Michelle: A Biography [Hardcover]

Liza Mundy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 7, 2008

It will be a deeply reported book tracing Michelle's life from her beginnings to now. She was every parent's dream, skipping second grade because of her smarts, going on to Princeton and then Harvard Law School. The book will describe the South side of Chicago where the Robinson family grew up, Michelle's parents (her father had MS and worked for the city of Chicago, her mother stayed home), the hard-working culture of the Robinson family, Michelle's experience on the racially-tense campus of Princeton in the early 80s, her success at Harvard, how she experienced the death of her father and best friend, how she met Obama, the kind of partnership they have created, the kind of career as a lawyer and health care executive she pursued in Chicago, her views about political life and her aptitude for it, and her profile as a mother. The book will be based on the public record, on interviews she has given in the past, and on fresh interviews with her and members of her circle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though they've spoken before, author and Washington Post reporter Mundy confesses early on, "the presidential campaign declined access to Michelle and discouraged friends from talking." The resulting biography of Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic Presidential nominee Barack, is neither as full nor satisfying as Mundy hopes, but works as a sympathetic, gently probing profile of a strong, self-assured family- and business-woman whose husband's meteoric rise (as Mundy puts it, "Obama had been beamed up. He had ascended") catapulted her into the national spotlight. The product of humble Chicago origins, Princeton and Harvard Law educations and a fierce sense of self, Michelle suddenly found herself defending her background and career, her husband's campaign, the couple's role as parents, and her own personal philosophies and pronouncements in front of a national audience. In her broad assessment, Mundy considers seriously, if not conclusively, questions raised by some of Michelle's now-infamous (and oft-misquoted) statements about her pride in America, as well as the controversy surrounding the Obamas' former pastor. Though Mundy never develops a clear argument regarding Michelle's significance as a national figure-present or future-she does document how Michelle got there: as a smart, formidable and uncompromising woman.
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About the Author

Liza Mundy is the bestselling author of Michelle: A Biography and Everything Conceivable. A longtime award-winning reporter for The Washington Post, she is currently a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st Simon & Schuster Hardcover Ed edition (October 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416599436
• ISBN-13: 978-1416599432
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.9 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #949,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Work in Progress October 28, 2008

By takingadayoff TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is not the definitive biography of Michelle Obama. But it will do for now, at least until the next bio, Michelle Obama: Grace and Intelligence in a Time of Change, comes out at the end of November. (Actually, if you have Kindle you can download the newer biography now.) Liza Mundy's biography is short and padded, but I can't blame her for that. Michelle Obama is only 44 years old and while she is smart, ambitious, determined, and full of admirable qualities, the most remarkable thing she has done so far is to marry Barack Obama. It's hard to make much of a biography out of that. But Mundy has buckled down and done what she can, considering the lack of material and the fact that she wasn't able to interview Michelle Obama for this book.

Michelle and her older brother Craig grew up in Chicago and because their parents emphasized the importance of education, both of them ended up graduating from Princeton. Michelle continued on to Harvard Law School and took her law degree to various jobs in Chicago. She did well at all her jobs, but left others with the impression that she was restless and bored with those jobs, although she did quite well at all of the jobs.

I think I learned more about Barack Obama from this book than I did about Michelle. That's okay. My impression from this book is that while Michelle still hasn't found a job that she is passionate about, other than being a mother of course, she recognizes that Barack has focus and passion and wants to do what she can to help him realize his goals, for himself and for the country.

Before reading this book, I hadn't read either of Barack Obama's books, (Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope), or any of the books about his life. From this bio about Michelle, I learned that Barack went to law school only after he realized that he needed to learn about law to better help the communities he was working in in Chicago. He became a member of a church when he realized that would also help him be a more credible member of the community. He ran for office in Illinois when that appeared to be the way to create the changes he was seeking. All that hard work has taken a toll on his own family though. For most of the their marriage, Barack has been a weekend husband and father, and it doesn't appear that that situation will be improving anytime soon.

Michelle: A Biography is a short book, 217 pages including end notes. There's no index. It isn't a fluffy celebrity bio, but it isn't a full-fledged scholarly biography either. It's an unfinished work, if only because Michelle Obama has yet to do anything biography-worthy. She is obviously a smart, accomplished, elegant woman who will be an excellent diplomat in the White House and ambassador to the rest of the world. Expect a full-fledged biography in four or eight more years.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Kinda Blah October 23, 2008

By Samantha L. Sayre VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This book just isn't that great. It's very short...extremely short. It's right around 200 pages. It almost seems like the author just wanted to make a quick buck to get this book out before the election. It wasn't detailed at all. Her childhood in the book was more about the history of Chicago and race relations. I would have enjoyed more stories about Craig, her brother, and Michelle growing up with a "middle class" family in the South Side of Chicago. The pages on her college years at Princeton were thin. Mostly discussing her thinking on her future instead of what she learned and how she changed there. In the book after she met Barack Obama, it was like the book changed to more of a book looking at him instead of Michelle. I felt the book almost became mean spirited about Michelle and how she treats Barack. If someone hasn't heard Michelle Obama speak about her past then this is a good quick book to get a taste of where she's from and who she is, but if you are looking for an in-depth study or biography about her then you aren't going to get it. Wait for this one on the bargain tables.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars A compilation of data from public records and speculation December 8, 2008

By M. Kooiman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I was really excited to have an opportunity to read about Michelle Obama's life. How did she get to Princeton? Harvard? As a woman and an African American she's an amazing person and I wanted to know more. This book did not answer my questions. Instead, it started with a history of Chicago. The author speculated in this portion of the book that Michelle's family lived in this house or neighborhood "according to voter registration" records. It moves (slowly) into Michelle's younger years and gives a history of the high school she attended but, again, doesn't tell you much more about Michelle than you could get from public records. There are a few quotes from students who attended the same school but not much from people who actually knew her.

The section about her college years was more about the history of African Americans at Princeton and Harvard. People interviewed for these chapters weren't Michelle Robinson Obama's friends and the chapters were actually rather negative - talking mostly about how she stuck with the other African American students. It really read more like the author had an agenda to put Michelle Obama down as someone who was extremely prejudiced instead of the amazing, intelligent woman who overcame racism to get an ivy league law degree.

The final chapters talk a lot about Barack Obama and how the two used their careers and connections to help each other. I still have most of the last chapter left to read and, honestly, I don't know if I can force myself to finish it. I'm tired of reading lines like "according to voter registration records" and "according to someone who has a website about black Americans, they think...". The author was not granted interviews with friends and family and especially not the Obama's but she chose to write the book anyway and it shows. There's very little first hand information to tell you who Michelle Obama really is.

I don't recommend this book.