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sakisreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
4.0
I have been working my way through Angelou’s autobiographies, and this one was one of my favourites.
Although saddening, Angelou’s brightness was reflected in her connection with Bailey and Guy ❤️It’s absolutely astounding that she knew and worked with both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. 😳
I also LOVED that her lover came back and that her and Dolly had tricked him 🙊
4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨ Content warnings included below!
Although saddening, Angelou’s brightness was reflected in her connection with Bailey and Guy ❤️
I also LOVED that her lover came back and that her and Dolly had tricked him 🙊
4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨ Content warnings included below!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Racism
neptuneisblue's review against another edition
4.0
I loved all of Maya Angelou’s autobiographies. In this one she explores the pain of losing Malcom X and Martin Luther King, as well as her friendship with James Baldwin. I wish she’d written even more as I’d happily read her entire life story.
gillyanaire's review against another edition
4.0
I can't say enough about how blessed we are to have Maya Angelou's memoirs. Her accounts of her life as a Black, artist, activist, single-mother in the 20th century are not only exquisite, but necessary reading for anyone who is actively working for change.
jonscott9's review against another edition
3.0
Angelou's writing is by turns poetic and plain here, and it works well. She speaks to tragic events of the mid- to late-1960s, when Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. were both killed. (She was on board with the latter man's civil rights work.)
A firsthand race-riots account and personal relationships receive her gentle but firm treatment as well. Funny tidbits appear in her telling of working and writing for a theater after singing at a lounge in Hawaii and being upstaged by a bigger-voiced singer-actress who shall remain nameless.
This graceful short book is the sixth installment of autobiography from Angelou. It's a line of books that began with the classic I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. I haven't read that book yet but intend to fix that this year, daunted or distressed as I already am about the subject matter.
A firsthand race-riots account and personal relationships receive her gentle but firm treatment as well. Funny tidbits appear in her telling of working and writing for a theater after singing at a lounge in Hawaii and being upstaged by a bigger-voiced singer-actress who shall remain nameless.
This graceful short book is the sixth installment of autobiography from Angelou. It's a line of books that began with the classic I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. I haven't read that book yet but intend to fix that this year, daunted or distressed as I already am about the subject matter.
inkerly's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This audiobook is a dramatisation of Maya Angelou’s 6th autobiography brought by the BBC Radio 4 cast. It is essentially a heavily cut down version of Maya’s 6th book with an entire crew of people narrating her story including herself.
In this book, Maya returns to America in anticipation to continue her work with Malcolm X , but tragedy strikes when the Muslim visionary is assassinated by his own people. She is distraught and moves to Los Angeles where she then seeks work in other ways and connects with black Americans there to understand the current plight.
This book brings Activist Maya and Poet/Writer Maya together because her civil rights activism and life in the Motherland help her to write powerful plays and poems that reflect the black experience.
The book comes full circle in the end with her being invited the opportunity to write a 10-series program on the African American experience for a Northern radio show, and later she is offered the opportunity to write an autobiography of her life and all she’s accomplished at the age of 40. Initially hesitant she ends up starting the 1st book, “I know why the caged bird sings” with a poem.
I think the dramatisation of this autobiography really captures her essence and the essence of the other Greats in her life. I think where this dramatisation could’ve been stronger is if it highlighted the work that she did for the movement. There’s a lot of mention of her past lovers and her relationships/connections with people like James Baldwin, who was also a playwright and colleague to her , but maybe 1 hr 10 minutes is too short to really capture that. I hope to read the full autographies very soon.
In this book, Maya returns to America in anticipation to continue her work with Malcolm X , but tragedy strikes when the Muslim visionary is assassinated by his own people. She is distraught and moves to Los Angeles where she then seeks work in other ways and connects with black Americans there to understand the current plight.
This book brings Activist Maya and Poet/Writer Maya together because her civil rights activism and life in the Motherland help her to write powerful plays and poems that reflect the black experience.
The book comes full circle in the end with her being invited the opportunity to write a 10-series program on the African American experience for a Northern radio show, and later she is offered the opportunity to write an autobiography of her life and all she’s accomplished at the age of 40. Initially hesitant she ends up starting the 1st book, “I know why the caged bird sings” with a poem.
I think the dramatisation of this autobiography really captures her essence and the essence of the other Greats in her life. I think where this dramatisation could’ve been stronger is if it highlighted the work that she did for the movement. There’s a lot of mention of her past lovers and her relationships/connections with people like James Baldwin, who was also a playwright and colleague to her , but maybe 1 hr 10 minutes is too short to really capture that. I hope to read the full autographies very soon.
lneill's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
5.0
jessicajane's review against another edition
3.0
Maya Angelou’s autobiography, vol 6. 1965-1968
This one wasn’t as good as the previous volumes, not a lot happened and parts felt like just a list of events and names. That said, I’m comparing to the other books that were absolute masterpieces and Angelou’s beautiful command of the written word made even the most mundane of stories enjoyable to read. The parts I did find very interesting were the deeply personal accounts of grief after the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr and the way that these affected the black community. I felt that this was a very valuable insight into that specific time and place, but also more generally into the struggles and sorrows and joys of living in a marginalised ethnic community.
This one wasn’t as good as the previous volumes, not a lot happened and parts felt like just a list of events and names. That said, I’m comparing to the other books that were absolute masterpieces and Angelou’s beautiful command of the written word made even the most mundane of stories enjoyable to read. The parts I did find very interesting were the deeply personal accounts of grief after the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr and the way that these affected the black community. I felt that this was a very valuable insight into that specific time and place, but also more generally into the struggles and sorrows and joys of living in a marginalised ethnic community.
laila4343's review against another edition
5.0
THIS WOMAN WAS AMAZING. I love these memoirs so much. If you've only read Caged Bird I highly recommend reading more of her story. She had a fascinating life.