She’s back. Get ready to read, see, and hear more of Michelle Obama than you ever have before. The former first lady announced Thursday she will have a book out this fall, The Light We Carry, which will shine a light on herself, her dreams, her hopes for the planet, and insights “on navigating an increasingly stressful world.”
The work is bound for a global launch with book tour and interviews to match in Michelle Obama’s first entirely new work since the 2018 release of Becoming.
That tome sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, surpassing the sales of any memoir by a previous first lady or modern president, including her husband, former President Barack Obama.
Becoming sold 725,000 copies alone on its first day on the market, making it the biggest opening for a book in 2018 under publishing company Penguin Random House, as Breitbart News reported.
Now she is ready to go again and launch onto the world stage.
Included in the announcement by the Random House Publishing Group and its imprint Crown are her thoughts as set out in the introduction. She writes:
I’ve learned it’s okay to recognize that self-worth comes wrapped in vulnerability, and that what we share as humans on this earth is the impulse to strive for better, always and no matter what.
We become bolder in brightness. If you know your light, you know yourself. You know your own story in an honest way. In my experience, this type of self-knowledge builds confidence, which in turn breeds calmness and an ability to maintain perspective, which leads, finally, to being able to connect meaningfully with others — and this to me is the bedrock of all things.
AP reports the new book is not part of the reported eight-figure deal the Obamas reached in 2017, shortly after he left office, with parent company Penguin Random House for their respective memoirs.
A spokesperson declined to discuss financial terms for The Light We Carry.
Crown will publish the 336-page book Nov. 15, almost exactly four years after the release of Becoming, and has announced a first printing of 2.75 million copies for the U.S. and Canada.
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times will come out simultaneously in 14 languages and 27 countries, with additional rights deals expected.
On Thursday, Penguin Random House also announced it was renaming an annual writing prize in her honor, the $10,000 Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, part of an awards program for public high school students the company launched in 1993.
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