I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

, #1

Paperback, 289 pages

English language

Published Nov. 1, 1993 by Bantam Books.

ISBN:
978-0-553-27937-5
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OCLC Number:
299878566

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4 stars (16 reviews)

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. …

39 editions

autobiografia forte e fundamental.

5 stars

"Era horrível ser negra e não ter controle sobre a minha vida. Era brutal ser jovem e já estar treinada para ficar sentada em silêncio ouvindo as acusações feitas contra a minha cor sem chance de defesa."

a obra traz uma visão nítida das relações raciais no período entreguerras e ensina como a voz pode transformar um mundo injusto.

Review of 'I know why the caged bird sings' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This remarkable memoir portrays Angelou's as a zig zag through chunks of the country. Her characters are strong, she herself is riveting, and she captures a child/teen's mind beautifully.

Angelou's approach to pervasive racism is interesting, in that she portrays it kind of like living near savages that sometimes attack and sometimes are barely visible. Racism comes across as horrific and unjust, but also as inevitable as fire and storm. It's not that she's writing a book about racism; it's a book about her life and the racism of America is simply one of many threads that run through it.

Angelou is really good at capturing all facets of life. There are moments of horror, moments of softness, and some moments that are just hilarious, like a woman being filled with a hysterical amount of Jesus.

While I occasionally felt Angelou was straining too hard for poetic metaphors, for the …

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

Review of 'I know why the caged bird sings' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The beauty and utility of Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" comes from its frankness. And I do mean exactly that. It's poesy comes from Maya's courage to say what needs to be said and it is useful in that this frankness allows for a sort of understanding that permits useful discussion on tough topics.

What is the purpose of the book? On the surface, it is a string of recollections from the childhood of Maya Angelou. This, of course, is merely a vehicle for analyzing what it was like growing up in a racist atmosphere and the culture that resulted from the segregation that discrimination formed. It clarifies why some cultural development took place and why certain assumptions of the white man are inaccurate and hurtful.

I believe that it is because of this frankness on the topic of racism as well as rape that this …

Subjects

  • Angelou, Maya -- Biography
  • Authors, American -- 20th century -- Biography
  • African American women authors -- Biography
  • Women entertainers -- Biography

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