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Maya Angelou's Autobiography #4
The Heart of a Woman
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Maya Angelou has fascinated, moved, and inspired countless readers with the first three volumes of her autobiography, one of the most remarkable personal narratives of our age. Now, in her fourth volume, The Heart of a Woman, her turbulent life breaks wide open with joy as the singer-dancer enters the razzle-dazzle of fabulous New York City. There, at the Harlem Writers Guild, her love for writing blazes anew.
Her compassion and commitment lead her to respond to the fiery times by becoming the northern coordinator of Martin Luther King's history-making quest. A tempestuous, earthy woman, she promises her heart to one man only to have it stolen, virtually on her wedding day, by a passionate African freedom fighter.
Filled with unforgettable vignettes of famous characters, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm X, The Heart of a Woman sings with Maya Angelou's eloquent prose her fondest dreams, deepest disappointments, and her dramatically tender relationship with her rebellious teenage son. Vulnerable, humorous, tough, Maya speaks with an intimate awareness of the heart within all of us.
Her compassion and commitment lead her to respond to the fiery times by becoming the northern coordinator of Martin Luther King's history-making quest. A tempestuous, earthy woman, she promises her heart to one man only to have it stolen, virtually on her wedding day, by a passionate African freedom fighter.
Filled with unforgettable vignettes of famous characters, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm X, The Heart of a Woman sings with Maya Angelou's eloquent prose her fondest dreams, deepest disappointments, and her dramatically tender relationship with her rebellious teenage son. Vulnerable, humorous, tough, Maya speaks with an intimate awareness of the heart within all of us.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1,1981
This edition
- Format
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288 pages, Hardcover
- Published
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May 17, 1997 by Random House
- ISBN
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9780375500725
- ASIN
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0375500723
- Language
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English
About the author
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Maya 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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At the part where the producer said he wouldn't pay for the songs for the play because Maya and Ethel 'just sat down at the piano and made it up' I nearly screamed WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK COMPOSERS ACTUALLY DO?
Maya's writing is amazing - so good - lean and evocative. I don't actively go in for autobiographies but I will be looking out for her other books for sure.
Maya's writing is amazing - so good - lean and evocative. I don't actively go in for autobiographies but I will be looking out for her other books for sure.
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In 'The Heart of a Woman' Maya Angelou leaves California with her son, Guy, to go to New York, where she enters the world of black artists and writers. She begins to share her writing and performs at the Apollo Theater in Harlem; but the momentum of the story lies in her part in the struggle of black Americans for freedom: she is appointed Martin Luther King's Northern Coordinator. She takes a leading role in Genet's The Blacks, with a notable cast (including Godfrey Cambridge, Roscoe Lee Brown, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Raymond St. Jacques, and Lou Gossett).
In her personal relationships with men, she finds herself torn between a New York bail bondsman she was intending to marry and newcomer South African freedom fighter named Vusumzi Make, who sweeps her off her feet - she moves with him, via London, to Cairo. As she gains more independence as the first female editor of a magazine, her marriage crumbles. The most powerful relationship in Maya's life remains that which she had with her son who is becoming a man.
Maya continues to be a triumph!
In her personal relationships with men, she finds herself torn between a New York bail bondsman she was intending to marry and newcomer South African freedom fighter named Vusumzi Make, who sweeps her off her feet - she moves with him, via London, to Cairo. As she gains more independence as the first female editor of a magazine, her marriage crumbles. The most powerful relationship in Maya's life remains that which she had with her son who is becoming a man.
Maya continues to be a triumph!
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This book was fascinating! I knew Maya Angelou was brilliant and wise, but she lived a life full of risk and fight! I wish I had started with her first memoir, but this was a great reading experience. The prose is clear and beautifully written. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars
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“Years before I had understood that all I had to do, really had to do, was stay black and die. Nothing could be more interesting than the first, or more permanent than the latter.”
With severely limited book supply in my part of the world I still somehow managed to get hold of this one. I haven’t read part 3, and I couldn’t find it for now, so I just decided to go ahead with part 4, The Heart of a Woman. I swore to myself I will not bore you all over again by confessing my undying love for this woman, rather only talk about the book in question, but not all promises are meant to be kept, are they? So here we go! I don’t think I can ever place any limits to my love for Maya, for every time I feel I can not love this woman more, she proves me wrong again.
I avoid reading anything about her life outside books to keep the information she would relay in the books a surprise and afresh. Learning so may things about her iconic life is an unmatchable experience. If this book was not an autobiography I would have considered it ridiculously fantastical. For all she went through in her life, couldn’t possibly be faced by one person. But I believe you can not become Maya Angelou without living all that she lived.
In her poetic language and in honest narrative she relates terrible facts about her life and the life of all the blacks living in 1960s USA, the time period this book covers is between 1957-1962.
I guess there couldn’t have been a better time to read this book then now, as a new wave social justice movement for Black Rights have hit USA all over again. Reading the struggles and discriminations faced by Blacks then has given a completely new perspective to their struggle now and also hit me with a realisation that not much has changed after all this time.
“... how the black parents in America could let their little children walk between rows of cursing, spitting white women and men, en route to school? What would happen to the children's minds when uninformed police sicked dogs on them just because they wanted to get to class?”
The emblem of Black Resistance in USA, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were running two parallel movements for black rights at the time and Maya found herself right in the middle of those movements, polishing her resume with some great work for the movements and for herself. Along with a detailed view of white racism Maya has also briefly touched the patriarchy of the African men in this book.
“When he took my hand, he said quietly, “You've made a good impression. I'll call you later.”
“I had said nothing, done nothing, shown no intelligence, wit or talent. Was I to assume that was the good impression?”
Apart from her professional life, the main focus of the book is her personal relations. Throughout the book she is relating the challenges of raising a black teenage boy, without a father in his life, in a racist America. Her lovers and friends take the second place.
Interesting to note, that even though she is already a woman in her mid 30s, she is still nowhere near the fame she was meant to reach. But her life experiences are without a doubt grooming her for all those times to come.
With severely limited book supply in my part of the world I still somehow managed to get hold of this one. I haven’t read part 3, and I couldn’t find it for now, so I just decided to go ahead with part 4, The Heart of a Woman. I swore to myself I will not bore you all over again by confessing my undying love for this woman, rather only talk about the book in question, but not all promises are meant to be kept, are they? So here we go! I don’t think I can ever place any limits to my love for Maya, for every time I feel I can not love this woman more, she proves me wrong again.
I avoid reading anything about her life outside books to keep the information she would relay in the books a surprise and afresh. Learning so may things about her iconic life is an unmatchable experience. If this book was not an autobiography I would have considered it ridiculously fantastical. For all she went through in her life, couldn’t possibly be faced by one person. But I believe you can not become Maya Angelou without living all that she lived.
In her poetic language and in honest narrative she relates terrible facts about her life and the life of all the blacks living in 1960s USA, the time period this book covers is between 1957-1962.
I guess there couldn’t have been a better time to read this book then now, as a new wave social justice movement for Black Rights have hit USA all over again. Reading the struggles and discriminations faced by Blacks then has given a completely new perspective to their struggle now and also hit me with a realisation that not much has changed after all this time.
“... how the black parents in America could let their little children walk between rows of cursing, spitting white women and men, en route to school? What would happen to the children's minds when uninformed police sicked dogs on them just because they wanted to get to class?”
The emblem of Black Resistance in USA, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were running two parallel movements for black rights at the time and Maya found herself right in the middle of those movements, polishing her resume with some great work for the movements and for herself. Along with a detailed view of white racism Maya has also briefly touched the patriarchy of the African men in this book.
“When he took my hand, he said quietly, “You've made a good impression. I'll call you later.”
“I had said nothing, done nothing, shown no intelligence, wit or talent. Was I to assume that was the good impression?”
Apart from her professional life, the main focus of the book is her personal relations. Throughout the book she is relating the challenges of raising a black teenage boy, without a father in his life, in a racist America. Her lovers and friends take the second place.
Interesting to note, that even though she is already a woman in her mid 30s, she is still nowhere near the fame she was meant to reach. But her life experiences are without a doubt grooming her for all those times to come.
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WHAT A BOOK. Na I know why the caged bird sings bleef Angelou verrassen met haar vlotte, aansprekende schrijfstijl en haar super intrigerend levensverhaal. Zo veel geleerd over zwarte geschiedenis en ook zo veel zin gekregen om er nog veel meer over te leren.
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I cannot put these down
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How did she get so revered? Self centered, manipulative,name dropper
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