Buy new:
$12.42
$5.37 delivery: Tuesday, April 23
Ships from: basementseller101
Sold by: basementseller101
List Price: $27.95 Details

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $15.53 (56%)
$5.37 delivery Tuesday, April 23. Details
Or fastest delivery April 17 - 18. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$12.42 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.42
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Monday, April 22 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 22 hrs 28 mins
Used: Very Good | Details
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comment: Very Good Condition -
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Other Sellers on Amazon
Added
$17.79
& FREE Shipping
Sold by: Murfbooks
Sold by: Murfbooks
(42602 ratings)
94% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Added
$18.71
& FREE Shipping
Sold by: BOOK_DEPOT
Sold by: BOOK_DEPOT
(473 ratings)
87% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Added
$22.54
FREE Shipping
Get free shipping
Free shipping within the U.S. when you order $35.00 of eligible items shipped by Amazon.
Or get faster shipping on this item starting at $5.99 . (Prices may vary for AK and HI.)
Learn more about free shipping
on orders over $35.00 shipped by Amazon.
Sold by: HOMEWOOD SHOP
Sold by: HOMEWOOD SHOP
(17 ratings)
100% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Michelle Obama: A Life Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 7, 2015

4.5 out of 5 stars 805

Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
iphone with kindle app
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.

Get the free Kindle app: Link to the kindle app page Link to the kindle app page
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$12.42","priceAmount":12.42,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"42","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"N5FN81SIStrSjJazsiv4%2B1tVsuRJYqshN8s2UzxA8658o2gi1dOll7ozmRIGlcGURAT160XbR5rA1VE%2B5C7upzDpR7ddwN5oSeTZhW08sHY4we73uARdesF1iPs%2BopbwwFvtAuL2Pzf4tjQOj9QPqPS2ae%2FhSgREI7Q3uQDqA8D4LBdtCGbdmQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.99","priceAmount":7.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"N5FN81SIStrSjJazsiv4%2B1tVsuRJYqshqU9A%2BmOdp6VLK35TwOZ%2Fg83H1eCAvSpSXmJOO5g0mfH0Lj5FmYeIRkYjvOIDc0Ly%2F%2BlCONavbnHBswkNBBml3Kj%2BxtWiJ5YlMtmgKCUFuBt8ei3v%2BkNuUCWCaN%2FX5zWNFHN0Fay7OfZNRFacgNvQ2ulKFhOejvGo","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons


The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

$17.79
Get it Apr 23 - 30
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by Murfbooks.
+
$18.22
Get it as soon as Saturday, Apr 20
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
$9.99
Get it Apr 23 - 26
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
Ships from and sold by Academic Book Solutions.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review



Finalist for the 2015 PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography

Named one of the 10 best biographies of 2014-15 by Booklist


"Journalist Slevin explores Michelle Obama’s family history, struggle to rise above racial limitations, marriage, and close friendships as he traces her path to the White House to become an accomplished First Lady who has changed the trajectory of American history."
—booklistonline.com

“No first lady in American history has been at once so popular, pervasive, and yet so hard to know as Michelle Obama. Now Peter Slevin has gone deep and wide to render the most ambitious and authoritative book about her yet. Richly reported, beautifully written, thoughtful in its judgments and revelatory in its details,
Michelle Obama is a work that does justice to Michelle Obama in a fresh way.”
John Heilemann, co-author of Game Change and Double Down
 
“It's a challenge to tell the life story of a public figure, particularly a transformative one. But in
Michelle Obama: A Life Peter Slevin is dogged in his reporting, nuanced in his storytelling and thoughtful in his analysis. He not only shows us who this historical first lady is, but how she came to be. In the process, he reveals much about our times and our culture.”
Robin Givhan, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for the Washington Post
 
“Michelle Obama is one of the most famous women in the world and one of the least understood. Peter Slevin brings us an amazing, eye-opening biography that begins on Chicago's South Side and ends in the White House. Here, Michelle Obama comes alive, as a complex and inspiring woman whose dilemmas mirror America's own continuing struggle for racial equality. Completely convincing and gripping
, Michelle Obama:  A Life is a rich, powerful portrait at once revealing of Mrs. Obama and of ourselves as Americans.”
Dexter Filkins, author of The Forever War
 
“The life of Michelle Obama is a uniquely American story, and Peter Slevin tells it beautifully in this deft, revealing work. In sharing Michelle's extraordinary journey, Slevin also paints a rich picture of Chicago's  South Side during the past century
 and the family and forces that helped shape this exceptional woman.”
David Axelrod, former Senior Advisor to the President, director of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago

"Thoughtful… Ripe with revelations about her deeply complicated relationship with her own position as an Ivy League-­educated black woman… Richly rendered context for Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign, when Mrs. Obama suddenly became a litmus test."
Amy Chozick, New York Times Book Review

"The Michelle who emerges fully understands the transformative value of being an African-American First Lady."
The New Yorker

“Must-read...An important new biography…Political journalist Peter Slevin, who covered the Obamas for a decade, has written a literate, deeply reported portrait of the First Lady… Slevin treats her and her accomplishments with the detail and nuance they deserve.”
Elle Magazine
 
“Slevin, a former reporter for The Washington Post, goes to great lengths to depict the first lady's 1960s and 1970s upbringing in a racially divided Chicago, often hostile to African-Americans. He also presents the humble — and driven, artistic and outspoken — relatives who shaped her… Such glimpses into the first lady's early life are found throughout this meticulously researched biography…Slevin pulls back the curtain of her White House life.”
Katherine Skiba, Chicago Tribune
 
"Slevin’s work is detailed and absorbing; his careful research presents the most comprehensive portrait of Obama to date. Though analytical, the work is never dry and includes many anecdotes that bring a storied public figure to life....While other books have probed race issues, Slevin’s work enables the reader to appreciate the sweep of the pre- and post-civil rights movement as it played out in Chicago and was experienced by the young Michelle, her family and friends...A major and welcome addition to the bookshelf of first lady biographies."
Myra G. Gutin, The Washington Post
 
"Makes a convincing case that Mrs. Obama’s popularity today has more to do with events that took place on the south side of Chicago decades ago than with the work of an image maker in the East Wing of the White House."
The Wall Street Journal

"Impressively reported and researched... fast-paced."
Chicago magazine

"Richly detailed prose...Tons of little-known nuggets revealed in the book, offering readers a closer look at the Mrs. Obama they never knew."
NBC News

"Her life story charts the progress of the civil rights movement...Michelle Obama’s success is a direct result of those societal advancements, but she has also made the case for her childhood, and adults who instilled in her and her brother “a larger message fundamental to their upbringing,” Slevin writes. It's a venerable African-American ideology, a necessary survival strategy, but also a kind of a moral argument about human possibility." 
Bloomberg Politics

"Intimate view of her life...[Slevin] interviewed a vast collection of Michelle Obama’s friends, family members and acquaintances...to craft the most comprehensive portrait to date of the nation’s first African-American first lady.
 Atlanta BlackStar"

The incredible journey: A new biography brings First Lady Michelle Obama's inspiring story to life… A drive to give back is the through line in Slevin’s thoughtful account.”
Vogue

"An in-depth look at America’s FLOTUS—starting at the Great Migration, and leaving no stone unturned."
Jezebel
 
"[T]he future First Lady was a girl from the South Side of Chicago, navigating the Ivy League world and its social intricacies while questioning the impact black Princeton graduates had on the community at large. She didn’t want to forget her roots and the importance of reaching back — a value instilled in her by her parents back home...Slevin is able to connect the dots of Mrs. Obama’s life and assess the impact her upbringing, deeply rooted in the black experience, has had on not only her impressive career trajectory, but also the legacy she’ll leave behind as First Lady."
Time

“Rich in familial details....Recounts Obama's working-class childhood, her struggle to fit in at Princeton, her social activism at Harvard Law, and her success in community affairs...Those nostalgic for the 'Yes We Can' era will delight in reliving the ups and downs of the 2008 election.”
Bust
 
“We might daydream about being BFFs with Michelle Obama, but Peter Slevin’s new biography of the First Lady is probably as close as we’ll get. Reading it...is a weekend well spent."
Dame
 
"Michelle Obama: A Life
is a refreshing reminder that a serious journalist taking an interesting first lady seriously can produce compelling results...Exhaustive and thoughtful portrait that produces many insights and surprises...We get a seldom-explored view of a tight-knit, closely guarded South Side Chicago neighborhood that produced a number of success stories including the first African-American first lady...a number of “I didn’t know that" moments that will delight the most ardent Michelle Watchers."
Patrik Henry Bass, Essence Magazine

"It took Peter Slevin to tell the inspiring story of Michelle Obama. Thrilled to recommend this book....I know this author, and he has used his vast skills and sensitivity to paint a fair and inspiring portrait of America's first black First Lady....Peter's book is the story of her life, but in his capable hands it's also the story about race in America."                  
Connie Schultz, winner, Pulitzer Prize for commentary


"The first African-American first lady is not only a historic figure, she’s someone we don’t know very well beyond the idealized or demonized figure portrayed in partisan media....Slevin makes this mostly happy life interesting by putting it in the context in which Michelle came of age...we see her shed her discomfort with being a black woman in a historically white job, playing out the story she hopes to make possible for other people."
Maclean's

"Michelle Obama's story is an American classic....Slevin combines access to her and her family and friends with a keen understanding of American politics and history... ...[T]he many new details, combined with a keen sense of the political and social dynamics at work during Michelle Obama's formative years, make this book a standout."
USA Today

"Meticulously reported, close-up look…A detailed portrait of an ambitious, civic-minded woman with a track record for getting things done."
The Florida Times-Union

"If anyone is qualified to tell the first lady's story, it is Slevin....Meticulously researched...Michelle Obama fans should be pleased...A woman presented here as a full partner in her husband's political career."
The Houston Chronicle

"It's a great read!"
Rev. Al Sharpton, MSNBC

"Slevin relied on dozens of conversations with friends, family and others to trace her historic orbit. He draws a hyper intelligent, charismatic and complex woman molded by working-class parents in segregated Chicago."
Chicago Sun Times

"Great book!....I am having just a great time reading
Michelle Obama: A Life.
Joe Madison, SiriusXM Urban View

"A deeply informed portrait of the first lady and her native Chicago, particularly this city's often shameful treatment of African Americans...Exhaustively reported, painstakingly footnoted...Her larger story, told so powerfully in Slevin's biography, suggests she will forever be a force with which to be reckoned."
Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune

"Slevin depicts Obama as human
with foibles and flawsas well as courageoussacrificing personally...His thorough research, openness and compassion combine to create a stunning profile of an inspirational role model for the twenty-first century."
Jen Forbus, Shelf Awareness for Readers

"Meticulously detailed and engrossing...engaging and insightful."
Deesha Philyaw, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Inspiring read for women in search of (authentic) positivity...We see her passion for equality and her commitment to ending childhood obesity, but above all the takeaway is this: Never give anyone else the power to decide what is possible for you."
Dawn Raffel,Oprah.com


About the Author

Peter Slevin is a contributing writer for The New Yorker, focusing on politics. He spent a decade on the national staff of The Washington Post, writing extensively about Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as political campaigns and policy debates from one end of the country to the other. He lives in Evanston, Illinois, where he is a professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf; Illustrated edition (April 7, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0307958825
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0307958822
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.85 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.6 x 1.58 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 805

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Peter Slevin
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
805 global ratings
It was delivered today and the quality of the pages is terrible. There is no way I can give this ...
1 Star
It was delivered today and the quality of the pages is terrible. There is no way I can give this ...
I give the condition of, not the content no stars. I usually order Kindle editions but this particular book was to be a gift for my boss. It was delivered today and the quality of the pages is terrible. There is no way I can give this book as a gift! I will never order another hard copy from Amazon again!
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2023
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017
9 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018
7 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016
21 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2020
3 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2016
8 people found this helpful
Report
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2017
38 people found this helpful
Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Diva Den
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2020
Ana Sofía Elizondo
1.0 out of 5 stars Recomendaciones
Reviewed in Mexico on December 15, 2017
Carlod
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, moving and motivational
Reviewed in Germany on September 18, 2018
One person found this helpful
Report
Anne Morgan
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best : an example to humanity
Reviewed in France on February 16, 2018
Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stelle
Reviewed in Italy on February 19, 2017