I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings cover art

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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About this listen

 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 five books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the Amercian 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 Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences Women

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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
I know that not since the days of my childhood, when people in books were more real than the people one saw every day, have I found myself more moved
'There's currently a glut of true-life stories written by survivors of abuse, but this inspirational 1969 book is one of the first - and the best...[it] is testament to the immense strength of this extraordinary woman
Verve, nerve, and joy in her own talents effervesce throughout this book
Its humour, even in the face of appalling discrimination, is robust. Autobiographical writing at its very best
All stars
Most relevant
I don't know if this was the unabridged version or if the book is that short but I feel like this version is missing half the book

Not worth the money

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So very interesting. A must read! Narration was absolute perfection. I hope gather together in my name will be as captivating.

Stunning!

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loved it, mya angelo is such an inspiring woman. I loved listening to this story, even though I've read the book. Her voice just made feel it more.

love love love

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I've read all of Ms Maya Angelou's books I've been inspired by her poems to write my own.

Love Maya

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truthful and beautiful. Maya was fierce and filled with compassion . I defy you not to enjoy this book.

beautiful book

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