A biography of Michelle Obama, the first African American First Lady of the United States.

This is the inspiring story of a modern American icon, the first comprehensive account of the life and times of Michelle Obama. With disciplined reporting and a storyteller’s eye for revealing detail, Peter Slevin follows Michelle to the White House from her working-class childhood on Chicago’s largely segregated South Side. He illuminates her tribulations at Princeton University and Harvard Law School during the racially charged 1980s and the dilemmas she faced in Chicago while building a high-powered career, raising a family, and helping a young community organizer named Barack Obama become president of the United States. From the lessons she learned in Chicago to the messages she shares as one of the most recognizable women in the world, the story of this First Lady is the story of America. Michelle Obama: A Life is a fresh and compelling view of a woman of unique achievement and purpose.

Now in paperback—the intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States, featuring a new introduction by Michelle Obama, a letter from the author to her younger self, and a book club guide with 20 discussion questions and a 5-question Q&A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WATCH THE EMMY-NOMINATED NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

From her youth on Chicago's South Side to her years at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as America's First Lady, and in the years that have followed, Michelle Obama has shown the world how to lead with kindness and grace. Revisit the glorious, historic era of the Obama White House—and the many roads traveled to get there—in LIFE Michelle Obama, a photo-filled biography and Special Edition featuring beautiful images and discerning text from the editors of LIFE. Follow Michelle's journey from her years under the tutelage of her mother, Marian, who encouraged her children to be thinkers, doers, and decision makers, to her time at Princeton, Harvard Law, and then back home to Chicago to work for the law firm Sidley Austin, where one fateful, rainy day in 1989, a young man named Barack walked through the door. Relive their romance, and their time in the Illinois Senate back in early aughts, before the Obamas would become a household and worldwide name. In the White House, Michelle would dedicate much of her time to ensuring the next generation of children lived a healthy, active lifestyle, and outside of it, she'd be recognized as a fashion icon on par with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

This book details the fascinating life story of Michelle Obama, emphasizing her own personal and professional accomplishments, her life partnership with President Barack Obama, and her distinctive approach to the role of First Lady. Independent and supportive, elegant and down-to-earth, an accomplished professional and family anchor as her husband rose to the presidency, Michelle Obama is to many the consummate life partner in politics and the epitome of the 21st-century working mom. Michelle Obama: A Biography offers an unprecedented look at one of the most captivating women of our time, one who is sure to add her own distinctive legacy to the tradition of presidential wives. Ranging across the full arc of Michelle Obama's life, this revealing biography tells the story of her family background—her great-great-grandfather was a slave—her modest Chicago upbringing, her education and well-established legal career, and her relationship with her husband before, during, and after he reached the pinnacle of American politics.

Michelle Robinson Obama was born on Chicago's South Side, one of two children of Fraser and Marian Robinson. From Chicago public schools she went on to Princeton, eventually earning a law degree from Harvard. After a stint at the law firm where she met Barack Obama, Michelle's interests turned toward community service. Already juggling marriage, children, and career, she was drawn onto the national stage by Barack's political career. This profile offers insights into the life of Michelle Obama and her role as America's First Lady.