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Sheila 's Reviews > Mom & Me & Mom
Mom & Me & Mom
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I have not read any other books by Maya Angelou, but have always wanted to read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maybe I should have started with that book.
Instead, I started with this new autobiography about the author and her mother, and while it was interesting, somehow it was lacking for me. In my mind I had built this idea of what I expected from Maya Angelou writing, and this did not live up to my possibly overblown expectations.
The story of her life with her mother was interesting, but when I finished I couldn't help but think that if this book had been written by someone with an unknown name it never would have been published. This could have been written by any woman, anywhere, and it would be completely ignored. But since it has the name Maya Angelou on it, it sells. Heck, I bought it. So there you go.
Instead, I started with this new autobiography about the author and her mother, and while it was interesting, somehow it was lacking for me. In my mind I had built this idea of what I expected from Maya Angelou writing, and this did not live up to my possibly overblown expectations.
The story of her life with her mother was interesting, but when I finished I couldn't help but think that if this book had been written by someone with an unknown name it never would have been published. This could have been written by any woman, anywhere, and it would be completely ignored. But since it has the name Maya Angelou on it, it sells. Heck, I bought it. So there you go.
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Mom & Me & Mom.
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Reading Progress
July 2, 2013
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July 10, 2013
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Started Reading
July 30, 2013
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Petra in Tokyo
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rated it 3 stars
Jul 31, 2013 05:45PM
Lack-lustre is right. I'm sorry I recommended it to you.
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Don't be sorry. I am glad to have read it. And I buy books all the time that I think I am going to love, which don't live up to my expectations for them. :-)I am still interested in reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings some day, and would like to explore more of her poetry too. This lack-lustreness of this book might be a sign of the author's age.
Rest in Peace Ms. Angelou. :-(
Definitely read I know why the caged bird sings!! This was interesting for those who don't know her history but also interesting reflection on parent/child relationship...but not nearly as impactful as her other works.
Definitely read I know why the caged bird sings!! This was interesting for those who don't know her history but also interesting reflection on parent/child relationship...but not nearly as impactful as her other works.
Just get this hardback book with the wonderful Diego Rivera paintings and only one poem in it. You'll see what all the fuss is about. THIS is what you need to know about Dr. Maya before you read any of her autobiographies (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, first, of course!) And her Wiki-page...that will tip you off to why she's so acclaimed. First black female American Poet Laureate who read her poem written for the event at President Clinton's inauguration. For a black woman born in the '20s and died in 2014 in Winston Salem, NC, this woman DID some shit! She is worthy of the admiration. For me, like I said, read the one poem in the hardback book I quoted at the beginning here. I think everyone should buy that book and have it in the house for their teenage daughters to read. In 2017, And Still I Rise. Oh, you may Tweet about me, Mr. President-Elect, but still I rise! When Meryl Streep called out his dumb ass for publicly bullying a disable man, mocking him. Does our infamous president say, like a normal person, any average joe schmoe on the street, oh, I'm sorry, that WAS indeed wrong--I do shit wrong sometimes, I'm sorry. I can understand and forgive that. NO! NEVER! Our little boy on the playground president attacks, tweeting only of course, he doesn't release his taxes, or speak to the media very often only tweets his attack. "Streep is over-rated as an actress" (that's why she won the lifetime achievement award; they probably ran out of people to give it to, so they just chucked it her way. And denied it, too. "no I didn't do that, I just wanted to show that he was a groveling twit, I didn't make fun of handicapped people. But...everything you say from now on is recorded, Mr. President. It is ON VIDEO, you f*cking DUMBASS.Anyway, read about Dr. Maya a little bit. She has done more for women (and men, but especially her own gender and race) than most people have. R.I.P.
I have nothing against Maya Angelou, Shawn, it was just this book that was lacking a bit for me. As to the woman herself, I agree that she was a great woman! Love your comments about the pres-elect also. Have you read Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda?
No, I haven't read that YET, but I will be at the Million Woman March on Jan 21st in D.C. Hope to see you there. I'll be there as a guest of my wife, so I can go even though i'm a man. :-)I believe women are actually human beings, deserving of equal pay, and equally deserving of the respect that is due other human beings. Our next president, not so much.
So, I will be resisting. I am still a kind person with love in my heart no matter who is president. I will be watching. I will be commenting on all of the ignorant things he does, so far not making his taxes public, setting an historic record among presidents. Appointing the CEO of Exxon to help own the government, a climate-change denier to run the EPA after saying it should be abolished, with his son-in-law, who already helped Trump dump Gov. Christie because guess what? Christie was the prosecutor who put Jared's father in federal prison for making millions of dollars of illegal campaign contributions, some hundreds of thousands he put in his son Jared's name, even though Jared was a college student at the time which could have tipped off the Republican party when a college student gives 200,000 dollars in campaign contributions. Oh, it is endless and boggles the mind!
We are on the same team, Shawn. :-)I can't make it to DC, but will be at my local state event. And I am going to keep watching and commenting too!
Great! We have to keep it together, I know.Better together.
Shawn
My thoughts exactly... thanks.
