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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1)

Maya Angelou

Start date: August 1, 2017

Finish date: August 30, 2017

Discussion: Author's Pick

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What Members Thought

Feb 12, 2017 F rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, usa

Read along with a friend.

Enjoyed it but it was another coming of age story which I have read a lot recently. Got a little boring for me at times. Loved the writing but probs wont pick up the next couple of books.

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May 24, 2012 Jeanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: african-african-american, memoir-biography, read-2017, read-women, classics, read-2012

I saw Maya Angelou when she came to my school, maybe six years ago. She was warm, dignified, smart, and perspicacious. She was both queenly and generous with her audience, seeing her job as serving as a good mentor to the next generation. I have a memory of her prancing around the stage, yet I think she sat on a stool throughout – my memory pointing to her boundless energy.

What is interesting is that Angelou appeared to be a very powerful and confident woman when I saw her, but in Caged Bird she I saw Maya Angelou when she came to my school, maybe six years ago. She was warm, dignified, smart, and perspicacious. She was both queenly and generous with her audience, seeing her job as serving as a good mentor to the next generation. I have a memory of her prancing around the stage, yet I think she sat on a stool throughout – my memory pointing to her boundless energy.

What is interesting is that Angelou appeared to be a very powerful and confident woman when I saw her, but in Caged Bird she described herself as traumatized, with a period of selective mutism. This is part of what makes her story especially attractive to Americans, who believe that anyone can pull herself up by her bootstraps (even though there are many barriers for most people).

I wonder about the stories that we tell ourselves and the ones we're willing to share with others. I wonder about the stories we Americans are willing to hear and retell.

One of the things that makes Angelou's memoirs particularly attractive is that she is aware of these barriers and yet we also see her process of discovering and uncovering:

To be left alone on the tightrope of youthful unknowing is to experience the excruciating beauty of full freedom and the threat of eternal indecision. Few, if any, survive their teens. Most surrender to the vague but murderous pressure of adult conformity. It becomes easier to die and avoid conflicts than to maintain a constant battle with the superior forces of maturity. (p. 291).

Or this:

I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at a commensurate speed. (p. 131)

Angelou plays both sides of this dynamic (using her bootstraps, but recognizing barriers), but does so beautifully and graciously that we are glad to watch her walk this tightrope, confident that she won't – can't! – fall. ...more

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Nov 12, 2020 Hannah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book...I have a lot of feelings right now, but I'll just say I admire Maya Angelou so much, and this autobiography is no exception. She conveys both the details and emotion of her childhood experiences throughout. You can see where she is biased and her viewpoint is limited, but if she tried to give you an objective perspective of her life, it wouldn't be true to her experience. This book should be used as an example everywhere for how to write your story, and I can't believe it took me so ...more

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Mar 24, 2018 Carol rated it it was amazing

Shelves: modern-day-classics, 100-must-read-modern-classics, 25-american-classics, mount-tbr-2018, reading-women-challenge-2018

I listened to Maya Angelou's wonderful narration of this book. So glad I did. I would have enjoyed reading it, but Maya sang some of the hymns, etc. that she experienced as a child. She also brought the life that she wanted to bring into the narration. It was a wonderful book and I can see why it is a reading requirement for many high schools. I can understand why she developed the animosity she felt for the white world. It only makes me respect her more for her ability to overcome and show love ...more

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May 28, 2014 Aura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: memoir, all-time-favorites

Today Maya Angelou has died and I feel that we have lost an American treasure. I was remembering the first time I read this book and I can tell you exactly where I was and how I felt some twenty years ago. Maya's life, her spirit, optimism, love of people and the power of words resonate with so many people from all walks of life. She embodied the word teacher. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review