Settle for More, a 2016 autobiography written by political journalist and commentator Megyn Kelly, is a candid, yet formal, look into Megyn Kelly’s story of hard work and success. Megyn Kelly writes with honesty and rawness in her assessment of her life. She is both real and polite in her description of her mistakes, triumphs, and everyone involved in her life story.
As with most biographies, the book starts from the beginning or childhood of the star of this book. Megyn gives the reader a candid look into her humble yet strong home life centering on an outspoken Italian mother and “nana” (Italian grandmother) and a very reverent father (who would have become a priest had it not been for Megyn’s mom). Her parents’ strong personalities and values laid the foundations for Megyn’s strong discipline, perseverance, and good sense of humor, which according to Megyn, are the reasons for her success.
Despite some rough times in middle school, and losing her father to an early death when she was only fifteen years old, Megyn has a healthy and overall happy youth in which her hard work and perseverance pay off. Her can-do attitude enables Megyn to attend law school after college and make her mark as one of the better students. Upon graduation, Megyn gets picked up by a prestigious New York law firm and meets her future first husband, a soon-to-be doctor. At this point Megyn had an outwardly enviable life, although according to her, she felt overworked and exhausted, and rarely saw her first husband.
Megyn soon decided that her life, despite being impressive, was not fulfilling and so she did what the theme of the book encourages the reader to do: Settle for More. Shockingly, in her early thirties, Megyn decides to switch careers and leave the legal firm where she was just about to make partner, and then leave her doctor husband.
Megyn earns her way into the world of journalism, though starting off with a severe pay cut and not much experience. But due to her discipline and determination, she soon makes it big at Fox News as a young news anchor. From there the story gets even more triumphant with the introduction to her second and final husband and then Donald Trump, the 45th (now 47th) President of the United States.
BOTTOM LINE: This book is a well scripted study on Megyn Kelly’s success. While the author is open and honest about her triumphs and challenges, her story is not particularly emotionally engaging. Instead it offers the reader a good role model on how to succeed, and settle for more.