people of color in general and women in general. To be both and to find oneself at the center of the world stage is unique, and to do so and come away without being jaded or without being self-congratulatory is nothing short of amazing. To read such a story is well worth the price of the book to say the least.

Humans have evolved to be storytellers, and we tell our stories in every way imaginable. That is because we are, like all species, transmitting information as we try to survive. Some of our stories serve us well, some do not. Some are true, and some are not. Many told in word, art, music, games, and ritual inspire us. Some even move us. BECOMING is one of those that inspire and move, if we are willing to listen.

8. BILL KING reviews Becoming

Meet Michelle Obama a Wonderful Woman

We start out in the South Side of Chicago where Michelle Robinson lived in a low to middle class racially diverse neighborhood. Michelle in her early years living on the second floor of her aunt and uncle’s home. Her older brother Craig was 2 years older shared a divided bedroom. Her high school was named Bryn Mawr’ is that not a suburb of Philadelphia ? From High School Michelle went to college at Princeton same as her brother 2 years earlier. Michelle and Barack warmed up to each other one summer in Chicago with kiss after ice cream cones. Around this point Michelle quotes something Barack use to say to his audience in community organizer Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?” The memories from campaigning in Iowa leading up to the Iowa Caucuses were both fun and exhausting to read about the amount of time and traveling needed to do those Iowa Caucuses. There is a few pages devoted to the time the Conservative media chopped up one of her stump speeches on the campaign trail and edited into the not infamous “For the first time in my life I’m proud to be a American” The same was done to the pastor of there Chicago Hometown Church The Reverent Jeremiah Right editing his speeches and taking out of content his racial remarks about whites and blacks in America. The section in the book about making it to The White House I learned something I never knew that The White House consist of 132 Rooms 35 Bathrooms 28 Fireplaces across 6 floors. She tells of a one time petting zoo brought to The White House for the girls where one of the animals lurched for Malia the secret service shot a tranquilizer dirt that hit Sasha in the arm. But it turned out to be a dream. It was frightening reading that part. The final portion of the book talks about the transition from the Obama to the Trump Administrations. I don’t wish to comment on that as it is very difficult to read. It’s a great read so you should read it. Just keep in mind at it is 424 pages long (Kindle Version)

9. SARA reviews Becoming

Michelle Obama calling Donald Trump a bully in one of the best selling books of the year gave me the strength to get through 2019.

This was wonderful to listen to, Michelle is beautifully eloquent and her way with words was bewitching. I listened to this in the car and at times found myself just sitting in the car outside work/home/wherever just so i could finish listening the chapter.

This book is relatable in all the best ways, incredibly interesting and most importantly, inspiring. I’m fairly confident this will be one of my favourite reads of the year.

I loved this and i really think you will too.

10. CHAN reviews Becoming

what an absolutely brilliant woman. i’ve always admired the Obama family, but getting to see Michelle up close, in her own words, was such a delight. i spent almost an entire day listening to her audiobook and i was tuned in the entire time. the writing was fantastic, the scope of the story both sweeping and intimate. i don’t rate nonfiction but i HIGHLY recommend this.

III. Becoming Quotes by Michelle Obama

Becoming Quotes by Michelle Obama

The best book quotes from Becoming by Michelle Obama

“Failure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result. It’s vulnerability that breeds with self-doubt and then is escalated, often deliberately, by fear.”

“The noise doesn’t go away, but the most successful people I know have figured out how to live with it, to lean on the people who believe in them, and to push onward with their goals.”

“The choice, as he saw it, was this: You give up or you work for change. “What’s better for us?” Barack called to the people gathered in the room. “Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?”

“Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

“Time, as far as my father was concerned, was a gift you gave to other people.”

“Now I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child—What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.”

“If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.”

“For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”

“For every door that’s been opened to me, I’ve tried to open my door to others. And here is what I have to say, finally: Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.”

“Friendships between women, as any woman will tell you, are built of a thousand small kindnesses… swapped back and forth and over again.”

“failure is a feeling long before it’s an actual result.”

“Everyone on Earth, they’d tell us, was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some tolerance.”

“It hurts to live after someone has died. It just does. It can hurt to walk down a hallway or open the fridge. It hurts to put on a pair of socks, to brush your teeth. Food tastes like nothing. Colors go flat. Music hurts, and so do memories. You look at something you’d otherwise find beautiful—a purple sky at sunset or a playground full of kids—and it only somehow deepens the loss. Grief is so lonely this way.”

“Women endure entire lifetimes of these indignities—in the form of catcalls, groping, assault, oppression. These things injure us. They sap our strength. Some of the cuts are so small they’re barely visible. Others are huge and gaping, leaving scars that never heal. Either way, they accumulate. We carry them everywhere, to and from school and work, at home while raising our children, at our places of worship, anytime we try to advance.”

“Now that I’m an adult, I realize that kids know at a very young age when they’re being devalued, when adults aren’t invested enough to help them learn. Their anger over it can manifest itself as unruliness. It’s hardly their fault. They aren’t “bad kids.” They’re just trying to survive bad circumstances.”

“At fifty-four, I am still in progress, and I hope that I always will be.”

“His money went largely toward books, which to him were like sacred objects, providing ballast for his mind.”

“Even if we didn’t know the context, we were instructed to remember that context existed. Everyone on earth, they’d tell us, was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some tolerance.”

“We were planting seeds of change, the fruit of which we might never see. We had to be patient.”

“It’s remarkable how a stereotype functions as an actual trap. How many “angry black women” have been caught in the circular logic of that phrase? When you aren’t being listened to, why wouldn’t you get louder? If you’re written off as angry or emotional, doesn’t that just cause more of the same?”

“Hearing them, I realized that they weren’t at all smarter than the rest of us. They were simply emboldened, floating on an ancient tide of superiority, buoyed by the fact that history had never told them anything different.”

“Bullies were scared people hiding inside scary people.”

“The lesson being that in life you control what you can.”

“Barack intrigued me. He was not like anyone I’d dated before, mainly because he seemed so secure. He was openly affectionate. He told me I was beautiful. He made me feel good. To me, he was sort of like a unicorn—unusual to the point of seeming almost unreal. He never talked about material things, like buying a house or a car or even new shoes. His money went largely toward books, which to him were like sacred objects, providing ballast for his mind. He read late into the night, often long after I’d fallen asleep, plowing through history and biographies and Toni Morrison, too. He read several newspapers daily, cover to cover. He kept tabs on the latest book reviews, the American League standings, and what the South Side aldermen were up to. He could speak with equal passion about the Polish elections and which movies Roger Ebert had panned and why.”

“Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us. Maybe we can better embrace the ways we are the same. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about where you get yourself in the end. There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.”

“Dominance, even the threat of it, is a form of dehumanization. It’s the ugliest kind of power.”

“When it came to the home-for-dinner dilemma, I installed new boundaries, ones that worked better for me and the girls. We made our schedule and stuck to it. …It went back to my wishes for them to grow up strong and centered and also unaccommodating to any form of old-school patriarchy: I didn’t want them ever to believe that life began when the man of the house arrived home. We didn’t wait for Dad. It was his job now to catch up with us.”

“This may be the fundamental problem with caring a lot about what others think: It can put you on the established path—the my-isn’t-that-impressive path—and keep you there for a long time.”

“Failure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result”

“[Y]ou may live in the world as it is, but you can still work to create the world as it should be.”

“Because people often ask, I’ll say it here directly: I have no intention of running for office, ever. I’ve never been a fan of politics, and my experience over the last ten years has done little to change that. I continue to be put off by the nastiness—the tribal segregation of red and blue, this idea that we’re supposed to choose one side and stick to it, unable to listen and compromise, or sometimes even to be civil. I do believe that at its best, politics can be a means for positive change, but this arena is just not for me.”

“I didn’t want them ever to believe that life began when the man of the house arrived home. We didn’t wait for Dad. It was his job now to catch up with us.”

“I grew up with a disabled dad in a too-small house with not much money in a starting-to-fail neighborhood, and I also grew up surrounded by love and music in a diverse city in a country where an education can take you far. I had nothing or I had everything. It depends on which way you want to tell it.”

“I began to understand that his version of hope reached far beyond mine: It was one thing to get yourself out of a stick place, I realized. It was another thing entirely to try and get the place itself unstuck.”

“a happy marriage can be a vexation, that it’s a contract best renewed and renewed again, even quietly and privately—even alone.”

The best book quotes from Becoming by Michelle Obama

Excerpted from Becoming by Michelle Obama

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