Becoming - Michelle Obama

(Sorry - this is not rock'n'roll - although Michelle does have a love for the Jackson 5! - but is obviously a big part of our current culture.)

Of course, like most good progressives, I was infatuated and impressed by the Obamas when they first hit the national stage. I literally ran out the door and shouted when Barack became our first African American president. I felt he could have been a better president if he hadn't governed as conservatively as he had, but was always proud to have such an intelligent, articulate, good looking and obviously loving couple in the White House. They - by all appearances - were the real Camelot that the Kennedys pretended to be.

Of course, I had to read Barrack's book back when he was running for president, but now that he is somewhat out of the spotlight, Michelle does a terrific job of telling her tale. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago in a loving, supportive family, excelling in school (with the help and encouragement of her parents), schooling in Princeton, going to law school and getting a job in a prestigious firm in Chicago - all according to her precise, planned schedule. This schedule was thrown off course when a young law student spent the summer at the firm (he was being courted by the partners) and they fell in love and eventually were married.

Their relationship had it's ups and downs, as most do, but these were exacerbated by the arrival of two girls (surprising to me that they required medical help to become pregnant - I guess it is easy to do when you don't want to but difficult when you do) and Barack's entry into politics, which took him away from home for long periods of time. Michelle's accomplishments are extremely impressive, but she did hold herself back for the sake of the kids and for Barack's political career. Of course, she had to put her career on hold completely when he campaigned and won the presidency.

Naturally, she talks about the politics and the obstructive republicans who, then as now, work only for themselves at the expense of the American people, instead of for us, and all they did to block Barack's agenda at all costs. She throws in a few jabs at Trump and his birtherism and other obnoxious traits, but she also talks a lot about her life behind the scenes -getting the girls into schools, trying to keep their lives as normal as possible under the circumstances, the trials and tribulations of dealing with the Secret Service and not being able to run errands or even open the windows of the White House and much, much more that I had never thought about (for instance, the president has to buy his own TP!). She also details the programs that she worked so hard on and was so passionate about, including women's rights, childhood obesity, her White House garden and its message of healthy eating and her veteran's programs.

Most starling, although we live with it every day, is the contrast between Barack's informed, steady, highly successful (even if it was overly conservative) presidency and the disaster that we have to watch unfold in front of us every day now, with a lunatic in charge that makes W look informed and reasoned. It is still incredible to me that we went from a president who wanted to know everything to a president who is proud to know nothing.

Throughout it all, Michelle holds onto hope and is rightfully proud of all that was accomplished in their 8 years in the White House and looks forward to continuing to help people in the future. There are points when it's difficult to believe that these people are this intelligent and caring, but I do want to believe that these people exist. Michelle (and the people that helped her with the book) is a gifted story teller and her tale is inspirational, her accomplishments are many and the narrative is deeply engaging. This is rightfully a best seller and I hope that the Obamas continue to help and inpisre for decades to come.