Reviews with content warning for Death - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I think I’m going to bump up my star rating- I had an average reading experience, but that may have been due to the darker elements of the book. In the end, I had a really hard time connecting to the narrative and the “so what”- maybe because I have read other narratives/stories like this one. Or maybe because so many memoirs today take the individual experience and connect it to larger world/societal events. Or maybe I don’t find memoirs about one’s childhood that interesting?

I struggled with some of the authors outdated views regarding fatness, being gay, and a few other issues that really took me out of the reading experience. I definitely recommend looking at trigger warnings before diving in- there’s some heavy topics.

I think I would have benefited from reading some of her other work before her autobiography. Maybe then I would have connected to her writing on a deeper level.

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mayavd's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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coolfoolmoon's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

One thing that makes it hard to get through nonfiction is that it is often pure and objective fact, nothing but hard statements and the evidence to back it up, but Angelou writes in a way that doesn't just feel the way a memoir / autobiography would, like someone telling their life story, but in a way that is colorful and bright and fluid like fiction usually is. Well, good fiction at least.

And on a personal note a lot of moments hit a little tew close to home. I'm not gonna list them but not me and Miss Dr Angelou living the same life having the same experiences feeling the same feelings!!! I had to put the book down a couple times and cover my face!!!

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