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Becoming

Michelle Obama

Discussion: 2020 Summer Reading Challenge

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2020 Summer Reading Challenge

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What Members Thought

May 18, 2019 Susan D'Entremont rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club

This was a decent book, don't get me wrong, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. I have read lots of political autobiographies, and Michelle Obama's was very much in the typical vein for this sort of book by a political spouse. From all the rave reviews, I was expecting something a little different, or off the beaten path.

Her family and childhood sounded so warm and loving with so many people in the community supporting her. It reminds the reader of how much of a deficit kids without this This was a decent book, don't get me wrong, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. I have read lots of political autobiographies, and Michelle Obama's was very much in the typical vein for this sort of book by a political spouse. From all the rave reviews, I was expecting something a little different, or off the beaten path.

Her family and childhood sounded so warm and loving with so many people in the community supporting her. It reminds the reader of how much of a deficit kids without this have when they enter the teen years and adulthood.

I enjoyed the details of the behind the scenes nuts and bolts of campaigning and being in the White House. The extreme attention to every detail of Michelle Obama's hair, clothes and makeup makes you realize how much more women in public life have to contend with. Yes, men get scrutinized - remember Barack's tan suit? - but not nearly to the level of women. As Michelle Obama says in this book, it means that women candidates have to spend more time and money than men because if they don't attend to these details, they will get slaughtered in the media.

The book reminded me not to take every little comment, slip up, and behavior of politicians too seriously. Everyone is human, and one little comment is not who the person is as a whole. I try to do this anyway, but like most people, I will fall prey to reacting to sound bites.

The one thing I got from this book is that people with young kids should probably put off running for president. Although the Obamas did the best they could under the circumstances, the extreme strain, time suck and scrutiny the kids are put under just doesn't seem fair to them. And they miss out on the normal things of kid life, like hanging out at the mall or impromptu bike rides to the park to play basketball or play on the swings. And their father couldn't attend many of his kids' events because his presence would disrupt everyone else's experience. My favorite line of the book, though, is when the Obamas are walking through the Sidwell Friends school's kindergarten playground with one of their daughters. She looks up and sees all the snipers on the roofs of nearby buildings, as they were everywhere the president went. The daughter turns to Obama and says, "Really, Dad??" ...more

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May 07, 2020 Alicia rated it liked it

Shelves: amexperience, adult, biography-memoir, politics-justice, black, nonfiction, female, family, voices

The glimpse into her life behind the scenes from her growing up in Chicago, college and job, to her meeting Obama and eventually marrying, having kids, and becoming First Lady. It’s all in there and my criticism of the book is that every detail is in there and it dragged me down. But I get it, if she’s going to write a memoir once, she’s going to put it all in. It just seemed like specific details where unnecessary because what readers appreciated is their getting closer to Obama by simply crack ...more

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