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Loading... Becoming (edition 2018)by Michelle Obama (Author)
Work InformationBecoming by Michelle Obama (Author)
  
» 23 more Books Read in 2019 (24) Black Authors (20) Favorite Memoirs (4) Books Read in 2021 (2,303) Read Next (3) Female Author (1,049) BitLife (99) SHOULD Read Books! (117) Litsy Awards 2018 (119) No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) kdegour23 | May 29, 2024 |  ) alewah | May 25, 2024 | ) alewah | May 25, 2024 | But I am nothing but full of respect for her courage to take on that journey with her husband, and I am really glad that she always watched out for a little girls. ( ) RoXXieSiXX | May 20, 2024 | (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 ( ) TraSea | Apr 29, 2024 |
The summary of Obama’s White House initiatives relies on promotional language and well-worn anecdotes, and the book’s final pages are just a shade away from an overt advertisement for the Obama Foundation. The memoir’s “bombshell” revelations, which the media has projected as revelations of the female condition writ large—a discussion of Obama’s use of fertility treatment to conceive her daughters, and of a period of her marriage in which “frustrations began to rear up often and intensely”—belie how much the rest of the text withholds. I suspect that some of Becoming’s power lies in the ways it employs the techniques of a novel more than those of a typical political memoir—in its honesty about human nature and ambivalence, yes, but also in its colorful and idiosyncratic details ... in its willingness to let anecdotes speak for themselves rather than pedantically spelling out their lessons. Becoming is frequently funny, sometimes indignant or enraged, and when Michelle describes her father’s early death from multiple sclerosis it turns rawly emotional. But despite how close we get to her voice here, it’s never quite close enough. She lets us into all kinds of memories, including tender recollections, romantic dates, and triumphant moments on the campaign trail. But for all her candidness, there is still a veil of privacy around the inner workings of this reluctant public figure. She draws the reader in, but pauses at arm’s length. Maybe this is all we can expect, in text, from this woman with so much presence. As she says herself, she’s more of a hugger. Even if Becoming is not always interesting, it is much more interesting than it needed to be to qualify as a successful first lady memoir. And as an example of how to walk the tightrope — how to seem charming but not like an intellectual lightweight; how to get things done without seeming threatening; how to do all of the impossible things we demand of women in general, of first ladies in particular, and of the first black first lady as an absolute — Becoming is a straight-up master class. Is contained inHas the adaptationHas as a reference guide/companionAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Biography & Autobiography.
African American Nonfiction.
Nonfiction.
HTML:An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER â?˘ WATCH THE EMMY-NOMINATED NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY â?˘ OPRAHâ??S BOOK CLUB PICK â?˘ NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER â?˘ ONE OF ESSENCEâ??S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of Americaâ??the first African American to serve in that roleâ??she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped herâ??from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the worldâ??s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived itâ??in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectationsâ??and who No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)973.932092History and Geography North America United States 1901- Bush Administration And Beyond Barack Obama BiographiesLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.44)
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