Life of the Author, The: Maya Angelou
Written by Linda Wagner-Martin
Narrated by Allyson Johnson
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THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR MAYA ANGELOU
DISCOVER THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF MAYA ANGELOU WITH A HIGHLY PERSONAL AND DETAILED ACCOUNT OF HER CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS
The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou delivers an engaging and thorough retelling of the life and work of the celebrated and accomplished writer, director, and essayist. The book offers readers an engrossing retelling of Maya Angelou’s entire life, from her time as a child in the segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas, to her death in 2014 in Winston-Salem.
Written with an emphasis on accessibility, the author avoids critical theory and focuses on Maya Angelou’s growth as a person and writer as well as the ways in which her life influenced her work. This new biography tells the story of a young black woman who overcomes poverty and endemic structural and personal obstacles to lead an accomplished life.
Readers will also enjoy:A thorough retelling of the time Maya Angelou spent in Africa and how it shaped her views and work
An exploration of the screenplays written by Maya Angelou
Discussions of Maya Angelou’s early life as a dancer, singer, and writer
Accounts of Maya Angelou’s writing and production of television shows
A fulsome treatment of Maya Angelou’s work, including her poems, autobiographies, films, music, and theatre
Perfect for undergraduate students in Contemporary Literature courses as well as general readers who love Maya Angelou and her work, The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou will also earn a place in the libraries of biography and literature enthusiasts who seek to improve their understanding of the life and story of Maya Angelou with a highly personal and accessible new book.
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Print length
220 pages
Language
English
Editorial Reviews
Review
“This book offers an accessible, clear biography of the highly acclaimed poet, essayist, memoirist, educator, and civil rights activist. Refreshingly unburdened by footnotes and theoretical digressions, the book applies a wide-angle lens to Angelou’s life and provides a sweeping view of the woman and her works. The approach is nonetheless scholarly: Wagner-Martin (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) frames her discussion of Angelou’s life with other critics’ viewpoints and emphasizes Angelou’s influence on the larger literary world. The book is as much a biography of Angelou’s writings as it is a biography of the woman. Wagner-Martin smartly anchors her study in Angelou’s six autobiographies, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings―thus highlighting for readers her subject's growth as an author. Wagner-Martin even posits that Angelou’s poetry gives insight into her love life. She also provides an analysis of some of Angelou’s essays and her important work as a civil rights activist. The book includes a useful bibliography of primary sources ―poems, autobiographies, essays, spoken-word albums, children’s books, screenplays, and so on―as well as a comprehensive bibliography of secondary sources. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.” -CHOICE
“Maya Angelou: Adventurous Spirit is a perfectly timed, must-have volume for any reader interested in the life and work of the writer, activist, campaigner and performer Maya Angelou. In a vivacious and accessible study, eminent scholar Linda Wagner-Martin combines biography and literary criticism, spanning Angelou's first book to her final publication in 2014 - a poem on the death of Nelson Mandela. Wagner-Martin considers Angelou's life as an African American in the US, her life as stage and film performer, her full involvement in the Civil Rights actions of the 1960s and her travels abroad in Egypt, Africa and Europe alongside her literary career, recognizing Angelou's dexterous maneuvering of genre. In a manner befitting its subject, Maya Angelou: Adventurous Spirit achieves that rare balance: incisive, scholarly, well-researched, but also immensely enjoyable to read.” ―Laura Rattray, Reader in American Literature, University of Glasgow, UK
“This engaging study brings much-needed scholarly attention to Maya Angelou's memoirs and poetry and shows how Angelou's political involvement and time in Africa inform her writing. Linda Wagner-Martin's interest in the use of language mirrors Angelou's own and highlights the unities in Angelou's wide-ranging career.” ―Kelly L. Reames, Associate Professor of English, Western Kentucky University, USA
“Kudos to Linda Wagner-Martin, one of our most esteemed literary critics, for her superb scholarship in Maya Angelou: Adventurous Spirit. This accessible and deeply engaging study launches a new era in the assessment of a very important author and world-changing woman.” ―Hilary Holladay, Author of Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Inside Flap
DISCOVER THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF MAYA ANGELOU WITH A HIGHLY PERSONAL AND DETAILED ACCOUNT OF HER CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS
The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou delivers an engaging and thorough retelling of the life and work of the celebrated and accomplished writer, director, and essayist. The book offers readers an engrossing retelling of Maya Angelou’s entire life, from her time as a child in the segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas, to her death in 2014 in Winston-Salem.
Written with an emphasis on accessibility, the author avoids critical theory and focuses on Maya Angelou’s growth as a person and writer as well as the ways in which her life influenced her work. This new biography tells the story of a young black woman who overcomes poverty and endemic structural and personal obstacles to lead an accomplished life.
Readers will also enjoy:A thorough retelling of the time Maya Angelou spent in Africa and how it shaped her views and work
An exploration of the screenplays written by Maya Angelou
Discussions of Maya Angelou’s early life as a dancer, singer, and writer
Accounts of Maya Angelou’s writing and production of television shows
A fulsome treatment of Maya Angelou’s work, including her poems, autobiographies, films, music, and theatre
Perfect for undergraduate students in Contemporary Literature courses as well as general readers who love Maya Angelou and her work, The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou will also earn a place in the libraries of biography and literature enthusiasts who seek to improve their understanding of the life and story of Maya Angelou with a highly personal and accessible new book.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
About the Author
Linda Wagner-Martin is Hanes Professor of English and Comparative Literature at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. She was the 2011 recipient of the Hubbell Medal for lifetime service in American literature (sponsored by the MLA), and has received the Guggenheim fellowship, the senior National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, the Bunting Institute fellowship, and awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Philosophical Association and others. She has published more than fifty-five books of criticism, some edited, including Sylvia Plath: A Biography (1987) and “Favored Strangers”: Gertrude Stein and Her Family (1995), as well as studies of Ernest Hemingway, Zelda Fitzgerald, Barbara Kingsolver, and others. Recent books are A History of American Literature from 1950 to the Present (2013) and Toni Morrison and the Maternal (2014). --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Back Cover
DISCOVER THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF MAYA ANGELOU WITH A HIGHLY PERSONAL AND DETAILED ACCOUNT OF HER CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS
The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou delivers an engaging and thorough retelling of the life and work of the celebrated and accomplished writer, director, and essayist. The book offers readers an engrossing retelling of Maya Angelou's entire life, from her time as a child in the segregated town of Stamps, Arkansas, to her death in 2014 in Winston-Salem.
Written with an emphasis on accessibility, the author avoids critical theory and focuses on Maya Angelou's growth as a person and writer as well as the ways in which her life influenced her work. This new biography tells the story of a young black woman who overcomes poverty and endemic structural and personal obstacles to lead an accomplished life.
Readers will also enjoy:A thorough retelling of the time Maya Angelou spent in Africa and how it shaped her views and work
An exploration of the screenplays written by Maya Angelou
Discussions of Maya Angelou's early life as a dancer, singer, and writer
Accounts of Maya Angelou's writing and production of television shows
A fulsome treatment of Maya Angelou's work, including her poems, autobiographies, films, music, and theatre
Perfect for undergraduate students in Contemporary Literature courses as well as general readers who love Maya Angelou and her work, The Life of the Author: Maya Angelou will also earn a place in the libraries of biography and literature enthusiasts who seek to improve their understanding of the life and story of Maya Angelou with a highly personal and accessible new book.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Read less
Product details
ASIN : B098ZF9FHM
Publisher : Wiley-Blackwell; 1st edition (July 7, 2021)
Publication date : July 7, 2021
Language : English
File size : 11384 KB
