This is Maya Angelou's first autobiography. It's brutally honest, beautifully written and eye-opening to people from other cultures. At least it was for me.

It tells the story of Angelou and her brother Bailey, starting with their first time living with "Momma," their father's mother, through going to live with their mother in St. Louis, a horrible event there, going back to Momma's in Stamps, Arkansas, then California.

In California one summer, Maya went alone (without Bailey) to visit their dad. That ended up turning into something that I think could have been its own book.

It really felt like I read many books in reading this one. Each location contained its own adventures, triumphs and trials.

Ms. Angelou led a most interesting life, with both great joy and tragedy and she wrote about it in a way that makes you feel like you were experiencing it right there with her, or even seeing her memories as she thought about them.

My dry summary doesn't shine a candle to her writing. If you haven't read it, I think you should. She has some extraordinary phrasing, and doesn't hold anything back.

People who like a good story, true stories, coming of age stories, family drama, and those who are interested in Black culture and/or history.

Maya, Momma, Mrs. Flowers, her favorite teacher in CA, and the things I mentioned in the summary.

Ms. Angelou's way with words inspired me as a writer.

I even liked the foreword (by Oprah Winfrey) and had not remembered their close relationship.

Well I sure didn't like some of the things that happened to her, especially the most terrible thing when she was eight years old or for being punished for not bouncing back quickly enough for it.

I hate racism of all forms, violence against children and evil in general. There's a lot of the former in this book but I don't see how she could have told her story without it. And, though it was hard to read, I'm glad she kept things honest.

Read the rest of her biography. I believe there's a second book that continues her story.

I think every single feeling. I got angry and sad. I got happy and relieved. I laughed and cried. I cried so hard at points, just thinking about those scenes still brings tears to my eyes (granted, I just finished the book last night, but this isn't normal for me).

From Amazon: "Maya Angelou was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, she wrote numerous volumes of poetry, among them Phenomenal Woman, And Still I Rise, On the Pulse of Morning, and Mother. Maya Angelou died in 2014."

It's amazing, honest and eye-opening.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings   from Amazon.Com!

Created Sep 19, 2021 at 3:18pm • Submit your own review...