I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

 

Title:   I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Author:  Maya Angelou

Narrated by:  Maya Angelou

Publisher: Random House Audio

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Audiobook Purchased from Audible

Do you like audiobooks narrated by the author?  I love them, especially when they are memoirs. I have read a physical copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou in the past, but it was especially wonderful this time to listen to Maya Angelou narrate her own story.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was Maya Angelou’s debut memoir, and it details her childhood until the age of seventeen.  This memoir is unique in its structure, prose, and depth of feeling.  She changed the way that memoirs were written.

Other thoughts on this novel:

·       I reread this novel in March for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  We had a great discussion about it.

·       This book is frequently banned.  I was dismayed to see it back in the news again recently as it has been removed from the shelves at the Naval Institute.  This is a travesty.

·       Maya and her brother Bailey were sent on a cross-country train alone from California to Arkansas when they are very young by their parents.  I just can’t imagine this!

·       I loved how Maya is always reading such great books at an early age.

·       Horrible things happened to Maya as a child, and she stops speaking. I loved that a teacher, Mrs. Bertha Flowers helps her to get her voice back.  She said you can not truly love poetry until you speak it.  She helped to introduce her to great authors.

·       Maya experienced so many things in her life up to age 17:  rape, being the first black streetcar operator in San Francisco, living in a junk yard, driving for the first time when she had to get her drunk father home from Mexico, etc.  It culminated with her having a baby.

·       This memoir soars with love and laughter, but also pain and neglect.  Angelou tells her story in a raw and honest way.

·       In her raw and honest way, Angelous discusses her feeling on sexuality as she grew up being confused during puberty.

·       Angelou’s parents angered me.  While her mother does help her with self-confidence and determination as a teenager, neither were there for their children and put them in awful situations.

·       “Mama” their grandmother, was truly a greater person raising her grandkids as best as she could.

Overall, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a compelling memoir that is great for a book club discussion.  Angelou tells her amazing story in an authentic and sincere way.  This classic should not be missed.