For a world of devoted readers, a much-awaited new volume of absorbing stories and inspirational wisdom from one of our best-loved writers. Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou's path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, poetry, and pure delight. Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the tumultuous life that led Angelou to an exalted place in American letters and taught her lessons in compassion and fortitude: how she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas, taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew to be an awkward, six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son. Whether she is recalling such lost friends as Coretta Scott King and Ossie Davis, extolling honesty, decrying vulgarity, explaining why becoming a Christian is a "lifelong endeavor," or simply singing the praises of a meal of red rice-Maya Angelou writes from the heart to millions of women she considers her extended family. Like the rest of her remarkable work, Letter to My Daughter entertains and teaches; it is a book to cherish, savor, re-read, and share. "I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native Americans and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you." -from Letter to My Daughter
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
A Letter to My Daughters:
Best yet ever by Maya Angelou!
This book is for the daughters who have experienced weakness for a man that you know is not good for the soul; for the daughters who find that love for a child is undescribable in that you love them passionately like nothing else in the world no matter what they do; for the daughters that have experienced emotional and physical abuse at the hands of someone that says they "love you" (GET OUT after you have a plan in place); for the daughters that have found her true... more info
life lessons in an easy to read format:
I enjoyed this book for several reasons. It is a series of short life lessons based on real experiences so you can pick it up and read a few pages at a time. I don't think most of us would look at Maya Angelou today and think she had made poor decisions as a young adult so it is a great reminder that we are all human and that the events in our past shape who we become. I went back and bought a couple more copies to give as Christmas gifts, including one for my own daughter.
Completely disappointing!:
I read the reviews here as well as NPR radio and bought the book. It is completely disappointing. I did not find anything inspiring in stories such as the types of 'I drank cockroach with coffee so you better be blessed when you drink a normal one'. Do not buy it - you wont learn anything from it.
Angelou wisdom:
Maya Angelou has written with warmth and wisdom in "Letter to my Daughter" Her works are always a welcome addition in our home.
