According to polls and reading recommendations, this is a classic book, and the fact that the audiobook is read by Maya Angelou herself makes the book that much more compelling.
Being born in Los Angeles and growing up in Hawaii, for me, reading about Maya Angelou's early life in Stamps, Arkansas is both foreign and interesting. She talks a lot about racism and the church, which are a world apart for me. She also talks about her relationship with her family, and in particular, her closeness with her older brother Bailey is especially touching.
She describes herself on numerous occasions as tenderhearted, and goes through trauma that renders her unable to talk in most social situations, but she overcomes this difficulty and comes of age when she and her brother Bailey move to California to be reunited with their parents.
The numerous chapters of the book cover little stories, from her toothache and the racism they encountered trying to get her teeth pulled, to her mother's con-man friends' tales of conning white men, to her travels to Mexico with her dad.
It's a good book that traverses different themes, some very heavy, some lighthearted. It's a good biography and interesting from chapter to chapter, but as a whole, it's not one of my favorite books.
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