Becoming (book)

Becoming is the memoir of former United States first lady Michelle Obama published in 2018.[1][2] Described by the author as a deeply personal experience,[3] the book talks about her roots and how she found her voice, as well as her time in the White House, her public health campaign, and her role as a mother.[4] The book is published by Crown and was released in 24 languages.[4] One million copies were donated to First Book, an American nonprofit organization which provides books to children.[4]

Becoming
AuthorMichelle Obama
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreMemoir
PublishedNovember 13, 2018 (2018-11-13)
PublisherCrown (North America)
Viking Press (Commonwealth)
Pages400
ISBN978-1-5247-6313-8 (Hardcover)
Preceded byAmerican Grown 
Websitebecomingmichelleobama.com

It sold more copies than any other book published in the United States in 2018, breaking the record in just 15 days.[5]

Background

The memoir was published on November 12, 2018.[6] According to an anonymous source reported by The Atlantic, Barack Obama has said Michelle had help from a ghostwriter.[7]. In 2020, The New York Times confirmed the book was written by a ghostwriter.[8]

Synopsis

The book's 24 chapters (plus a preface and epilogue) are divided into three sections: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More. The Preface of the book sets the stage for Michelle Obama's story to open by sketching a scene in her post-First Lady life. Becoming Me traces Obama's early life growing up on the South Side of Chicago with her parents - Fraser and Marian Robinson - in an upstairs apartment where she got her first piano lessons and learnt to be an independent girl under the nurturing care of her parents. There, Obama shared a bedroom with her brother Craig.[9] The book continues through her education at Princeton University and Harvard Law School, to her early career as a lawyer at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met Barack Obama. While this section talks considerably at length about Obama's Princeton experience and Sidley Austin, Harvard Law school's experiences are mentioned marginally by comparison[10]. Becoming Us departs from the beginning of the Obamas' romantic relationship and follows their marriage, and the beginning of his political career in the Illinois State Senate. The book shares Obama's balance between her position as the first African American First Lady of the United States of America, her motherly duties, and marital commitments.[9] The section ends with election night in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. Becoming More takes the readers through Barack Obama's presidency, Michelle Obama's focus on her Let's Move campaign, and her role of "head mom in chief" to her two daughters - Malia and Sasha Obama, along with the other aspects of the Obama's life as first family.[11] The Epilogue talks about the last day of Obamas in the White House which was also Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony and Michelle Obama's reflection on Optimism. She also expresses her lack of desire to ever run for office[5].

Book sales

Total book sales, including hardcover, audio and e-books editions, sold around 725,000 copies in the United States and Canada during its first day, making it the second best-selling debut for any book in 2018.[12][13] Bob Woodward's Fear: Trump in the White House holds the record after selling around 900,000 copies during its first day.[12][13][14] However, Barnes and Noble reported that Becoming surpassed Fear in first-week sales and had more first-week sales of any adult book since Go Set a Watchman in 2015.[15] The book sold 1.4 million copies in its first week.[16] After 15 days, the book became the best-selling book in the US for the year 2018.[5]

By March 26, 2019, Becoming had sold 10 million copies.[17]

Reception

The review aggregator website Book Marks reported that 18% of critics gave the book a "rave" review, while 73% of the critics expressed "positive" impressions, based on a sample of 22 reviews.[18] It was an Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection.[19] The book was given over 42,000 ratings and over 41,000 reviews on Goodreads and received 4.55 out of 5 stars.[20] Hannah Giogris, a writer from The Atlantic, used to words "refreshing" and "striking" to describe the book.[21]

The audiobook edition won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2020.[22]

Soundtrack

American musician Questlove curated a soundtrack for the book, called The Michelle Obama Musiaqualogy.[23]

Tour

In November 2018, Michelle Obama went on a national book tour conducted in arenas, often to sold-out crowds starting in Chicago at the United Center.[24] Obama previewed the book and tour on Chicago's Windy City Live daytime television show at her alma mater Whitney M. Young Magnet High School on Chicago's Near West Side.[25]

The initial tour included 12 venues in 10 cities,[26] but expanded with its popularity; as of February 2019, another 21 cities had been added, including six in Europe and four in Canada.[27]

Film
Main article: Becoming (film)

In May 2020, a documentary film based on the book was released on Netflix, following Obama through her book tour.[28] The documentary features footage of Obama's travels behind-the-scenes of the tour and clips of her interviews onstage with moderators including Oprah Winfrey and Stephen Colbert.[29]

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References
  1. Barnes & Noble. "Becoming". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  2. Haring, Bruce (February 25, 2018). "Michelle Obama Memoir 'Becoming' Set For November Release". Deadline.
  3. Obama, Michelle [@MichelleObama] (February 25, 2018). "Writing BECOMING has been a deeply personal experience" (Tweet). Retrieved February 28, 2018 – via Twitter.
  4. Chow, Andrew R. (February 25, 2018). "Michelle Obama's Memoir to Arrive in November". The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  5. "Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming breaks sales record in 15 days". BBC News. November 30, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  6. Willis, Kelcie (September 12, 2018). "Michelle Obama announces 'Becoming' 10-city book tour". Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  7. Dovere, Edward-Isaac (May 23, 2019). "Waiting for Obama". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 24, 2019. he'll occasionally point out in conversation that he's writing this book himself, while Michelle used a ghostwriter
  8. Glenn Thrush; Elaina Plott (28 June 2020). "How the Trump Campaign Is Drawing Obama Out of Retirement". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2020. “She had a ghostwriter,” Mr. Obama told a friend who asked about his wife’s speedy work
  9. Obama, Michelle (2018). Becoming (First ed.). New York: Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-5247-6313-8. OCLC 1030413521.
  10. Obama, Michelle, 1964- (2019), Becoming, CNIB, ISBN 978-0-221-02673-7, OCLC 1088930870, retrieved 2020-07-29CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. "Becoming Summary - eNotes.com". eNotes. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  12. Italie, Hillel. "Obama's memoir sells more than 725,000 copies". KFDM. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  13. "Sales of Michelle Obama's book top 725,000 in 1st day". Press Herald. 2018-11-16. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  14. Chappell, Carmin (2018-09-18). "Bob Woodward's 'Fear' sells 1.1 million copies in first week, a record for publisher Simon & Schuster". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  15. Carras, Christi (November 19, 2018). "Michelle Obama's 'Becoming' Becomes 2018's Fastest-Selling Book, Says Barnes & Noble". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  16. "Michelle Obama's book sells 1.4 million copies in a week". CBS News. November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  17. "Michelle Obama book sells 10 million copies". 26 March 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. "Becoming". Book Marks. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  19. "First Look: Oprah's New Book Club Pick: Becoming, by Michelle Obama". Oprah.com. November 12, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  20. "Becoming". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  21. Giorgis, Hannah (2018-11-13). "The Uncommon, Requisite Resolve of Michelle Obama". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  22. "Michelle Obama Wins Grammy Award For Audio Recording Of 'Becoming' Memoir". HuffPost. 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  23. Stutz, Colin (November 20, 2018). "Questlove Expertly Curates Soundtrack for Michelle Obama's 'Becoming' Book Tour: Listen". Billboard. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  24. Ihejirika, Maudlyne (13 November 2018). "Fans pack Madhouse on Madison to see Michelle Obama, Oprah chat it up". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  25. "Michelle Obama headed to 'Windy City Live' ahead of arena book tour". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  26. "Michelle Obama Extends 'Becoming' Book Tour Into 2019 With 21 New Dates". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  27. Jean-Philippe, McKenzie (2019-02-25). "Michelle Obama Just Announced the Newest Celebrity Guests for Her Becoming Book Tour". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  28. "Review: Netflix's Michelle Obama documentary Becoming is nothing more than a commercial for the former first family". Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  29. "Becoming review – tantalising tour of Michelle Obama's life". May 4, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
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