Though they’ve spoken before, author and Washington Post reporter Mundy confesses early on, “the presidential campaign declined access to Michelle and discouraged friends from talking.” The resulting biography of Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic Presidential nominee Barack, is neither as full nor satisfying as Mundy hopes, but works as a sympathetic, gently probing profile of a strong, self-assured family- and business-woman whose husband’s meteoric rise (as Mundy puts it, “Obama had been beamed up. He had ascended”) catapulted her into the national spotlight. The product of humble Chicago origins, Princeton and Harvard Law educations and a fierce sense of self, Michelle suddenly found herself defending her background and career, her husband’s campaign, the couple’s role as parents, and her own personal philosophies and pronouncements in front of a national audience. In her broad assessment, Mundy considers seriously, if not conclusively, questions raised by some of Michelle’s now-infamous (and oft-misquoted) statements about her pride in America, as well as the controversy surrounding the Obamas’ former pastor. Though Mundy never develops a clear argument regarding Michelle’s significance as a national figure-present or future-she does document how Michelle got there: as a smart, formidable and uncompromising woman.
» Read more: Michelle: A Biography by Liza Mundy (Hardcover)