Michelle Obama illustration by Rob Biddulph based on portrait by Ethan Miller (2009?)
(February 7) I picked this up because I was seeing it bruited about on social media and, more importantly, noticing that it was very short… useful when I am trying to get the blog back on schedule.And of course I liked this because it is a series of tributes to Michelle Obama, whom I already hero-worship. It was nice to have all her talents laid out formally, though, by celebrities.
I don’t recall whether the book takes any pains to explain why this title in particular was chosen, but it wasn’t because there were a lot of stories about other people's spines being stiffened, as per the Billy Graham quote (which, unfortunately, is about the influence of a brave man), but maybe that quote is just a byword in the States for brave people, and Michelle Obama is certainly one of those.
Each of the contributors praises MO profusely and all of them mention her big endeavors (that damn garden especially -- reading about it repeatedly made me wonder more intensely about the actual impact, which is never documented here) as well as her private style.
What was interesting was how each essay addressed the task… how some writers started out with a story about themselves while others started out with an image of MO, or of some improvement she made.
Overall, it seemed to be on the small side as tributes go… and what was really noticeable was the constant reference to Donald Trump and Trumpian things. He is the background to everything now, after a scant year in power… that is way too much influence to have, especially when he’s so regrettable.
When you feel like the book came out more as another rant against Donald Trump than as a sincere tribute to an amazing First Lady, something’s wrong.
