Bharath's Reviews > Becoming

I had wanted to read this since long and finally did (as an audiobook). An inspiring account, though no surprises.

Michelle Obama does a good job of abstracting the most impactful incidents and key segments of her story, as also that of ex-President Barack Obama and her family. She starts with her childhood in Chicago, growing up as an African American in a society still coming to terms with race. She moves on to her college experiences, and then her professional career, where she met Barack. Their professional interactions slowly transforming into a personal relationship was well written. The sections after that cover Barack’s political life, going on to become the first African American President, and their life as the first family - the resulting implications including the security detail and restrictions involved. Despite this, there is a pretty frightening incident in the book where a cheetah (supposedly sedated) chases the family at a retreat. The book closes with her recounting of Barack and her attending Trump’s inauguration. I liked the maturity with which she says she cannot understand how he was voted in – especially after his comments about women. She looks at the gathering which had almost no diversity and suggests progress made was going to be lost. She admits frankly that after some time, she gave up trying to smile.

I have always liked the way the Obamas carried themselves – they always came across as holding the right values, were intellectual and careful in what they spoke about. Michelle mirrors Obama’s personality very well. I remember the visuals of their visit to India, the places they visited and the intelligent & measured way they spoke (there was as expected a tendency to suggest they knew more about the challenges India faced than we did – but that is a very common issue with most visiting dignitaries). Michelle also interacted very well with kids at a school, goading them to be bold and ask questions. This book does well in outlining the strong value system of the Obamas, their desire to unify and leave the world a better place. This memoir, however, does not break any new ground – it is self-congratulatory, goody-goody with no wrinkles and does not adequately compliment other people around them. I did like the gracious manner in which she refers to the Bush family.

I listened to the audiobook, read by Michelle herself and it was very good. Overall, a good informative book.