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A review by leahtylerthewriter
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
5.0
"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."
Maya Angelou's first biography spans her early years: her childhood in Arkansas and St. Louis and adolescence in San Francisco, highlighting the rich cast of characters who helped shape her into the phenomenal woman she went through hell to become.
This isn't a review, this is a gush. IKWTCBS was my favorite book in my twenties and I was excited to reread it as an adult. Revisiting Angelou's formative years was one of the most gratifying experiences of my middle-aged life. Having lived substantially more at this point than the first time I read it, I was utterly astounded by her perseverance and strength of character.
Her insights, her experiences, her tragedies. The way she had me rolling with laughter with tears streaming down my face one minute, as uncomposed as if I were watching Sister Monroe hit Reverend Thomas's teeth out of his head with her purse while hollering "I say preach it!" in front of my own very eyes. And utterly shook to my core over the atrocities she endured the next... What a gift, what a treasure, what a human. What. A. Writer.
Her ability to strip her experiences to the essence, to bear her soul, ripped me open in the process. It's as if Angelou gripped a knitting needle tight in her palm, pierced my heart, and pulled out little pieces of stuffing with each sentence she spun.
Perhaps what most impressed me was the way she did not allow her mistreatment, of which there was far more than one person should be able to endure, to make her bitter. Nor did she ignore the severity of what she went through or the impact it had on her. She processed, she grieved, she reacted, and she kept going. Somehow always able to see the humorous on the other side.
If you have not read this book I strongly recommend you do. If you already have, read it again. There's a reason why every book I've read since has left me annoyed and unsatisfied. Because this is perfection.
Maya Angelou's first biography spans her early years: her childhood in Arkansas and St. Louis and adolescence in San Francisco, highlighting the rich cast of characters who helped shape her into the phenomenal woman she went through hell to become.
This isn't a review, this is a gush. IKWTCBS was my favorite book in my twenties and I was excited to reread it as an adult. Revisiting Angelou's formative years was one of the most gratifying experiences of my middle-aged life. Having lived substantially more at this point than the first time I read it, I was utterly astounded by her perseverance and strength of character.
Her insights, her experiences, her tragedies. The way she had me rolling with laughter with tears streaming down my face one minute, as uncomposed as if I were watching Sister Monroe hit Reverend Thomas's teeth out of his head with her purse while hollering "I say preach it!" in front of my own very eyes. And utterly shook to my core over the atrocities she endured the next... What a gift, what a treasure, what a human. What. A. Writer.
Her ability to strip her experiences to the essence, to bear her soul, ripped me open in the process. It's as if Angelou gripped a knitting needle tight in her palm, pierced my heart, and pulled out little pieces of stuffing with each sentence she spun.
Perhaps what most impressed me was the way she did not allow her mistreatment, of which there was far more than one person should be able to endure, to make her bitter. Nor did she ignore the severity of what she went through or the impact it had on her. She processed, she grieved, she reacted, and she kept going. Somehow always able to see the humorous on the other side.
If you have not read this book I strongly recommend you do. If you already have, read it again. There's a reason why every book I've read since has left me annoyed and unsatisfied. Because this is perfection.