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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: usa, 2017

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.

82 likes · Like · see review

Jul 24, 2012 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mesmerizing, non-fiction, memoirs, afro-american, women-and-books

I had to read this one again--as an adult. And I still don't think that I've read a memoir that utilizes the language, imagery, and lyrical prose like the one within this book. Maya Angelou's writing is stunning. Captivating.

What I liked though, is the way in which culture and environment has as much to do with this memoir as it has to do with the author. If you ever had doubts, or wanted to learn about what it was like for a black girl, growing up in the South before the 60's, her memoir will I had to read this one again--as an adult. And I still don't think that I've read a memoir that utilizes the language, imagery, and lyrical prose like the one within this book. Maya Angelou's writing is stunning. Captivating.

What I liked though, is the way in which culture and environment has as much to do with this memoir as it has to do with the author. If you ever had doubts, or wanted to learn about what it was like for a black girl, growing up in the South before the 60's, her memoir will show you. With this book, you also get good pacing: the author is a naive kid (the book starts when she is three years old) she grows up (ends at high school), she makes difficult decisions, and you're there for the ride.

Abandoned by her parents during their divorce, 3-year-old Maya is sent to live with her grandmother--the strict, church-going woman, and the only black business woman in Arkansas during those days. Not long after, she is sent back to live with her mother in St. Louis. At eight years old, something tragic happens to her, changing her outlook and personality. She returns to the South and to grandma (although you will see a lot of moving back and forth between her parents and grandparents).

Books became her escape and therapy. "I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare. He was my first white love," she writes.

And she tells of her confusion growing up: "if growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat."

Besides the cultural and racial scenery that she produces as she writes--one that makes you understand why she writes the way she writes--she also has imagery to captivate you. Some amusing.

Like how the young narrator chooses to describe the way she pees herself when she has to give a speech: "...a green persimmon, or it could have been a lemon, caught me between the legs and squeezed. I tasted the sour on my tongue and felt it in the back of my mouth. Then before I reached the door, the sting was burning down my legs and into my Sunday socks. I tried to hold it, to squeeze it back, to keep it from speeding, but when I reached the church porch I knew I'd have to let it go, or it would probably run right back up to my head and my poor head would burst like a dropped watermelon, and all the brains and spit and tongue and eyes would roll all over the place."

...more

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Aug 24, 2014 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, memoirs, book-of-the-month, banned-books, challenges

This is a wonderful memoir about a black girl, Maya, growing up during the 1930's and 1940's in Arkansas. She lives with her grandmother who is very religious, her uncle, and her brother. It tells some of the highlights and injustices of her life that shaped her as a strong individual. Rather than be beaten down by this she became a strong woman who is proud of her heritage. ...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: all-time-favorites, memoir

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

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