Michelle: A Biography

This is an extremely sensitive and well researched portrait of Michelle, from her school days in Chicago with her working class Dad, and stay at home Mom, and basketball star older brother Craig, to her time at Princeton, following Craig, and on to Harvard Law School. She graduated, took a job in Chicago, met Barack, a summer intern, and their romance is detailed, ending in marriage. The complexity of each of the couple’s career choices is a strength of the book, and leads into his becoming first a state Senator, then a US Senator from Illinois. The challenges of marriage, careers, and children are deeply and deftly probed and the book ends as the couple contemplates his Presidential run

what a nice picture of life in Chicago. The First Lady is truley special!

I liked this book as it gave a great insight into the Chicago Michelle grew up in and also helps one understand her somewhat conflicting attitude towards politics. One also gets a notion of how hard it must have been for her to grow up into a world in which she probably mostly believed she would never be able to come as far as any white women, being impeded just because of her skin color - I guess no white person can ever imagine how unbelievably strain that must be on a human who has it all - intelligence, beauty and passion for life. But I guess this very situation made her push herself to challenge the status quo - and as we can see, she succeeded very well.

I enjoy reading biographies and autobiographies, and this book did not let me down. I had not read many news articles about Michelle, and the book filled in many of the blanks for me. Before reading it I had no preconceptions of Michelle, and I think the author did an excellent job going after info about this young woman. Certainly she is no shrinking violet; she is a class act; she is very bright; she has creative ideas; and has a wonderful ability to articulate her point of view. When I first bought and read this book I had no idea she would soon be living in the White House. How wonderful! Many of the earlier reviewers wrote about the book in detail, so I will not duplicate their efforts. But a through reading of this biography might well explain why some folks seem intimidated by her. Don't be. She really is a bright, engaging young woman.

A can't put it down type of book. I greatly enjoyed it.

Michelle a biography by Liza Mundy (217 pages, Simon & Schuster) garners five stars! This book provides a detailed portrait of Michelle Obama via over 100 interviews with close advisors, friends, employers and more. The biography begins with a family history on Fraser Robinson who became the father of Michelle LaVaugn three days after he started a new job for the city's water department in Chicago. This was in 1964 and his salary was $479 a month, not much money, but at least this government job guaranteed tenure, vacation, and a pension. The reader gets a history lesson in the semi-integrated Chicago (politically, economically, racially and socially). Then you get the awesome life journey of Michelle who is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School...transition and opportunity. The author provides ample information for the reader to make an intelligent decision about who Michelle Obama is. Page 101 spills tidbits about how Barack popped the question. The book includes eight pages with color photos of the Michelle Obama and family. The regal photo of Michelle on the cover captured my attention, but the book is of substance and chock full of details of Michelle's entire life...it seems that the author left no stone unturned. I highly recommend this book for anyone that is interested in the potential next First Lady of the United States of America. Reviewed by: Pamela Jarmon-Wade