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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

The internationally bestselling classic

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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

By: Maya Angelou
Narrated by: Maya Angelou
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Maya Angelou's six volumes of autobiography are a testament to the talents and resilience of this extraordinary writer. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement and celebration. In this first volume of her six books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. She learns the power of the white folks at the other end of town and suffers the terrible trauma of rape by her mother's lover.

'I write about being a Black American woman, however, I am always talking about what it's like to be a human being. This is how we are, what makes us laugh, and this is how we fall and how we somehow, amazingly, stand up again' Maya Angelou©1969 Maya Angelou Art & Literature Authors Entertainment & Celebrities Women Celebrity Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Funny
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Critic reviews

A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman (President Barack Obama)
The poems and stories she wrote . . . were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and grace (President Bill Clinton)
She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds (Oprah Winfrey)
She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate (Toni Morrison)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity (James Baldwin)
A trailblazer in decolonial, anti-racist movements and intersectional feminism, memoirist, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou is a powerhouse of a woman
Steeped in resilience and grace
One of the most influential biographies of our time
Heartbreaking, beautiful and inspiring in equal measure, a searing insight into an extraordinary life with hope in the wake of extreme trauma . . . a landmark work of literature
All stars
Most relevant
I've loved this (the first book in maya angelous autobiography) since childhood. So, I purchased this from audible to listen and experience the story over again. It is narrated by Maya Angelou and very enjoyable. The story is deep and rich. A must read.

My favourite book

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I absolutly adore an autobiography that takes you back in time and along on a Journey. Maya Angelou was a remarkable Lady who lived many lives and had a very true, very real up bringing that not only paints the reality of what life was like back then but is also relatable today. I had a wonderful time and I'm glad it's only book n°1.

Wonderful book !

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A fabulous story read by the author about growing up in segregated America. You can not but help be drawn into the story.

A story that makes you think.

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Would you listen to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings again? Why?

Maya Angelou was a visionary, a Poet and a sister to all. her words from her life are an educator to give us all a window into her rounded view on life, that still stands the testament of time ever after her passing

Satisfy to read and hear

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There are of course upsetting elements, but this is real life and the childhood of a black woman who grew up in the 1930/40s when racism was not only rife but expected by whites and blacks. There is an innocence in how the traumatic events are described, so I do not feel like they are too much information, like some reviews I have read have suggested; however, I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to be more graphic, she experience those horrors and we are only reading/listening to them.

Listening to the book with Maya as the narrator was beautiful. Her voice is lyrical and captivating and its much more emotive knowing she is speaking her own story.

Captivating and thoroughly enjoyable

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