To apostrophize or not to apostrophize?

It’s correct to express the possessive, which this is. It’s also redundant, but idiomatic (meaning that’s just the way we say it): we’d say “I’m a big fan of yours” and not “I’m a big fan of you.”

With a person’s name, the double possessive can safely be omitted, but we do hear it all the time, as in your example.

Curiously, we don’t use it with inanimate things: “She’s a big fan of baseball,” “I’m a big fan of ambiguity.” Yet it would still be there to stand in for the “of” if you reworded it: “He’s baseball’s biggest fan.”

I disagree. I would jut say, “I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama.”

Sorry if I was unclear in my pronoun reference: It’s correct to express the possessive meant “The apostophe-s is correct to express the possessive.” It isn’t a position on the use of the redundant possessive, which I did go on to explain—just the form of it. I don’t think we’re in disagreement, @janbb.

So, as I understand it, either use is correct. It’s a matter of personal taste and context, yes?

I agree with @janbb. I would say, “I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama.”

Unless you were saying something along the lines of, “I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama’s husband.” “I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama’s fashion sense.”

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room, perhaps I misunderstood your question. I thought you were asking about the use and placement of the apostrophe in forming the possessive. Were you asking about the use of the possessive itself?

I believe both are acceptable: “I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama; I’m a big fan of Michele Obama’s.” But I favor the former.

Here is some guidance on the topic of double possessives from the AP style guide:
“Double possessives” must meet two conditions to be an acceptable grammatical construct: The word “of” must relate to an animate object; and the word that precedes “of” must involve only a portion of the animate object’s possessions.

The concept is probably best illustrated through examples: He is a classmate of Maria’s (correct because “Maria” is animate and “a classmate” is only one of several). There is also nothing wrong with writing, “He is Maria’s classmate.” And we can discern from the rules that it would be incorrect to write, “He is the only classmate of Maria’s.”

Other examples:
The brothers of Jane Smith preceded her in death. (All preceded her, so the double possessive is NOT appropriate.)

He is a benefactor of the settlement. (“Settlement” is not animate, so the double possessive is NOT appropriate.)

He is a brother of Jane’s. (“Jane” is animate, and “a brother” implies there are several, so the double possessive is correct).

While these examples might cloud the issue for you, in reality, we use double possessives frequently with possessive pronouns: He is a friend of mine. (Jeruba pointed this out.)

And if the employer for whom you’re writing uses another style authority, pay attention to what that authority says ;-)

“I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama’s” sounds like an incomplete sentence.

A fan of her what?

Or you could say, “I’m Michelle Obama’s fan.”

There’s no statement that can’t be worded another way. The question is what you say when you’re wording it this way.

We would not (or at least I would not) say:

—That new haircut of Claire is very flattering. (vs. “Claire’s”)
—That sharp tongue of John really gets on my nerves. (vs. “John’s”)
(Notice that the construction “That sharp tongue of John’s” changes dramatically if we replace the demonstrative “that” with the definite article “the.” Now we have something that we don’t say at all, with or without ‘s. Instead we would recast it as “John’s sharp tongue really gets on my nerves.”)
—I’d like you to meet my husband. And this is a friend of him. (vs. “his”)

I might or might not say informally “I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama’s” (I don’t think I would; I think I’d drop the apostrophe-s), but I would definitely say “I’m a big fan of Verdi.”

I would also mean two different things if I said “I am a student of Plato” and “I am a student of Plato’s.”

@Jeruba, I apologize or not being clearer in my question. My question wasn’t about anything possessive, but rather—let’s see if I can say this correctly—do we need the apostrophe-s at all, since “I am a big fan of” Obama, not the possessive form of the name. Does that make sense? Seems to me the apostrophe-s is redundant.

Thanks for your input, everybody. “I’m a fan of Michelle Obama’s” was the author’s opening sentence in his column about Michelle’s recent skirmish with a protestor, and I was reminded that I’ve always felt the apostrophe-s was redudant in that usage. I think I’ve got my answer now.

Both may be technically correct but I must admit that when I read “I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama’s” I immediately feel like asking “Michelle Obama’s what??”

@Seek_Kolinahr apologies, I see you have already made that point.

No worries!

No apostrophe necessary, the word of does the job already.