Becoming

Author: Michelle Obama

At the time of this writing, Becoming has 5 stars with 10,000+ reviews on amazon. My guess is that most people want to love this book. Michelle, clearly is a role model and leader from whom we can learn a lot. I found the story of her early years quite compelling. Her father, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, lived his life without talking much (or anything at all) about his illness. All of her relatives and neighbors in those years are interesting to read about and absorb.

However, once she met Barack, the narrative got a little shallow. I felt that she was being very careful not to talk about any secrets or opinions that would cast them or the people around them in a bad light. Consequently, I found it hard to get through the second half of the book. I do realize that the Obamas are relatively young and still very much in the political spotlight. I would have preferred her to focus only on the things that she feels comfortable to talk about openly and not drag the reader through 450 pages of circumspect biography.