

"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. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read."-- Provided by Amazon
"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. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.
Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read."-- Provided by Amazon
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Find I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
Find I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.
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A seven-volume sequence of autobiographies redefined mid-twentieth-century American memoir by exploring personal history alongside issues of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. The celebrated first volume, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, recounts life up to age seventeen in St. Louis, Missouri, and Stamps, Arkansas, establishing an influential literary voice. Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson, created a vast body of literature alongside her creative work in drama, television, film, and poetry over a career spanning more than fifty years.
Before establishing her literary career, Angelou pursued a diverse series of occupations in her early adulthood, working as a fry cook, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member in the opera Porgy and Bess, and prostitute. Her engagement with social movements led her to serve as a coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and work as a journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Throughout these formative years, she built close working relationships with key civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.
Her creative activities expanded into acting, writing, directing, and producing plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she earned the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Over her lifetime, she published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several volumes of poetry, receiving dozens of major awards and more than fifty honorary degrees for her achievements as an author, educator, historian, songwriter, and activist.
Angelou's writings center on themes of economic hardship, racial discrimination, identity, and sexual oppression, balanced by depictions of deep religious faith, resilience, and community values absorbed during her upbringing in the segregated South. Her prose and poetry blend traditional African American oral traditions, lyricism, and candid reflection, offering clear-eyed accounts of personal trauma alongside calls for equality and hope.
1 books in catalog
A seven-volume sequence of autobiographies redefined mid-twentieth-century American memoir by exploring personal history alongside issues of economic, racial, and sexual oppression. The celebrated first volume, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, recounts life up to age seventeen in St. Louis, Missouri, and Stamps, Arkansas, establishing an influential literary voice. Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson, created a vast body of literature alongside her creative work in drama, television, film, and poetry over a career spanning more than fifty years.
Before establishing her literary career, Angelou pursued a diverse series of occupations in her early adulthood, working as a fry cook, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member in the opera Porgy and Bess, and prostitute. Her engagement with social movements led her to serve as a coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and work as a journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Throughout these formative years, she built close working relationships with key civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.
Her creative activities expanded into acting, writing, directing, and producing plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she earned the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Over her lifetime, she published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several volumes of poetry, receiving dozens of major awards and more than fifty honorary degrees for her achievements as an author, educator, historian, songwriter, and activist.
Angelou's writings center on themes of economic hardship, racial discrimination, identity, and sexual oppression, balanced by depictions of deep religious faith, resilience, and community values absorbed during her upbringing in the segregated South. Her prose and poetry blend traditional African American oral traditions, lyricism, and candid reflection, offering clear-eyed accounts of personal trauma alongside calls for equality and hope.
Maya Angelou's Autobiography
Maya Angelou's Autobiography