[.ca] I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (ISBN 0375507892)

From Amazon.com:
In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life, including a tragic occurrence while visiting her mother in St. Louis and her formative years spent in California--where an unwanted pregnancy changed her life forever. Marvelously told, with Angelou's "gift for language and observation," this "remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant."

good:
There's really not much to say about it really. It was good and you will like it if you have never read it before. It is written well and has very good descriptions. It is very honest. Sometimes I do wonder how people can spill their lives to the public like that...but that's the way it is. And that's what autobiographies are all about. A good read and a good job by Maya!

One of the best reads in a long time:
I've read three books recently that I found absolutely fascinating: The Secret Life of Bees, Bark of the Dogwood, and I know why the Caged Bird Sings. As far as the best, it was a toss up between "I Know" and "Dogwood." Both are well written pieces of literature with wonderful characters and an entertaining story to tell. Make no mistake, "Caged Bird" is not easy reading--it's not some pulp fiction piece. This is a real book, full of poetry, ideas, and great writing. You do have to put some work into it to get something out. But in the end you will be rewarded. Also recommended: Bark of the Dogwood, Secret Life of Bees

Impressionable:
This is an amazing autobiography. Ms. Angelou is a beautiful story teller. She leads you in with beautiful words, but don't get the impression that it is simply a sweet book because its not. She tells the way it really was for her growing up and all the courage needed to survive. Also recommending highly: Nightmares Echo (courage and determination in the life of a child of abuse,self-healing)Running With Scissors (deals with abuse,dysfunction,also courageous)

Don't waste your time:
This book is really not deep or profound, contrary to popular belief. It does contain a few "shocking" things, but definitely nothing profound. For profundity read works by Chaim Potok, Steinbeck, Orwell, Kesey, or any other of the many GREAT authors. Also this book is poorly written. The language is correct, but no wear near the beaty of other great authors. Truly there is something better you could do with your money. If you want something shocking do extreme sports like climbing or surfing or listen to punk rock, not this.

Best Iv read:
I really like this book it hooked me till the very end.