I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

The internationally bestselling classic

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou's six volumes of autobiography are a testament to the talents and resilience of this extraordinary writer. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement and celebration. In this first volume of her six books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. She learns the power of the white folks at the other end of town and suffers the terrible trauma of rape by her mother's lover.

'I write about being a Black American woman, however, I am always talking about what it's like to be a human being. This is how we are, what makes us laugh, and this is how we fall and how we somehow, amazingly, stand up again' Maya Angelou©1969 Maya Angelou

Critic reviews

A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman (President Barack Obama)

The poems and stories she wrote . . . were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and grace (President Bill Clinton)

She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds (Oprah Winfrey)

She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate (Toni Morrison)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity (James Baldwin)

A trailblazer in decolonial, anti-racist movements and intersectional feminism, memoirist, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou is a powerhouse of a woman

Steeped in resilience and grace

One of the most influential biographies of our time

Heartbreaking, beautiful and inspiring in equal measure . . . a landmark work of literature

Simply extraordinary

Never moved as much by a story, never have I encountered such a reading. Maya Angelou’s story and voice are soul stirring and riveting.

I loved everything about it.

Beautiful storytelling, her voice was so soothing it reminded me of my own grandmother.

Thanks Maya for sharing your story

Loved it. Maya Angelou has the most serene voice I have heard. Just listening to her narrate her story was therapeutic.

A must read!

There is poetry in every sentence - I hung on every word! Listen learn and enjoy.

Amazing, as expected.

A classic. A must listen from the legend herself. I highly recommend this audio.