I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Beautiful story - and hard to read sometimes because it can be triggering for victims of sexual assault. I didn’t know what to expect as all I’d ever read of Maya Angelou was her poetry. I was remiss in not reading her work sooner. She is an amazing storyteller (explains why she was Poet Laureate). I highly recommend this for anyone looking to give the one finger salute to the people banning books…and especially for those who just enjoy a good read.

This book is worth reading on a lot of levels. First, her use of language describing her insights and observations is profound and beautiful. Example 1: "Then the wife who had been so charming and ready to smile changed into a silent shadow that played infrequently along the walls." Example 2: "The fact that the adult American Negro female emerges a formidable character is often met with amazement, distaste and even belligerence. It is seldom accepted as an inevitable outcome of the struggle won by survivors and deserves respect if not enthusiastic acceptance." Example 3: "The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education." Example 4: "He was a simple man who had no inferiority complex about his lack of education and, even more amazing, no superiority complex because he had succeeded despite that lack." Second. The stories she tells give a flavor of living in that place and time, as well as the cultural differences. For example she tells a story that starts with: "One afternoon, I was invited into our smoke-filled dining room to make the acquaintance of Stonewall Jimmy, Just Black, Cool Clyde, Tight Coat, and Red Leg. Daddy Cidell explained to me that they were the most successful con men in the world, and they were going to tell me about some games so that I would never be 'anybody's mark.'" Third. She gives specific examples of how the Black culture differed form the White, specifically the educated Black youth. Example: "We were alert to the gap separating the written word from the colloquial. We learned to slide out of one language and into another without being conscious of the effort. At school, in a given situation, we might respond with 'That's not unusual.' But in the street, meeting the same situation, we easily said, 'It be's like that sometimes.'" Fourth. She depicts the good, the bad and the ugly, not only in herself and her family but also in the Black and White culture. She does not gloss over her fears and failures. She does this not in a judgmental, mean or racist way, but almost as a non involved bystander would, or a journalist trying to be fair. There is much wisdom in this book and I hope my review will encourage you to read it.

Maya Angelou wrote her life story so nonchalantly. I love that because that’s how life should be. We survive much better when we live through our traumas and healings in a casual calm, and relaxed manner. No need for anxiety, interest or enthusiasm. Bad things can happen. Good things can happen. Stay on your course what ever that may be. That one lesson, though there are many more, is worth five stars from this reader.

This is a very compelling insight into racial bigotry in 1930s U.S. I thought I had some understanding of what it must have felt like to be black in the "Jim Crow" era, even though I grew up on the other side of the racial divide. But this book really gave me a compelling new insight. Maya Angelou, sent, with her older brother Bailey, to be raised by her paternal grandmother (called "Momma") in Stamps, Ark., described graphically what it was like. In compelling prose, often bordering on poetry, she described her feelings, sensations, and fantasies in the oppressive apartheid environment. She describes how she was so segregated from the white population that she was not sure there really were white people. The most compelling description was when she needed emergency dental treatment. Stamps had only a single white dentist. Maya was in unbearable pain. Finally, "Momma" decided to defy the system and ask the white dentist to treat her granddaughter. "Momma" thought it might work because she had loaned money, interest-free to the dentist when he was on the verge of bankruptcy. Maya and "Momma" were forced to wait outside the back entrance to the dentist's office for a long time before he would emerge to talk to them. He was adamant--no matter what "Momma" had done to help him, and no matter how much pain the little girl was experiencing, he would not treat her. "I would rather put my hands in a dog's mouth than a niggah's." "Momma" then instructed Maya to wait outside while she went inside. The book describes Maya's fantasy of how her grandmother was confronting the bigot and putting him in his place. In fact, "Momma" extracted bus fare from the dentist as compensation for the earlier loan that had saved his practice. Then grandmother and Maya took the bus to the nearest African-American dentist in Texarkana. This autobiography takes us through Ms. Angelou's high school graduation. It was a remarkable experience as she and Bailey moved from Stamps, to St. Louis, back to Stamps, then to San Francisco, as they were raised first by paternal grandmother, then by mother and maternal grandmother, then back to paternal grandmother, then back to mother (with an intervening visit by Maya to father in Los Angeles). She goes through many of the trials and tribulations of adolescents and teenagers, but all through the lens of depression era racial bigotry and a splintered family. This is one of the most compelling books I have read a long time. I could not put it down.

After reading so many of the poems by Maya Angelou, as well as quotes attributed to her, I decided to start reading some of her memoirs. This one tracks her early childhood, moving in to young adulthood & shows how events and relationships shaped her. Her prose is filled with poetic images and is such a pleasure to read. Looking forward to reading another of her memoirs.

The book arrived with a rip on its cover

I loved Maya Angelou's narration of her early years, the joys and struggles of childhood, and how she put the situation of Black lives in perspective. Highly recommended.

So easy to read and so fascinating. Highly recommended book for anyone who has heard about Maya and her genius.

Fantastic book. Want to read it again.

El libro es maravilloso y devastador al mismo tiempo. Fácil de leer y difícil de no enganchar, de no sentir impotencia, y frustración y cariño. Lectura obligada para entender un poco de lo que significa ser una minoría.