A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman
The poems and stories she wrote . . . were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and grace
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
She has the knack of guiding us along the seamier side of life while making us feel refreshed and restored like a terrific gospel blues singer * Guardian *
Told with the humorous, unsentimental wisdom that has gained her such a devoted following * Sunday Times *
Angelou conveys a sense of the period, complete with the pulsating rhythms of local slang, while her own elegantly gentle view provides the bigger perspective . . . Angelou has lived a life that deserves writing about, and only she can make that story sing with life * Scotsman *
It delivers the same essential charge of uplifting warmth, clear-eyed sagacity and indefatigable generosity of spirit, leaving us only to hope that another series, covering the latter portion of the roller-coaster's progress, might be in the offering * Scotland on Sunday *
It's been a long time coming, but A Song Flung Up To Heaven triumphantly completes the six volumes of autobiography that began nearly thirty years ago with Maya Angelou's astonishingly successful I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - a work that changed readers' perceptions of what autobiographical writing could achieve -- Barry Forshaw
She has the knack of guiding us along the seamier side of life while making us feel refreshed and restored like a terrific gospel blues singer * Guardian *
Told with the humorous, unsentimental wisdom that has gained her such a devoted following * Sunday Times *
Angelou conveys a sense of the period, complete with the pulsating rhythms of local slang, while her own elegantly gentle view provides the bigger perspective....Angelou has lived a life that deserves writing about, and only she can make that story sing with life. * Scotsman *
It delivers the same essential charge of uplifting warmth, clear-eyed sagacity and indefatigable generosity of spirit, leaving us only to hope that another series, covering the latter portion of the roller-coaster's progress, might be in the offering.' S * 'It's been a long time coming, but A Song Flung Up To Heaven triumphantly completes the six volumes of autobiography that began nearly 30 years ago with Maya Angelou's astonishingly successful I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings- a work that changed reader s' *