Maya’s writing prowess simply cannot be denied. She describes traumatic events in her life with dignity and in a way that the reader can feel her pain and yet not get bogged down in the lurid details. I only wish the plot cadence had been more consistent; the pace of the ending felt very rushed compared to the rest of the book which had been otherwise very slow.

i don’t really know how to rate autobiographies because it feels like i’m rating someone’s lived experience. that being said this book was quite good especially because i audiobooked it with angelou’s narration 

it was touching, reflective, and gave a window into a life i never could have known otherwise. i have no experience with angelou besides learning about her in school and probably reading a poem or two at some point. i hope to read more of her books and learn more of her activism going forward 

This is the first Maya Angelou boo I’ve read or maybe reread as an adult. Her words and descriptive language continue to be remarkable and hit in the best way. I can imagine when this was first published in the ‘60s, how this story flooded, stunned and found its audience. 

Normally I write longer reviews after I've had a day or two to digest the book, so I'll keep it short for now.

Immediate reactions/thoughts: how one's circumstances shape oneself (nurture over nature); whether Maya's experiences were normal in their diverted-ness, or if she was unusually nomadic; the traumas embedded in the families, social customs, and cultures of Black Americans (and liberation in Mexico), as well as in her personal history (pockmarked with darkness that would warrant trigger warnings in the 2020s); the frequent juxtaposition of imagined "success" rather than the reality (e.g., a self-described 'military dietitian' living in a mansion vs a cafeteria cook living in a trailer) delineating cultural worlds (the façade drops with the intrusion of the oppressive culture); and other thoughts but I'm quite tired now.

Maya is, as always, incredible.