The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou (Modern Library (Hardcover))

Maya Angelou is a literary the store. She is insightful, wise and fundamentally generous in her perspective. She pulls no punches about what it was like growing up Black, for herself and her brother, Bailey. These are books that every white American should read, to help understand what it means to be Black in the United States.

I really enjoy having this collection of autobiographies of Maya Angelou on my kindle. The stories are very interesting and inspiring. Maya Angelou has had a large amount of pain of all kinds in her life. Maya is so honest and so real. She is a very special woman and it is an honor to share her life story.

One of the best I have ever read. The writing is so deeply honest revealing in minute detail what it means how it feels what it looks like and what the price is of being enslaved both to inside and outside masters. For the first time I could really listen without any skirmish to what it was like being an African American in Dr. Angelou's time but furthermore I have earned new dimensions to my understanding of mental and cultural struggle with immense powers of oppression which is the fate of each human in this world and what it really means to be brave. I am grateful to Maya Angelou for sharing her story and for demonstrating the greatness of human spirit.

I had the books in my collection for a long time--but they are no longer in good shape from being in a storage unit. So I bought it on kindle. They are at times entertaining, hysterically funny, poignant, informative, & heart-rending.

With a simple and direct style, Maya Angelou bares her soul and tells of her childhood and early adulthood. It becomes mesmerizing as she was involved in segregation and civil rights. She is insightful and her humanity shines as she struggles with the same problems, emotions, and challenges that many of us must face and she brings courage and insight to the table.

I was enthralled by "I know why the caged bird sings", less so by the memoirs that follow. It seems to me that the authenticity and emotional presence that characterized the first memoir became increasingly deluded in the following volumes. After a while I felt that the stories' greatest assets were her honesty in telling them, their most problematic aspects for me was the repetitiveness and repetitive namedropping. I was unable to complete the entire volume.

It has been a delight to read these reflections on this life in the wake of Angelou 's passage into eternity. That the work only covers the first forty years leaves me breathless at the scope of her experiences as well as the depths of her understandings of herself and all of us. How blessed we were that she walked among us.

Reading through this woman's memoirs was a lot like making a new friend that you will love and cherish forever. She showed herself to be human, fallible, and continually a "work in progress". As in most friendships, I found some things that I did not especially like about her and some things that nourished my soul.

I wanted to read the works that I have heard so much about through the years. I have finally had the chance. These works are as moving as critics wrote! I am sorry to have waited until her death to read her work. However, I have added these works to my important library collection.

The collected autobiographies of Maya Angelou are so interesting. Every book has a new adventure or problem that has to be solved. Her life is unbelievable in how she handled the situations and moved forward. A great inspirational book for both young and old. Very enjoyable!

I was in awe of this book! I had no idea Maya had such a troubled childhood. I expected to read how she excelled in college/university, but NO this was a self-educated woman. She found a way around every obstacle in her path in life. Truly inspiring, awesome life!

This 5 book series tells the story of one of the most dynamic social leaders in African American history. If you want to learn more about the social injustices of the Black community from the 40's to the 60's read this book! It is funny and thought provoking and this woman was so much more than a poet. Rest in Peace, Maya Angelou. You have been and always will be an inspiration to women across the globe.

I am so glad I revisited Mother Maya and the remarkably vivid accounts of her life and times.

What a pen.

What are you looking at? I didn't come here to stay.

A marvelous opening and closing line.

I am currently reading this book and am so happy I ordered everything rolled into one book. Maya's experiences, whether good or bad, are described beautifully. Her ability to verbally 'paint' with words is amazing. I feel like I know her and as I follow her experiences, I empathize and laugh as well.

Had not read any of these until the news of Maya Angelou's passing, but once I began I could not put them down. At times moving, sad, funny, and always an education about history and life itself. 5 stars not enough!

I bought this as a gift for my girlfriend. I was thrilled to discover it because she's a big fan of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and mentioned she wants all the other books. I was wondering how to get them all without taking up a LOT of space in our small place. This solved the problem.

This collection sells itself. What at awesome collective finding by the best author bar none. The price sealed the deal. This book is in hardback making it a keeper to pass down to future generations.

Maya Angelou is an amazing woman, I love her wit, humor and heart and I am grateful that she shares so much of herself in this wonderful collection! She has had my heart ever since I read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings".

Her transparency makes you feel like you know her personally. Inspired by her grace and fearlessness...moved by her triumph and accomplishments, Maya Angelou was my personal hero. I pray that my life would be as full as hers and my legacy to be as impactful in the lives of those I've touched. You've run the race, you've kept the fight, take your rest now....you've done well. Grace and peace Marguerite Johnson aka Maya Angelou ?

Beautiful.........Insight of the life of Maya. It makes you laugh, cry, feeling pride, hope, and love.
It gives you courage to carry on despite the blows life sometimes throws at you. Maya never gave up the will to survive and make a difference in her life and others as well. She learned great lessons throughout her life and passed those lessons on to others.

Reading all of Dr. Angelou's autobiographies from back to back is an experience of both joy and pain. Dr. Angelou grabbed life by the collar and shook it up. She never accepted mediocrity from herself or from those around her. The painful part is now she's gone from this life. I read the work in tribute to all that she left us. It was 1000 pages of pure pleasure.

The product is as advertised. It has all the writings that I wanted. My only concern is how the binding will hold up after the book has been handled and read over time. The only way to know is read, wait and see.

It is a very easy read about a very interesting person. While I have known about Mya Angelo and a little about her writings I knew very little about her life. Her life story is very interesting and would recommend to anyone that enjoys a good autobiogrophy.

.i love Maya Angelou. She is my favorite author. I bought this to keep her books with me toread again and again. I think she is wonderful and has lived a very exciting life. I read all of her books and she deserves apace in American history.

I read these books the week following Ms.Angelou's death. How can anyone have that many powerful experiences in one lifetime?These books meant so much to me that I bought sets to mail to both of my sisters, and Im sure they'll pass them down to their daughters.

Book came quickly. It's a very hefty book since it is a compilation of all Maya Angelou's autobiographies. Well over 1,000 pages. But it was of good quality and worth every penny. the store is really the best place to get regular and kindle books for the lowest prices.

This is the collection I've been waiting years for....

Simply put, this is the collection of a life time. The collected autobiographies of Maya Angelou is a must have for the diehard fan. I've always said that the only thing I truly envy about Oprah Winfrey is her beautiful relationship with this wise, brilliant woman. Dr. Angelou's life is an amazing story that has unfolded over decades through her series of six autobiographical books. From the very first book, "I know why the caged bird sings", which focused on the silenced young Maya growing up part-time in Arkansas with her grandmother, through the tales of the young independent woman who struck out to pursue her own destiny in the U.S. and abroad, all the way to the celebrated writer of today, this collection takes us along for the amazing journey that is Dr. Angelou's life.

Having read each of her autobiographical books over the past 20 years, I truly looked forward to the opportunity to relive these fascinating accounts again through this volume. As we traverse the terrain of her life, which contains many fascinating details including her international singing career, her struggle as a single mother, her sojourn to Africa and her involvement in the civil right's movement, we are reminded of the depth of experiences and wealth of knowledge that she possesses. I stood firmly once again in wonder of this phenomenal woman. To see a woman emerge from such a journey with the beautiful confidence and poise that Dr. Angelou possesses is nothing short of amazing and completely uplifting.

This collection is a dream come true for me and now one of my prized possessions. I was truly reminded that when it comes to writing and living life fully, for me no one does it better.

I am not African American, not African, not American, and this book was such an eye opener. It is so rich in humanity, it is a pleasure to read. Each one of the 6 books is written with a distinctive voice as a person is maturing. Maya has a way of writing that is refreshing, intimate and profound.

Through her eyes we become aware of the distinctive culture and values that her characters share or challenge. We see the need that every person has to live life fully and the questions we all need to answer about who we are and what are we here for.

I particularly liked the "All God's chhildren need traveling shoes" best. this book is a must for people who seek to accept that we can be different, yet valued.

It is a distinctive book because it is written in a way that lifts the spirits and intrigues the intelect. .... "to the determination to be no victim of any kind".

Maya Angelou, Renaissance Woman

Short Review: The Complete Collection of Angelou's memoirs, all share a common theme and writing style: Literary, Unique perspectives, Rich insight into human nature and behavior and an engaging style of storytelling.
Long Review:

When I was still a youth, I first heard of Maya Angelou though a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) broadcast showcasing Angelou's first highly acclaimed memoir: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings released in 1969. The first of Angelou's Memoirs is a powerful narrative that tells of a traumatic event in her childhood that led to a bout of selective mutism that lasted for five years, because she felt her words "killed a man"; and it is no doubt this particular event in her life that redirected her energies into the keen self reflection and insight apparent in each of her engaging memoirs. The word's of Angelou's poem by the same name I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings reflect the pain and entrapment she must have felt as a child "The free bird leaps on the back of the wind" but the caged bird is trapped and can" seldom see through his bars of rage".

I was struck even then, as a young teenager by the sage wisdom and natural intuitive instinct inherent in Angelou's poems and her pilot memoir; it was after I had aged and attained my own levels of insight that I realized Angelou's powerful words had even greater depth than I had originally imagined. Angelou had what the old people who raised me, called Mother-Wit, the knowledge bred from a history of the oppression of black women that led to a special type of refined knowledge that was used as a well honed tool of survival. As the author, Joy Bennet Kinyon stated, the term Mother-wit was code for what you needed to know to survive.

Angelou's choice of words used in her five autobiographies includes phraseology that belongs to the refined and educated as well as terms appropriate to those who are street smart. The reading of Angelou's six gems of her life will give new insight into people, motivations, causes and reasons for living.

The autobiographies each can stand alone as they catalogue not only a time in the life of an American Legend, Poet Laureate and model for living, but they show levels of growth uninhibited by fear, societal norms and rules. Why else could a young girl raised by an elderly grandmother from tiny Stamps Arkansas grow into a woman who traveled the world before she was forty years old and before she became famous and well resourced. Angelou was a Dancer, a Singer, Stage Performer, wife of an African Dignitary, Author and Activist before the publication of her first memoir and all without the privilege of wealth or the assistance of powerful people.

The memoirs in Angelou's collection include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,Gather Together in My Name,Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas,The Heart of a Woman,All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes and A Song Flung Up to Heaven; covering Angelou's childhood during a racist time in America, through the Civil Rights Era and up to her meeting with James Baldwin (the acclaimed author of The Fire Next Time) who convinced her to begin her autobiographical journey.

Maya Angelou's list of achievements are too long to recount, among her many accolades is the fact she was chosen by Bill Clinton to perform her poem The Pulse of the Morning at his inaugural address, the first poet to recite at a Presidential Inauguration since Robert Frost. President Barak Obama presented Maya Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

Josephine Thompson (Sara Niles) The Torn Trilogy

Having seen Maya Angelou speak at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco several times over the years, I already adored her. I was always so impressed by her wisdom and generosity of spirit. When she died, I bought a copy of "I know why the caged bird sings" so I could always have her words with me, since I was never going to experience the joy of seeing her again, and I was totally hooked. I love a writer who speaks in their true voice to you, as if you were sitting at a table having coffee and just talking, but then again, her experiences are so profound and insightful. This is a book I will read many more times over the course of my lifetime, I only wish she was still here so I could tell her how much her writing means to me.

I never knea Maya Angelou wrote 5 more autobiographies after I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It's cheaper to buy this book inatead of each individual title. I read all 6 books in a little over 2 weeks. Maya Angelou is amazing.

I bought on Kindle and enjoyed a very long visit with the author. Written over many years span, she is wonderfully politically incorrect and works hard to be honest in her recollections of her long and varied life. When I was finally done, I felt like I'd finished a visit with a hilarious and wise aunt, and wished the visit were longer. I'll surely reread.

I purchased this book after reading, "I know why the caged bird sings", I found myself captivated by the spellbounding aura of maya angelou and in a thirst for her story purchased this book. I have drank her words readily and my only regret is that like all great things, the pages shall run out and my feast shall come to an end. This is a wonderful gift for any Maya Angelou fan, it branches outside of her poetry and makes the goddess of words appear a little more human.

Other than Maya's poems, I have never read her autobiographies. WOW barely describes what I read and felt. I always thought of Maya to be just what she is....a poet, an author. To read how her early life was, I see how her life's experiences brought her to where she is today. Not only does she speak honestly, her style of writing makes one feel they are her in the books. The size of the book may seem intimidating, but I could not put it down. I had to schedule myself to study for my class and read this book!

I loved reading these stories about Maya Angelou, and was truly disappointed when I came to the end of the book. She totally enjoyed and appreciated life and experienced so much. A total joy to read! I savored every word.

Maya writes with such a commanding style that it is an absolute pleasure reading her words. My advice is very simple - if you are at all interested in anything to do with Maya Angelou then don't muck about, order your copy of this volume today!

This is a nice collection of Maya Angelou's works, however, it is far too cumbersome to read in bed. Very very thick. I DO have some of Maya Angelou's other books because I love her writing. I'm not saying "don't get this book", I'm just saying that if you DO get it and enjoy reading in bed or whatever, it's a pretty heavy book since so many works are bound into one volume. And no, I don't want to "get it on Kindle or Nook" because I like to read and hold actual books with real pages and the smell of paper & ink, etc., etc. I'm sure I'm not the only "old school" reader out there, right?