Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2018
Eyes welled up at times, and chuckles escaped at other times ... This is a fantastic and incredibly honest and human story about the family, community, upbringing and life thus far, of an extraordinary lady - an extremely self-possessed and very complete woman with great integrity and honor - who just happened to very deservedly, become the historic first black First Lady of the United States. If you were looking for gossip, political score-settling, a hit piece, you certainly won’t find it in this excellent and well-done memoir of a brilliant, wise, witty, principled, disciplined, percipient, upstanding, unassuming, fun, serious, grounded, humble, gracious and incredibly generous and inspiring role model of a woman, who pulled herself up by the proverbial bootstraps - against all odds.
She’s utterly refreshing! Upstanding and unaffected, consistently honorable, wise, percipient, unbeholden ...powerfully human in the most relatable and best of ways... She’s wife, mother, daughter, FLOTUS, woman, human, leader ...The best of the best... An awe-inspiring and completely inspiring and compelling role model who lives and walks her talk.. Wise, fair, honest ...she is the real deal..
This is a woman of great depth and heart .. embodying a consistently lived humanity and caring for the least among us .. an authentic spirit and humanity that isn’t exploitative, self-aggrandizing, contrived .. or tied to self-elevation and scoring political brownie points .. In her memoir, she is gracious and generous - even to those who don’t deserve it.
She in many ways continues to so proudly boost her husband; effusively and generously elevating him above herself, and positively validating and vouching for him in ways nobody else can. Her memoir at times reads like a loving tribute to her husband, her parents, and others who only ever gave her even the most cursory or marginal assistance..
And even where I pegged her husband as a tad selfish/self-absorbed (and not nearly as protective or considerate of her, her needs, as he should and could have been), she instead takes the fall for him, excuses his selfishness away, and provides him cover again and again.. His ‘unusual’ upbringing and ‘ambitions’ seem to absolve him of his rather glaring shortcomings as a not so considerate and not always so protective husband..
A magnificent, double Ivy League educated woman who is at once fun yet serious, down to earth, utterly unassuming, completely self-assured, unaffected and comfortable in her own skin.. In a world full of fickle, hollow, pretentious, contrived, beholden, cowardly, manufactured public figures, she stands out as that rare public figure that is not!
I’ve bought several copies of this book, and will probably buy a few more copies as gifts.. I also listened to her fantastic and emotional Audible narration..
This memoir sets the foundation for Mrs Obama’s life story as a whole, and covers just a sliver of her 8 years in the White House as America’s historic First Lady .. And as an incredibly fulfilling a read as it is, one gets the sense that she has at least 3 great books still left in her! I’d love to read more about her experience at Harvard Law in the 80’s and volunteering for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau; And I’d love her to write a more detailed first person account of her White House years. I’m dying to read her full and candid White House retrospective when she feels ready ... these must still feel like heady days - even more so than for those of us who don’t have the benefit of lived experience that she does..
This memoir is so honest, offering up her story authentically - and not shying away from sharing honest mistakes that many of us would’ve easily skipped to avoid certain judgement. Even the photographs she includes in the book, and on her book tour, are authentic; They aren’t posed or photo-shopped vanity images or empty faux-glamor shots re-done again and again, or taken from perfect and considered angles for that perfect vanity capture..
Rather, they are unposed images that capture her normal and naturally lived life, her genuine interactions, and pertinent moments, and activities and events supporting some of her many important, substantive and impactful initiatives..
But like the book, the pictures and her reflection on her motivations for her chosen projects and various initiatives as an executive and as First Lady, capture her effortless greatness, her depth of character, palpable humanity, undeniable grace, beautiful and fun spirit, her decency, genuine connection to a diversity of people, and a keen interest in and attentiveness to those without a voice, and that very real sense that not only is she fully engaged, she actually does care, and sees those who usually aren’t seen .. Her grace, powerful presence, natural beauty, dignity and humility is palpable.. as is her fierce sense of fairness and inclusivity ..of everyone, especially the marginalized, voiceless and least among us.. There is absolutely nothing phony or contrived about this rare gem of a marvelous, marvelous woman..
Mrs Obama remains for me the very best thing about the 2-term historic presidency most decent, thinking people now miss..
She’s self-possessed, clear-eyed, genuine, insightful, sincere, compelling, wise, principled, fun, whip-smart, unpretentious, disciplined, fearless, with integrity in spades..
She absolutely deserves this long-overdue acknowledgment of her unassuming but positively impactful greatness and public presence - as evidenced by the success of her memoir and book tour. It is heartening that she’s being deservedly recognized as brilliant, capable, formidable and fantastic in her own right, and celebrated and well-received not just in America, but the world over - And all in spite of the Alt-Right and other vicious naysayers who’ve viciously maligned and mercilessly dehumanized her for 10 years and counting, and continue to obsess over her, looking to thwart her and her success - and the fact that she’s still standing and soaring, despite their best and continued malevolent efforts to break her, tear her down.
I am glad that this wonderful memoir, her first documentation of her life story, begins the introduction for so many, into understanding the true historic and cultural importance of this phenomenal woman and historic first black FLOTUS ..A worthy introductory documentation for posterity, of an unassumingly great woman and historic FLOTUS..
