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abvigail_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Loved everything about this book. Written in the 80s but still so much relevancy to the times now. Loved reading her story about Billie Holiday, her experiences with white people and with lovers, her place in the revolution, and relationship with her son. Got a many laughs and gasps and even tears in with this read. An inspiring woman for sure.
loveinthetimeofmrsa's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
jessicajane's review against another edition
4.0
Maya Angelou's autobiography vol. 4, 1957-1962.
It never ceases to amaze me that Maya Angelou had such a full and varied life that her autobiography is seven volumes long and still really interesting! This book explores her experience of motherhood as her son grew up, as well as her involvement in the civil rights movement at a critical point in history. It was really interesting to learn about American civil rights from a single person's perspective, especially her complex feelings towards America, Africa, civil rights leaders and white people.
My only criticism is that some sections feel like endless lists of names. It's useful to an extent to be aware of who's who in the group, but listing ten different people at every social event gets tiring and quite hard to read.
It never ceases to amaze me that Maya Angelou had such a full and varied life that her autobiography is seven volumes long and still really interesting! This book explores her experience of motherhood as her son grew up, as well as her involvement in the civil rights movement at a critical point in history. It was really interesting to learn about American civil rights from a single person's perspective, especially her complex feelings towards America, Africa, civil rights leaders and white people.
My only criticism is that some sections feel like endless lists of names. It's useful to an extent to be aware of who's who in the group, but listing ten different people at every social event gets tiring and quite hard to read.
yarafadel's review against another edition
3.0
All in all, I enjoyed the book, more so towards the beginning than the end. In this book, Angelou writes a memoir of her life mostly with her son and husband along with her career. She starts off in the US and ends up abroad (will not spoil the events for y’all ☺️). I absolutely loved the raw language by which she explains her ever evolving and changing relationship with her only son as a mother. I loved hearing about her experience in NYC and how her career and advocacy took twists and turns. I learned a lot from this book about her life; I did not know about her marriage and about her life abroad. This book spoke a lot to me for I as a woman who considers herself an advocate for human rights, an immigrant, a lover, was able to connect on different levels with the book. The only downside of the book is that at times, specially towards the middle/end, I felt it was dragging. All in all though, highly recommended, especially if you, like me, enjoy memoirs.
eveybrittin's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
This book made me aware of a lot of cultural similarities and differences between Angelou and I. I understood her struggles as a woman (and was often infuriated at her romantic interests). However, her struggles as a black American were harder to connect with but important for me to learn about regardless. As much as the book educated me culturally, this story was one of a black woman in a constant state of figuring things out, and her ability to succeed (career wise, socially, or as a mother) despite the odds being against her was very inspiring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Infidelity
aubtobobtolob's review against another edition
5.0
Maya is my book love affair.... The woman can write, and I am her devoted reader.
megryanreally's review against another edition
5.0
Possibly the best of all her memoirs yet, even surpassing Caged Bird. I was restive to know how plots would turn, crying at her calamities, celebratory and anxious in her descriptions of budding romance with an African Freedom Fighter, and laughing and relieved at her ability to make a light joke during a rather sad ending of seeing her only child off to university. Onto the next one!