Michelle: A Biography [Hardcover]

Liza Mundy (Author)

Book Description

Publication 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, and staff writer at The Washington Post, where for more than ten years she has covered politics, popular culture, and women's issues. She is a regular contributor to the online magazine Slate and participates in their women's blog, XX Factor. She has also written for Lingua Franca, Redbook, Mother Jones, Washington City Paper, and Washington Monthly. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband, Mark Bradley, and their two children, Anna and Robin.

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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: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #709,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

takingadayoff "takingadayoff" (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Michelle: A Biography (Hardcover)

(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.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money!, January 2, 2009

By 

Nsinga "Nsinga Adams" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michelle: A Biography (Hardcover)

Liza Munday ought to be ashamed of herself. Instead of a biography, she has offered weak inerviews, innuendo, and miscellaneous opinion. I am especially disappointed at her inclusion of Debra Dickerson, a Michelle Obama critic, but the fact is that Munday had so little to go on that she had to pad the book with interviews from people who had scant knowledge of Michelle Obama. It's great that interest in Michelle Obama is so high, but it is extraordinarily exploitative for Munday to have offered us such a weak product in the name of biogrpahy. Don't waste your money on this book. Wait for the real deal from a real biographer.

12 of 14 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 "nerdette" (Richardson, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Michelle: A Biography (Hardcover)

(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.