I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Name: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Rating: 4.170212765957447 (47 reviews)
Author: Maya Angelou
ISBN: 9780345514400

by Maya Angelou

4.2

(47 ratings)

304 pages2009Random House Publishing GroupISBN 9780345514400

Biography & AutobiographyCultural, Ethnic & RegionalAfrican American & BlackLiterary FiguresPersonal Memoirs

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About this book

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters. Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. 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. “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

Publication Details

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2009
Pages: 304
ISBN: 9780345514400
Language: en

About Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Annie Johnson) was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, prostitute, nightclub dancer and performer, cast member of the opera Porgy and Bess, coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of 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. She was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Source: Wikipedia

Community Reviews

phil★★★★★3/23/2026

It's been awhile since I read this book, but I remember feeling gutted throughout. To hear this story of perseverence of a little girl, facing some of the most atrocious acts throughtout her childhood is both chilling and inspriring. It's a harrowing reminder of the past and how little has actually changed since then.