Rating: 
Summary: Profoundly perfunctory
Review: An infantile, vindictive, and pretentiously polysyllabic account of unrealistically recalled formative years. One must combat the impression that Ms. Angelou presumes to speak for every African-American in her portrayal of "whitefolks" who are, without exception, either [prostitutes], greedy crooks, imbecilic, or just inherently mean-spirited. A 280 page exercise of almost vaudevillian absurdity in which the reader's boredom is only exceeded by the author's self-absorption.
Rating: 
Summary: my rating
Review: in fact, it is a good book but as for myself, i find it too common to compare between maya angelou and other black authors. to be honest, richard wright and richard ellison and maya are in the same category: nothing different. on the other hand, it is a good book anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Great background about a Great Person
Review: A nice read. I enjoyed being able to read an accurate, first hand, historical account from a frank, honest, engaging author. Although I have not been there myself, I would venture to guess that Stamps, Arkansas remains today much the same as it was described in this book. I must admit that I was not completely overwhelmed by the writing style, but I do appreciate the matter-of-fact tone. The book was effective and educational. Especially inspiring is Maya Angelou herself and her list of accomplishments stemming from her first job experience at age 15.
Rating: 
Summary: An amazing book by an amazing writer
Review: I read the reviews from other people conserning this book, one person deamed it 'racist' another that, Dr. Maya Angelou was 'sick' for including the story of her rape ordeal. I was ultimatly saddened by these comments. This book is simply outstanding, written with so much realism, the characters literally jump of the page. This woman is one of the most extraordinary writers to come out of America. To describe ths novel as 'sick' and 'racist' is a childish and immoral thing to say. I suggest these two reviewers stick to reading childrens books, it is obvious you have no understanding of the english language, and good literature as a whole. 'I know why the caged bird sings', stands as one of the most important books of the twentieth century, a testimant to a truly gifted idividual, who has overcome the heartache and trauma in her life, to triumph.
Rating:
Summary: RACIST!!
Review: RACIST! Has anyone ever noticed that every time "Black" is written in the book it starts with an uppercase "B" and every time "white" is written in the book (with the exception of being at the start of a sentence) the "w" is lowercase??? What is the deal with that? She is supposed to be some great humanitarian and she is still to this day perpetuating a racist message. I understand she had a hard time growing up, but come on now. This book should have not been printed, and it sure should not be read in our schools as some great literary feat. She is a racist, that's the bottom line. Don't give her another dime.
Rating:
Summary: My rantings and ravings on the worlds worst book
Review: Well first of all the only reason I read this book was because of my english class and boy, was it awful. First of all that scene where she was being molested by her mom's boyfriend was totally unnecessary...it just made a bad book worse. It seems to me that mya angelou has a real sick streak in her, she couldn't even start the book without describing in detail a time she peed her pants in church. Second of all I really had no sympathy for the characters at all. Angelou spent all her time complaining about how badly the world treated her and she never tried to do anything about it. All she did was talk about how evil white people are, which really offended me. It would have been okay if the book was about how she overcame her problems instead of her boo-hooing about them untill she finally gets pregnant as a teen and decides that she's happy with her life. How this POS ever became standard reading for school I never will understand. My advice: never read this book, EVER!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Took Me There...
Review: This book was great. Angelou pulled me into her story and made me feel like I was there next to her through all her adventures. Her writing is very visual. Angelou can describe any situation with the fewest words but you know exactly what she is talking about. This is the second book of hers I have read and I am in love with her writing.
Rating:
Summary: Many Warm and Funny Memories
Review: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a spectular autobiography describing Maya's childhood up until teenage hood. What amazes me about this is book is that Maya has a special talent for making dark situations that happened to her funny and wonderous. I think her philosophy in life is don't let anyone get you down when bad things happen to you. Stay positive. When a person falls off her bicylce, she needs to get back up on it again and try to ride it without falling. I don't have a personal copy (I borrow the library's), but I am sure to obtain all six of her autobiographies. I am sure when I read the rest of them, they will be just as good.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in a long time! This book captures life inthe south through the eyes of a child. When I started reading I didn't really like it but then you rally start to care about what happens to Maya and Maya becomes like a friend to you. Extremely well written! As I was readig sometimes I had to flip back to the cover to look at her picture because its amazing what she oes through. I strongly recommend this toanybody but especially girls my own age (13-20)
Rating:
Summary: The Caged Bird Is Now Free
Review: Humour. Satire. Fear. Ape. Racism. Consoling. A few words to describe the semi-autobiographical poignant work Angelou produced with 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings'. Marguite, was an innocent, a felsh of bieng with a free spirit, who went against the odds at various points in life. The sisterly love for her brother was undying and was revealed.
The tale reflects the time period so well, and opens our (white suburbia) mind to a dimension unknown to us. Spoken to us only through rhyme, prose and novel. Maya expresses her life with dignity; a word thatc can freely be associated with Maya and Momma.
I look so forward to the continuing saga that this liberated novelist has penned for the world.
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