“A very well known book by a very well known author & poet. This is book one of a series in which Angelou sets down her autobiography. The writing is very well done.
When you read this book, you'll find that the autobiographical details carefully reveal several strategies that enabled African-Americans at the time to deal with white people who felt that they were superior to blacks. Angelou grew up mainly in Arkansas (although was shuttled back and forth to St. Louis & California) in the pre-Civil Rights era, so outward resistance was not really a safe and sane option for African-Americans at the time. How she and her family dealt with white people, and what she learned by watching the examples of others seems to be the major focus in the novel, as well as the story of her life up to the time she had a child.
Now I know that people rave about the book, but to me it was just okay. The writing, as I noted, was very good, and I almost had the feeling that I was reading a novel. The major problem with reading any autobiography is that true memories are often filtered through the eyes of others -- and I often caught myself wondering things like "how could a kid that age actually remember what she felt at that particular time?"
Overall, just okay, but recommended.”