The Obama story in twos! How Michelle will make sense of Obama book

Listening to the erudite Barack Obama recount his personal and political journey is a one-of-a-kind experience, but there are a few loose puzzle pieces that another memoir helps fit

Audio books aren’t really our thing. We have only just begun warming up to reading e-books, so listening to one feels like a big ask. There are exceptions, of course. And one we’ve reserved mostly for the Obamas. Two years ago, when Michelle Obama’s Becoming released, we got ourselves an Audible subscription. Why? Because, as a fan, we had the opportunity to listen to her story, and in her voice. It was a rare treat: one that we go back to each time we want to revisit a chapter that inspired us. Listening to her husband, former US President Barack Obama’s A Promised Land (Penguin Random House), his political biography that has been on bestseller lists ever since its release late last year, was a decision triggered by that experience. Since a benchmark had been set, it was but, impossible not to compare, because of the many parallels in their story. Except that, there weren’t many.

It’s a given that listening to a book read by Obama won’t be disappointing, because it’s a voice that’s familiar, impeccable in style, and one told by a person, who has been through the rigour of umpteen speeches in his political career. It’s the writing, however, that we found wanting.

Obama has written books before—his most popular being Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. So, we understand, if anything, why he has chosen to hop, skip and leap through his early years—his childhood, Harvard education, early career—and dive right into his political debut as senator. Yet, as he takes us in and out of his personal and professional journey, you feel like you are left with loose pieces of a puzzle you can’t seem to fit. It changed, when we went back to listening to Becoming.

It’s as if Michelle was helping us fill in the blanks. From his book, we know that he meets Michelle at a Chicago law firm, where she, a senior, has been charged with hand-holding him. There’s a courtship that follows, but he doesn’t dwell on the whys and hows of it. When you read Becoming, the elaboration is heartwarming—like the ‘accidental’ first date, where they went to see Les Misérables together, only to walk out, because it was so boring, and then spend the evening eating ice cream. Or that time, when Michelle had her first baby through IVF and the excruciating experience of going through it almost alone, because Obama’s political career was just about beginning—he mentions the joy of fatherhood, but it’s unlike hers. The couple’s tiffs are another example—his are about the ones that emerged from his political choices; hers are about the real problems of living together, and sharing a roof.

There’s no doubt that Obama’s biography is sharp. He is candid, when he discusses the cut-throat competition with his first rival among rivals, Hillary Clinton, both of whom were running for the Democrat seat to fight the Presidential elections. And then, the big, historic win in 2008, and the political challenges that lay ahead—book two will delve deeper when it releases.

But, what we found missing was sentimentalism. It’s probably a good thing that both books came so close after the other. You read either one, and you will enjoy it. But, when you read (or listen to both), even better simultaneously, it paints a whole new picture.

What: A Promised Land 
Where: Audible 
Cost:  Rs 1,708

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