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Maya Angelou's Autobiography #6
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
The culmination of a unique achievement in modern American the six volumes of autobiography that began more than thirty years ago with the appearance of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings .
A Song Flung Up to Heaven opens as Maya Angelou returns from Africa to the United States to work with Malcolm X. But first she has to journey to California to be reunited with her mother and brother. No sooner does she arrive there than she learns that Malcolm X has been assassinated.
Devastated, she tries to put her life back together, working on the stage in local theaters and even conducting a door-to-door survey in Watts. Then Watts explodes in violence, a riot she describes firsthand.
Subsequently, on a trip to New York, she meets Martin Luther King, Jr., who asks her to become his coordinator in the North, and she visits black churches all over America to help support King’s Poor People’s March.
But once again tragedy strikes. King is assassinated, and this time Angelou completely withdraws from the world, unable to deal with this horrible event. Finally, James Baldwin forces her out of isolation and insists that she accompany him to a dinner party—where the idea for writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is born. In fact, A Song Flung Up to Heaven ends as Maya Angelou begins to write the first sentences of Caged Bird .
A Song Flung Up to Heaven opens as Maya Angelou returns from Africa to the United States to work with Malcolm X. But first she has to journey to California to be reunited with her mother and brother. No sooner does she arrive there than she learns that Malcolm X has been assassinated.
Devastated, she tries to put her life back together, working on the stage in local theaters and even conducting a door-to-door survey in Watts. Then Watts explodes in violence, a riot she describes firsthand.
Subsequently, on a trip to New York, she meets Martin Luther King, Jr., who asks her to become his coordinator in the North, and she visits black churches all over America to help support King’s Poor People’s March.
But once again tragedy strikes. King is assassinated, and this time Angelou completely withdraws from the world, unable to deal with this horrible event. Finally, James Baldwin forces her out of isolation and insists that she accompany him to a dinner party—where the idea for writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is born. In fact, A Song Flung Up to Heaven ends as Maya Angelou begins to write the first sentences of Caged Bird .
210 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
180 people are currently reading
5,404 people want to read
About the author
Maya Angelou
160Ìýbooks14.2kÌýfollowersMaya Angelou was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her life up to the age of 17 and brought her international recognition and acclaim.
She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Angelou was also an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.
With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes that include racism, identity, family, and travel.
She became a poet and writer after a string of odd jobs during her young adulthood. These included fry cook, sex worker, nightclub performer, Porgy and Bess cast member, Southern Christian Leadership Conference coordinator, and correspondent in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization of Africa. Angelou was also an actress, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. In 1982, she was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou was active in the Civil Rights Movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Beginning in the 1990s, she made approximately 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties. In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" (1993) at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton, making her the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961.
With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. Her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide, although attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries. Angelou's most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes that include racism, identity, family, and travel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 337 reviews
March 29, 2022
Gospel, blues, and love songs often suggest that birthing is hard, dying is difficult and there isn't much ease in between.
After how thoroughly I enjoyed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, I thought for sure that this book would be another slam dunk, but unfortunately, it wasn't. I love Maya and everything she stood for, but the narrative in this autobiography was lackluster and, frankly, a bit boring. I found myself skimming more often than I wanted to, because where I was expecting more tales of her adventures and her fights for equal treatment, I was instead treated to endless tales of dinner parties and name-dropping of celebrities she befriended. If you're looking to learn about Maya's life in general, I'd recommend this book, but if you're looking for the reasons why she became the incredible woman she was, grab Caged Bird first.
February 25, 2024
3.5 Stars
December 28, 2020
4 1/2 Stars.
Excellent book
I really enjoyed, “A Song Flung Up to Heaven� by Maya Angelou. Like the rest of her books, this one is a very easy reading book. This book is the last of 6 incredible volumes.
Her writing, as always, is superb with vivid detail and precise description. As for a plot, she returns to the USA to focus on the Civil Rights Movement. Her life is shattered with to significant deaths -- Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
She searches for herself by going back to singing. In LA, she experiences the Watts Riots first-hand. The passionate way she described the feelings and emotions where the highpoint of this book.
I associated closely with this book. The highlights were times when I was coming of age and each of the assassinations rocked my vision of interracial harmony and helped form my world view.
The book also shows the maturation and development of her life as a woman and her introduction into the writing community.
Another outstanding book by Maya and one that I absolutely recommend for everyone.
.
Excellent book
I really enjoyed, “A Song Flung Up to Heaven� by Maya Angelou. Like the rest of her books, this one is a very easy reading book. This book is the last of 6 incredible volumes.
Her writing, as always, is superb with vivid detail and precise description. As for a plot, she returns to the USA to focus on the Civil Rights Movement. Her life is shattered with to significant deaths -- Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
She searches for herself by going back to singing. In LA, she experiences the Watts Riots first-hand. The passionate way she described the feelings and emotions where the highpoint of this book.
I associated closely with this book. The highlights were times when I was coming of age and each of the assassinations rocked my vision of interracial harmony and helped form my world view.
The book also shows the maturation and development of her life as a woman and her introduction into the writing community.
Another outstanding book by Maya and one that I absolutely recommend for everyone.
.
January 11, 2016
is the last and smallest book in 's autobiography series. Given the time span these books cover, you'll realize that the pure and open obnoxious racism have lasted till very recently and occupied the better part of the 20th century. Slavery in the United States was abolished in 1865 but the aftereffects remained for more than 100 years. The stigma of slavery will always smirch the American history. It's a frustrating sad-but-true fact that makes me ashamed to belong to a world so messed up like that. Read the following and tell me that you didn't get depressed enough to give up on the human race:
“The white folks are so prejudiced in my town, a colored person is not allowed to eat vanilla ice cream.�
Maya's works will live forever to document how real the afflictions of racism are. Any person deprived from the basic human rights can relate to them, not just those who regrettably suffer from discrimination based on skin color. Maya is such a talented writer who mixes up bitter situations with a lively sense of humor and poetic prose. Her autobiographies are not the typical chronicles; they have a plot and a message and a lesson. I highly recommend reading the whole series regardless of your background. You're guaranteed to enjoy them and learn a thing or two on life (understatement). In a few words, it's a win-win deal.
__________
Maya Angelou's Autobiographies:
1) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
2) Gather Together in My Name.
3) Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas.
4) The Heart of a Woman.
5) All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes.
6) A Song Flung Up to Heaven.
March 4, 2019
From BBC Radio 4:
When Maya returns from Ghana the first person she calls is Malcolm X. She wants to spend some time with her mother and brother in San Francisco before she begins working with Malcolm in New York. Then Malcolm is assassinated. Devastated, Maya is shocked by people's apathetic reaction to the news.
Narrator, older Maya - Adjoa Andoh
Maya - Pippa Bennett-Warner
Malcolm X - Don Gilet
Bailey - Samuel Anderson
Mother - Ellen Thomas
Dramatised by Patricia Cumper
Produced and Directed by Pauline Harris
When Maya returns from Ghana the first person she calls is Malcolm X. She wants to spend some time with her mother and brother in San Francisco before she begins working with Malcolm in New York. Then Malcolm is assassinated. Devastated, Maya is shocked by people's apathetic reaction to the news.
Narrator, older Maya - Adjoa Andoh
Maya - Pippa Bennett-Warner
Malcolm X - Don Gilet
Bailey - Samuel Anderson
Mother - Ellen Thomas
Dramatised by Patricia Cumper
Produced and Directed by Pauline Harris
July 31, 2024
The final volume of Maya Angelou's extraordinary autobiography recounts her moving back to America from Ghana and returning to the civil rights movement. She appears restless: lives in several cities, tries various jobs, reconnects with old friends and former lovers, makes new connections, and deals with her son maturing. At the core of the book is shock and horror at the murders of Malcom X and Martin Luther King:
Angelou's six volume autobiography is a fascinating historical record of American racial politics, as well as a portrait of an amazing woman's life. She has a unique and vivid literary voice, which is compelling and profound to read.
Death of a beloved flattens and dulls everything. Mountains and skyscrapers and grand ideas are brought down to eye level or below. Great loves and large hates no longer cast such huge shadows or span so broad a distance. Connections do not adhere so closely, and important events lose some of their glow.
Everywhere I turned, life was repeating itself. The photograph of Coretta Scott King, veiled and standing with her children, reminded me of the picture of Jacqueline Kennedy with her children. Both women were under the probing, curious, and often sympathetic eye of the world. Yet each stood as if she and her children and her memories lived together in an unknowable dimension.
On radio and newspapers, Martin King's name was linked again and again with the name Malcolm X. As if the life and death of one confirmed the life and death of the other.
Angelou's six volume autobiography is a fascinating historical record of American racial politics, as well as a portrait of an amazing woman's life. She has a unique and vivid literary voice, which is compelling and profound to read.
June 15, 2019
I had the pleasure of hearing Ms. Angelou's lovely, distinctive voice in the narration of this audio book. I loved her first memoir for its honesty and warmth, humor and sadness. This book is my second-favorite of her seven memoirs for the same reasons.
In the late 1960s, Maya had returned from living in Africa and was excited to begin working for Malcolm X. Sadly, historical events prevented that from happening. Maya shared her deeply personal feelings as she struggled to cope with the loss of her friend. She moved several times and eventually settled in Los Angeles and was a witness to the Watts uprising. Later, she moved back to New York and reacquainted herself with friends in the city. She was very close to James Baldwin (she called him Jimmy), and he encouraged her to write her poems and consider writing prose. She had the pleasure of spending time with Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was in New York and he invited her to work with his organization. Again, sadly, historic events prevented that from happening. Again, she struggled to cope with the loss of her friend. When she was ready to face the world again, she began a new chapter of her life and turned to writing the story of her life.
Through this book, I was able to experience the unrest of the late 1960s and the tragic loss of Maya's two personal friends. She was an American treasure, who lived an amazing life.
There is one remaining book in the series, which I intend to start reading today.
In the late 1960s, Maya had returned from living in Africa and was excited to begin working for Malcolm X. Sadly, historical events prevented that from happening. Maya shared her deeply personal feelings as she struggled to cope with the loss of her friend. She moved several times and eventually settled in Los Angeles and was a witness to the Watts uprising. Later, she moved back to New York and reacquainted herself with friends in the city. She was very close to James Baldwin (she called him Jimmy), and he encouraged her to write her poems and consider writing prose. She had the pleasure of spending time with Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was in New York and he invited her to work with his organization. Again, sadly, historic events prevented that from happening. Again, she struggled to cope with the loss of her friend. When she was ready to face the world again, she began a new chapter of her life and turned to writing the story of her life.
Through this book, I was able to experience the unrest of the late 1960s and the tragic loss of Maya's two personal friends. She was an American treasure, who lived an amazing life.
There is one remaining book in the series, which I intend to start reading today.
March 4, 2019
Description: When Maya returns from Ghana the first person she calls is Malcolm X. She wants to spend some time with her mother and brother in San Francisco before she begins working with Malcolm in New York. Then Malcolm is assassinated. Devastated, Maya is shocked by people's apathetic reaction to the news.
Narrator, older Maya - Adjoa Andoh
Maya - Pippa Bennett-Warner
Malcolm X - Don Gilet
Bailey - Samuel Anderson
Mother - Ellen Thomas
Dramatised by Patricia Cumper
Produced and Directed by Pauline Harris
3* I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
4* The Heart of a Woman
3* Mom & Me & Mom
4* A Song Flung Up To Heaven
5* His Day Is Done: A Nelson Mandela Tribute
March 24, 2018
I read this book right after I finished . Maya's writing is so addictive that I always want more. Pages are filled with lessons and impactful stories.
August 14, 2019
Like all of Ms. Angelou's memoirs, ASFUTH is compulsively readable. There's no way you can't root for her as she blazes through the treacherous waters of the mid-20th century.
December 6, 2019
Gorgeously flowing prose from Maya Angelou. Really wonderful to read.
Engaging with the people in Maya’s life as she moved from Ghana to Hawaii, from Hawaii to California and from there to New York all in the space of a couple of years, I got a sense of comfort knowing that if it was alright for Maya Angelou not to be settled on a career and place of rest with a family, then it must be okay for others too.
She writes so lovingly about her brother Bailey, small of stature but sharp of wit with a large heart and her other close friends like James Baldwin, Jerry Purcell and the unlikely friend of Dolly McPherson, throughout her reminisces. To me this added to the warmth of this lady, the love she inspired in her friends and the impressive support she was given � and burgeoned in herself - for her cause to attain greater equality in African � American culture.
Engaging with the people in Maya’s life as she moved from Ghana to Hawaii, from Hawaii to California and from there to New York all in the space of a couple of years, I got a sense of comfort knowing that if it was alright for Maya Angelou not to be settled on a career and place of rest with a family, then it must be okay for others too.
She writes so lovingly about her brother Bailey, small of stature but sharp of wit with a large heart and her other close friends like James Baldwin, Jerry Purcell and the unlikely friend of Dolly McPherson, throughout her reminisces. To me this added to the warmth of this lady, the love she inspired in her friends and the impressive support she was given � and burgeoned in herself - for her cause to attain greater equality in African � American culture.
February 24, 2018
Robert Loomis said to Maya Angelou 'it is nearly impossible to write autobiography as literature'. Maya Angelou shows us that, although perhaps difficult for most, it is possible. She has such a gift for writing and storytelling, and her stories read so very easily.
March 19, 2020
always and in all ways, a pleasure.
May 16, 2021
Od Malcolma X do Martina Luthera Kinga. A Maya Angelou & James Baldwin to duet, którego potrzebowałam <3
“We had come so far from where we started, and weren’t nearly approaching where we had to be, but we were on the road to becoming better.
[…] I would have to examine the quality in the human spirit that continues to rise despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Rise out of physical pain and the psychological cruelties.
[…] Rise and be prepared to move on and ever on.
[…] however low you perceive now, I am headed for higher ground.
[…] I know why the caged bird sings. What you looking at me for. I didn’t come to stay.�
“We had come so far from where we started, and weren’t nearly approaching where we had to be, but we were on the road to becoming better.
[…] I would have to examine the quality in the human spirit that continues to rise despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Rise out of physical pain and the psychological cruelties.
[…] Rise and be prepared to move on and ever on.
[…] however low you perceive now, I am headed for higher ground.
[…] I know why the caged bird sings. What you looking at me for. I didn’t come to stay.�
June 29, 2023
I loved all of Maya Angelou’s autobiographies. In this one she explores the pain of losing Malcom X and Martin Luther King, as well as her friendship with James Baldwin. I wish she’d written even more as I’d happily read her entire life story.
December 8, 2019
توصلت لاستنتاج إن أي جملة تكتبها الراØلة العزيزة مايا أنجلو قصيدة .
October 28, 2020
THIS WOMAN WAS AMAZING. I love these memoirs so much. If you've only read Caged Bird I highly recommend reading more of her story. She had a fascinating life.
April 13, 2022
wonderful, heartbreaking, uplifting. maya's voice cuts right to what she means while making you feel how she felt, through all the turmoil of the time period of this book
March 6, 2019
It took Maya Angelou a long time to figure out who she was. That is not a criticism, since some people never do, but she was kind enough to take us on her journey in six autobiographical books, this being the last. It is perhaps an odd place to end her autobiographies, ending as it does with an invitation to write her first, so she does not tell the story of her great fame and life as one of American's finest poets. That is alright, for cumulatively these books take us through the life of a poor southern girl who was largely raised by her grandmother to the woman ready to be the Maya Angelou we all know and ought to love. She was always unsparing about her flaws and mistakes, and she is just as unsparing in this volume, including a mistake she did not learn from the first time. She also takes us through the murders of Malcolm X and Dr. King, and varied responses of the black community in addition to her own (she knew both men). This book is as fine as the others, and every bit as important.
April 3, 2022
James Baldwin provides the best parts; the rest are scrappy and unsatisfying. The self-depreciating humour of the first books gives way to smugness.
January 2, 2020
Reading a Maya Angelou autobiography immediately after Richard Dawkins’s is sort of like having a delicious dessert after a mediocre and overpriced meal. Not that Appetite for Wonder was terrible; it just wasn’t good. It was what you fear autobiographies might be: self-indulgent, full of name-dropping, rarely relatable, and boring except to friends. A Song Flung Up to Heaven was refreshing in its beauty and honest painting of real people. Although I suppose it’s a bit unfair to compare a science writer to one of the most influential memoirists of the 20th century.
I can definitely understand what made Angelou such an icon. The poetry of her language is lovely, and she cuts to the truth of people and situations remarkably. Each experience she writes about reveals something deep about what it is to be human. She writes a portrait of the time, and gives us a window into her mind. The writing feels wonderfully familiar, like you’re sitting in her living room and she’s dropping honest knowledge. And in the audiobook, she reads it herself, which gives it an extra dimension.
She writes about her relationships with Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin among others. She writes about her experiences in Ghana, New York, and Los Angeles. She writes about her love-hate relationship with her African husband and her first-hand experience in the Watts Riots of 1965. And she writes all of it with such awareness and sharp insight that you have no doubt that she is worthy of the remarkable life she’s lived.
I didn’t expect to like Angelou as much as I did, and I fully intend to track down more of her work. I suggest you do the same.
I can definitely understand what made Angelou such an icon. The poetry of her language is lovely, and she cuts to the truth of people and situations remarkably. Each experience she writes about reveals something deep about what it is to be human. She writes a portrait of the time, and gives us a window into her mind. The writing feels wonderfully familiar, like you’re sitting in her living room and she’s dropping honest knowledge. And in the audiobook, she reads it herself, which gives it an extra dimension.
She writes about her relationships with Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin among others. She writes about her experiences in Ghana, New York, and Los Angeles. She writes about her love-hate relationship with her African husband and her first-hand experience in the Watts Riots of 1965. And she writes all of it with such awareness and sharp insight that you have no doubt that she is worthy of the remarkable life she’s lived.
I didn’t expect to like Angelou as much as I did, and I fully intend to track down more of her work. I suggest you do the same.
September 18, 2012
A Song Flung Up to Heaven is the sixth and final instalment of Maya's six-part autobiography, spanning the years 1964-1968. It is a heart-rending volume. It begins on her return to the US after years in Ghana, where her son has chosen to stay behind. Part of her reason for leaving is to put distance between herself and her husbad; referred to as "the African", he emblematises every mistaken choice of lover a woman could make. She returns to America to join her friend, Malcolm X, in creating an Organisation of African-American Unity. Within two days of her return and speaking to him, she receives news of his assassination.
Spurred on by her mother, brother and loyal friends, she finds work (singing in a nightclub in Hawaii and doing market research in Watts, a black area in LA, which - in 1965 - erupted into violent riots.
By 1968, we find Maya returning to New York to work with Martin Luther King, raising funds for a poor people's march; however, on the day she was due to start her work, King is assassinated.
Reliving the trauma of these moments through her eyes are heartbreaking - it is easy to understand her despair and withdrawal. As she says: "Depression wound itself around me so securely I could barely walk, and didn't want to talk." From these experiences, she master her pen...
Together, these six books --- which I have eaten through in the last few days --- are a unique autobiographical achievement; I can think of no fitter a celebration of the indomitable spirit of Maya Angelou.
Spurred on by her mother, brother and loyal friends, she finds work (singing in a nightclub in Hawaii and doing market research in Watts, a black area in LA, which - in 1965 - erupted into violent riots.
By 1968, we find Maya returning to New York to work with Martin Luther King, raising funds for a poor people's march; however, on the day she was due to start her work, King is assassinated.
Reliving the trauma of these moments through her eyes are heartbreaking - it is easy to understand her despair and withdrawal. As she says: "Depression wound itself around me so securely I could barely walk, and didn't want to talk." From these experiences, she master her pen...
Together, these six books --- which I have eaten through in the last few days --- are a unique autobiographical achievement; I can think of no fitter a celebration of the indomitable spirit of Maya Angelou.
August 17, 2017
I am a very slow reader, plodding through each line and page ponderously as I try to squeeze in bits of reading into thin slices of time while commuting, just before bed, etc... but Maya Angelou has been so compelling that I have outdone myself - 6 books in just over as many weeks, making her my most-read author easily, outside of silly childhood book series. Her ruminations on her life and the backdrop of the black struggle is particularly interesting to me in light of recent events in America and consequent discussions on racial / cultural integration (or the lack thereof)...this final book about a stage in life in which Maya clearly spends a LOT of time introspecting while getting on with the business of life is inspiring in its own way...it is OK to be lost for a while till the calling comes through loudly. What an amazing lady!
March 25, 2018
I just love her writing!!!
January 3, 2025
I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. I enjoyed the first book in the series and wanted to carry on with it. I'm just inspired and in awe of her. I knew I wanted to carry on with this series and learn more about her life. This book is about the death of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
This book is the sixth of seven volumes of Maya Angelou’s autobiography. It is a testament to the talents and resilience of this writer. This book is set between 1965 to 1968, this book begins with Maya’s trip from Accra, Ghana where she has lived for the past four years, but now she back to the United States. Two massive events frame the beginning and the end of the book � the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Maya describes how she dealt with these events and the sweeping changes in both the country and in her personal life and how she coped with her return home to the US. The book ends with Maya at the threshold of her literary career.
Usually I struggle with non-fiction books, I find them slow, boring and I can never really dig into them and thoroughly enjoy it. However, this book I managed to enjoy. This book still discusses serious and difficult topics but it’s a journey of her finding her voice and becoming a writer and her dealing with the death of two massive figures. It’s almost as if she was writing about a fiction character in a storyline that I had to remind myself several times that she was the main character she is talking about and that she is talking about her life. The worries and the sadness she had about Malcolm and Martin was heartbreaking. I would have loved to see some chapters from her son as he made a re-appearance and finding love and I wanted to know how he met her and if he said anything to her after what happened with her and his mum.
Again, with the previous book when it gets towards the end it feels rushed. I think it’s the gripping factor to get you to read the next book. I am sort of hoping with me having one book left in this series that this stops and comes to a point because I am hoping that she finds happiness and peace.
This book is the sixth of seven volumes of Maya Angelou’s autobiography. It is a testament to the talents and resilience of this writer. This book is set between 1965 to 1968, this book begins with Maya’s trip from Accra, Ghana where she has lived for the past four years, but now she back to the United States. Two massive events frame the beginning and the end of the book � the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Maya describes how she dealt with these events and the sweeping changes in both the country and in her personal life and how she coped with her return home to the US. The book ends with Maya at the threshold of her literary career.
Usually I struggle with non-fiction books, I find them slow, boring and I can never really dig into them and thoroughly enjoy it. However, this book I managed to enjoy. This book still discusses serious and difficult topics but it’s a journey of her finding her voice and becoming a writer and her dealing with the death of two massive figures. It’s almost as if she was writing about a fiction character in a storyline that I had to remind myself several times that she was the main character she is talking about and that she is talking about her life. The worries and the sadness she had about Malcolm and Martin was heartbreaking. I would have loved to see some chapters from her son as he made a re-appearance and finding love and I wanted to know how he met her and if he said anything to her after what happened with her and his mum.
Again, with the previous book when it gets towards the end it feels rushed. I think it’s the gripping factor to get you to read the next book. I am sort of hoping with me having one book left in this series that this stops and comes to a point because I am hoping that she finds happiness and peace.
August 20, 2021
When you abandon the world around you to read and live a piece of writing, you know you are in the presence of a legend's suffering and vision. As I make a mental note to keep reading all of Angelou's work, here's a quote that will stick with me: "Rise and be prepared to move on and ever on (Angelou, 2002, p. 210)."
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March 15, 2025"A Song Flung Up to Heaven" focuses on a period of Angelou's life when she returns from Africa to help Malcom X with his "Organization of African American Unity", although he was assassinated before they could meet. The book explores her friendship with James Baldwin, the Watts riots, and finally leading up to the moment when Martin Luther King Jr is shot.
Everything Maya Angelou writes is beautiful.
Everything Maya Angelou writes is beautiful.
January 24, 2022
Only today did I learn that I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is only the first is a six-part series of memoirs by Angelou. Read this one out of order because it was the one available at my library, but I’m now really excited to read the other four parts in the middle.
January 23, 2023
This is the 6th volume in Maya Angelou’s 7-part autobiography. Unlike her previous volumes this one is less intriguing. This volume is more like a listing of events and people met rather than a deeper analysis of emotions and learnings ; less inspiring than the previous volumes
Was expecting some more analysis on the civil rights movement which was ripe at this time which was there but not enough
Was expecting some more analysis on the civil rights movement which was ripe at this time which was there but not enough
March 9, 2025
Truthfully this isn’t the best in the series with a storyline that bounces around and is held together by the assassinations of Malcom X and MLK.
Still a very enjoyable read and will be sad to finish the final volume
Still a very enjoyable read and will be sad to finish the final volume
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