To put it simply, I adored this!

in the greatest title of all time rankings, this one's a pretty big contender.

it's also, perhaps more importantly, a truly stunning memoir. this is blazingly honest and beautifully written even in its moments of describing life's ugliness, and is altogether an unrelenting read.

not a hot take, but: i recommend this one!

bottom line: worth the decades of hype.

4.5

Even before I started listening to this audio book, I could hear Angelou’s voice, deep and distinctive. I remember seeing her on tv at some point in the past and notably, even though a while ago, when she read a poem she had written for President Clinton’s inauguration. This autobiography of her early years from age four through sixteen makes for a tough story at times, but an amazing telling of it. At four years old, she and her brother Bailey are sent to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their pat...

4.5 "lyrical, poignant, honest" stars !!!2018 Honorable Mention Read. This was a wonderfully written beginning to Ms. Angelou's six volume autobiography. I had been wanting to read this for many years and Jean's gorgeous review pushed me over the edge to add this to my shortlist. Ms. Angelou's writing appears effortless and clear. The emotions and honesty ring through and you walk alongside her childhood and feel for her pain, enjoy her laughs and cheer her on her adventures. I love that she po...

Maya Angelou was a poet and Nobel laureate who once gave an address at President Clinton's inauguration. Before she won her multitudes of awards and honors, Maya was raised in rural Stamps, Arkansas by her grandmother and uncle during the depression. First published in 1969 and now considered a modern classic, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings details Angelou's tumultuous childhood in poignant detail. Born Marguerite Johnson and often called Ritie, Maya and her older brother Bailey were taken to l...

Caged BirdA free bird leapson the back of the windand floats downstreamtill the current endsand dips his wingin the orange sun raysand dares to claim the sky.But a bird that stalksdown his narrow cagecan seldom see throughhis bars of ragehis wings are clipped andhis feet are tiedso he opens his throat to sing.The caged bird singswith a fearful trillof things unknownbut longed for stilland his tune is heardon the distant hillfor the caged birdsings of freedom. The above poem by Maya Angelou (n...

I have only ever given 5 stars to two autobiographies. One was written by a white English man; the other by a black American woman. On the surface you would think they could have very little in common, yet they do. They both have insight and compassion, which comes through in every sentence. They have both shown enormous courage in almost intolerable situations. In short, they have a common humanity. The white man is Terry Waite. The black woman, Maya Angelou.I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by M...

CATCH YO' DEATHI was right around twentyup to my elbows in some sinkwashing dishes at a bigdowntown hotelSomeone tapped me on the shouldersaid VIP now checking input on your bellboy hatand head outsideI didn't put on my bellboy hatbecause I didn't have onejust the ratty wet apronI always woreStepping out frontinto those sub-zero windsI saw a tour bus so sleekthing looked like it could flyThe only thing sleekerthan the tour bus itself wasthe mink coat on the womanstepping off itAnd I'll never for...

My mother could never really speak to me about the abuse she suffered as a little girl - the closest we came to talking about her experiences occurred when we read this painful and important book together. I imagine that Maya's book has allowed countless women who have suffered similar horrors an opportunity to know they will never be alone in their pain. And perhaps, like my mother, an opportunity to begin to heal by sharing their story with a loved one.RIP, Maya. Your words have made this plan...

I really enjoyed this book. It was required reading for a University course I took on Adolescent Literature.This book has been placed on banned book lists by needlessly close-minded people for it's real life content.The book tastefully addresses issues of molestation, rape, racism. But it does so within the context of the trials and tribulations of growing up as well. The book presents things in a direct and extremely vivid fashion, but it is not garishly or needlessly graphic. These are issues ...