Michelle Obama Drops Due Date For 'Deeply Personal' Memoir

Michelle Obama fans can officially start the countdown clock. Over social media Sunday, the former first lady announced her first memoir, Becoming, will be published on November 13. That gives her most dedicated admirers exactly 261 days to start printing "Obama 2020" T-shirts as some are professing to do before storming bookstores. "Writing BECOMING has been a deeply personal experience," she tweeted to her followers. "I talk about my roots and how a girl from the South Side found her voice." In a post on Instagram, Obama added that writing the book "has allowed me, for the very first time, the space to honestly reflect on the unexpected trajectory of my life. ... I hope my journey inspires readers to find the courage to become whoever they aspire to be."The book's scope had been a bit of a mystery since the Obamas announced their joint publishing deal in 2017 — a negotiation that sparked an unparalleled bidding war that reportedly exceeded a whopping $60 million for the former first couple. Now, in a longer post issued by the publisher, Penguin Random House is preparing readers for "an unusually intimate" read: 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."The memoir is Obama's second book; she previously publishedAmerican Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America, a gardening guide, in 2012. Upon its release, Obama will head out on a U.S. and international book tour.Barack Obama's fourth book is expected to be a behind-the-scenes account of his eight turbulent years in the White House. Penguin Random House says it will donate one million books in the Obamas' name to First Book — a nonprofit with the mission of "providing new books, learning materials, and other essentials to children in need" — and to the Washington, D.C.-based Open eBooks. NPR's Emma Bowman contributed to this report. Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.