Mundy - Michelle (2008) - Synopsis

UFPPC (www.ufppc.org) Digging Deeper LXXII: February 9, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Liza Mundy, Michelle: A Biography (New York: Simon and Schuster, October 2008). Prologue. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born to Fraser Robinson III, a Chicago city water department employee, and his wife Marian, on Jan. 17, 1964 (1-2). Her father’s family came from Georgetown, SC; her grandfather moved to Chicago circa 1934 (2). The Great Migration (2-3). Chicago’s South Side (3-5). Michelle Obama at 44 (6-7). Her role as explainer of Barack Obama, provider and proof of his rootedness (7-10). She inspires “strong enthusiasm and strong skepticism” (11-14). Though she interviewed Michelle Obama in the summer of 2007 for an article, the author was denied access to her as a biographer (14-15). Michelle’s strong, dominant personality (15-16). She tends to be more pessimistic and angry than her husband (16-17). More than him, she is “a product of the broader African American community and is inextricably tied to its narrative and its fate” (17; 1718). Chapter 1. Fraser Robinson, her father, who died in his fifties in 1991 of M.S., was a volunteer precinct captain and worked for Mayor Daley’s political machine in Chicago; his water department job was probably a “reward for political service” (25; 19-27). Chapter 2. Michelle grew up in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago as white flight took place (29-43). During the 1970s the black community “split” between those doing well and those whose fortunes declined; this became the focus of her Princeton thesis, Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community (43-46). Chapter 3. Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, racially diverse without being racially divided (47-55). Here and

elsewhere, Michelle, who was quieter than she would be in later years, feels she overcame low expectations of other for her (55-59). She went to Princeton University largely because her older brother Craig went there (59). Craig Robinson later gave up a lucrative career in finance to do work he loved; he is now head basketball coach at Oregon State (59-60). Chapter 4. Princeton University’s racist past and role in developing a “holistic approach” to affirmative action (61-66). Her freshmen roommate’s mother tried to have her rooming assignment changed (66-67). Her experience at Princeton made Michelle more conscious of her black identity; she gravitated to the Third World Center (67-72). Dating was affected by the presence on campus of her brother, a basketball star (72-73). Her senior thesis, which the author has read “several times” (73-74). “‘The path I have chosen to follow by attending Princeton will likely lead to my further integration and/or assimilation into a White cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society; never becoming a full participant,’ she concluded, in what has already turned out to be one of the most ironic sentences ever written” (74). Various perspectives and opinions about Michelle’s experience at Princeton (7678). Chapter 5. At Harvard Law School, Michelle Robinson was still quiet and not very visible but more active (79-80). The law school as a tense, socially nasty place (80-82). Michelle worked at the legal aid bureau (82-85). Chapter 6. With the help of a Princeton alumnus, Stephen Carlson, in 1987

Michelle was hired as summer associate at Sidley Austin in Chicago and began work there after law school, where she showed herself to be unusually ambitious (87-93). Earliest stages of her relationship with Barack Obama, whom she first met when he was a summer intern at Sidley Austin in 1989 (93-97). Perceptions of Barack Obama (97-100). Engagement and marriage in 1992 (10002). Michelle left Sidley Austin in 1991 (102-05). Stephen Carlson was “disappointed” by the anti-corporate stance she has taken (105-06). Chapter 7. Obama took a position at Judson Miner’s civil rights law firm (10710). Michelle worked for Richard M. Daley, the mayor’s son (110-14). In 1993 she became director of Public Allies, training people for nonprofit sector work (114-18). Their “collaborative marriage” ([s]he gets to tease, and Barack does not” [121]) (118-22). Chapter 8. Barack Obama ran for a seat in the Illinois state senate in 1995 and won (123-29). Michelle’s life experience has given her a sense that, in her words, “It is such a flimsy difference between success and failure” (126). Malia Ann born on July 4, 1998 (129-31; Natasha [Sasha] born 2001 [137]). Obama takes on more things, participates in Robert Putnam’s Saguaro Seminar (131-32). His unsuccessful challenge in the 2000 Democratic primary for Bobby Rush’s seat strained the family (132-36). As Obama decided to run for the U.S. Senate, Michelle moderated her expectations of him (137-40). Chapter 9. Obama’s successful campaign in the Democratic primary (141-46). Michelle develops her skills as surrogate for candidate Obama (146-49). Obama’s transformative speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (149-51). His successful campaign (15255). Michelle decides not to move to Washington (155-56). Rezko (156-57).

Michelle intolerant of possible dalliances (157-58). Pressures as wife of a celebrity senator (158-60). Chapter 10. Obama’s The Audacity of Hope and a joint appearance on Oprah (161-63). Summer 2006 trip to Ethiopia, Chad, Djibouti, South Africa, Kenya (16365). The decision to run for president included increased scrutiny of her own professional associations, including her March 2005 promotion to vice president for community and external affairs at University of Chicago Hospitals with a raise in salary from $121,910 to $316,962 (165-70). Chapter 11. After some awkwardness, Michelle Obama learns how to present herself in the campaign, then, in midFebruary 2008, made her “For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country” remark (171-86). Chapter 12. The debate over “proud” remark (187-89). It connected to the Jeremiah Wright issue (189-93). Michelle resented the campaign’s vetting to be sure the lie about a tape of her saying “whitey” did not exist (193-94). Campaign slurs (194-95). Admirers (19596). If she becomes first lady opens many possibilities (196-98). Acknowledgments. Friends, colleagues, editor, family, research assistant (Leah Nylen) (199-200). Notes. 17 pp. Often perfunctory. [About the Author. Liza Mundy was raised in Roanoke, VA. She graduated from Princeton, then earned an M.A. in English literature at the University of Virginia. She taught writing there. She has been a staff writer writing about popular culture, the arts, politics, science, and family life at the Washington Post for more than a decade, and has won a number of awards. She lives in Arlington, VA, with her husband

and two children. She is also the author of the well-reviewed Everything Conceivable: How Assisted Reproduction Is Changing Our World (Knopf, 2007). She maintains a web site. (http://www.lizamundy.com/).]