Becoming
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About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
The number one best seller.
British Book Awards, Audiobook of the Year.
Winner of the Grammy's Best Spoken Word Album 2020.
Winner of the 2020 Audie Award for Autobiography/Memoir.
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.
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 America - the first African American to serve in that role - 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 United States 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 listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - 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 world'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 it - 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 expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.
©2018 Michelle Obama (P)2018 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"A genuine page-turner, full of intimacies and reflections." (Evening Standard)
"A rich, entertaining and candid memoir. And overall Obama's a fun person to sit alongside as she tells you the story of her life...it is as beautifully written as any piece of fiction." (i)
"Offers new insights into her upbringing on the south side of Chicago and the highs and lows of life with Barack Obama...a refreshing level of honesty about what politics really did to her. I have read Barack Obama's two books so far, and this is like inserting a missing piece of reality into the narrative of his dizzying journey." (Guardian)
The book is divided into three sections: ‘Becoming Me’ describes growing up in a tight-knit working class family on Chicago’s Southside; ‘Becoming Us’ looks at her relationship with Barak Obama, from their meeting as young lawyers, their marriage and family and takes us through his political career up to the point he was elected president in 2008; ‘Becoming More’ then describes her experiences at the White House during his two terms in office.
I thought that the construction of the book was brilliant! Yes she is the wife of a former president, however this is HER book, HER story and she gives equal weight to each part, subtly showing that without the foundation her parents gave her she might not have met her husband or been the woman who would choose to marry him, and without that decision she wouldn’t have lived in the White House. Her point is made overtly and covertly, she could have been any one of a number of girls growing up in America and they could have been her.
She freely admits she doesn’t really care for politics, though she grew up in a Democrat household, so she tells events without the political colour that can easily weigh down biographies like these. Instead she often colours her descriptions of events with the little details that resonate more with the average person.
Her affection for those she loves, particularly her husband and family resonates throughout the book. She is unflinching in giving her opinion on Barak Obama’s weaknesses (timekeeping) but is a fierce proponent of what she views as his strengths. She is equally unflinching with her assessment of many others particularly Donald Trump and the Republican Party, though she is also critical of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 campaign. She speaks affectionately of George W. and Laura Bush (and notably says nothing about Meliana Trump) and humanises many individuals who seem more history than human (Queen Elizabeth II and Nelson Mandela).
One of the most powerful things that she does it to put her life and the events in it into a wider context. She is the great-granddaughter of a slave, she grew up during the decline of the Southside of Chicago and the so-called ‘white flight’ and was deeply aware of the affect it had on the community. And she reminds readers of the country and economy that her husband inherited and the very different one that he left.
All in all I thought this was a wonderfully warm and often witty book and possibly the best post-administration promotion of Barak Obama’s legacy. I’m delighted that I bought the audiobook as Michelle Obama’s narration was brilliant. She tells her story in her own words and her own voice and adds nuance that I thing would have been missing if I’d only read the written book (though I might buy that for the pictures!)
Heartfelt and engaging
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I have bought the hard copy book too. I have recommended this book to all my friends and especially my daughter, sister, nieces and daughters of my friends. I would recommend the audiobook as Mrs Obama draws you in and captures you with her voice and intonations and takes you on a journey, some of which resembled my own journey and thought processes. I truly felt like I was there living each experience. It was wonderfully presented and I do not believe anyone else could have presented this book other than her.
Thank you, for allowing me into a snippet, yet important, personal and brutally honest journey of your life and your family. I continue to admire your family and having nothing but the utmost respect, love and prayers for you all. God bless, guide and protect you all always.
Your namesake,
Michelle
Epitome of grace, humility, courage, honesty and hope
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Wonderful Book!
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Extraordinary
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An honest and inspiring telling of Becoming. Couldn't put it down.
Thank you, Michelle, for the honesty and dignity with which you have told your story, and the inspiration you bring with it. This book resonated with me on so many levels. I am inspired to do more and to be more.
Here's to the day when politics, worldwide, returns to the concept of Service Before Self. Using Becoming as a reference, the Obamas seem to have got it right. They were motivated by all the right things. I can't imagine either Barack or Michelle will fade into the background post White House - quite simply, they have too much energy and too much more to offer.
Listening to Michelle Obama narrate this herself was an added bonus. You can hear the emotion, and the honesty. Certainly, this must be one of those books where the audio is better than the written version.
Just fabulous!
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