About book Singin' And Swingin' And Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1997)
Whew! I am done! I feel like it took me forever to finish reading this book, and folks, this is not a good sign.I do feel conflicted. I feel like I should give this a 2.5 because there were so many parts in this book that were dull and uninteresting and if I wouldn't have skimmed through those pages I would've never finished reading this book. But then this is the writing of world famous and much admired Maya Angelou, so I feel compelled to round the rating up to a 3.While Ms. Angelou's first two memoirs were very engrossing to me and consumed my attention from the first page to the last, this particular one I personally couldn't connect to. It could be, perhaps, that it was just me, so I am not necessarily berating this book, just admitting that it didn't work for me personally.In this memoir Maya begins her story by describing her experiences as a single young African American mother. Life is certainly difficult for her and she fortunately finds a good-paying and pleasant job working at a record store where she meets a handsome Greek man that asks her to marry him after a few months. It is a great shock to Maya's mother that her daughter accepts the marriage proposal and marries this white man. Domestic bliss doesn't last as long as Maya hopes for and soon the couple is divorced, leaving Clyde (Maya's precious son) devastated that he has lost the only father he has ever known.The next part in the book I found to be pretty enthralling; this is where Maya describes her experiences dancing in a San Fransisco strip club (where she is the first black dancer) hustling men for overpriced drinks and making the rest of the entertainers mad jealous. That job doesn't last long which is advantageous to Maya because she meets a group of singers that take a liking to her and soon she finds herself part of a singing traveling troupe called Porgy and Bess. The group travels to exotic places from France to Italy to Yugoslavia to Egypt and so on. Now, most of the book is about Ms. Angelou's experiences in dancing and singing and traveling the world, and while it sounds like this should be the most exciting part of the book, it just didn't work for me. I wasn't interested no matter how hard I tried. And that bothered me because Maya's singing adventures are the core of this book. I didn't find any of it interesting: all of the singer' names blended together and became indestinguishable and all of the countries sounded similiar to me.I think another reader might very much enjoy this book but like I have already mentioned, it just wasn't for me. Overall: 3 out of 5 stars.
I didn't fall in love with this one, although I appreciate her honesty and insights as always. In ways the previous books hadn't this brought home to me how very constant the author's awareness is of her colour. It's not just actions of racism, subtle or overt, it's the constant awareness and being on the lookout for it. I was torn between not being able to imagine having that sort of weight on my consciousness constantly, and of starting to feel like it was something I was not actually invited to understand. That perhaps it was a scar too deep to want empathy.While I don't doubt that that was how Ms Angelou experienced the world, I do doubt at least a little that it was how the world actually was. In the same way that a mafia boss sees the world made up of dangers and schmucks, I think Ms Angelou's world is made up of blacks and whites and rather extreme versions of both. And neither of those views mesh with my person experience of life, which is so much safer and further from the hard edges of the world. I don't see the world as everyone trying to hustle for something, so it's not. I don't notice anyone's race until they mention it to me, because I'm extremely unobservant. The school my son goes to has a background of 79% other than english spoken at home, so I'm dimly aware that there are other races around - it just has no impact on my life. People are just people.I found being in her worldview at times exhausting. And as always the sheer amount of life she manages to pack into her life - I'm exhausted for her!When I read the early Anita Blake books, I would get tired by the end of it realizing how many storylines she is packing into a day, and think 'don't you ever sleep??'. I feel that way about Ms Angelou's actual life. Touring France, she would dance in an opera, then perform for an hour at a nightclub, then drive across town and perform an hour in another nightclub. Any single one of these performances would wipe me out. Like Amanda Palmer, she seems to draw energy from crowds.So I feel inadequate again at how much some people manage to pack into their lives, but it really hammers home the truth that fame is so not for me.
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I first read this book in my early 20s, the same age as Maya is as she shares her life as a dancer, singer, actress, mother. I remember her words opening a world of possibilities for me--letting me dream larger than I had allowed myself before. Rereading it 30 years later I recognize her youthful voice. Of course, I was reminded me what an amazing, talented, brilliant, beautiful soul that was Maya Angelou. I also appreciate the wisdom and grace that comes with age--which she continues to share in her body of work as a poet and writer. Her voice still resonates with honesty and courage and reminds us to value ourselves. Once we truly value our own life we can begin to honor and value the lives of others. I'll always be grateful for the beauty she added to the world by her life, her work, and her faith. She was the ultimate teacher because she was a perpetual student. I appreciate the lessons she took time to share with us all.
—Patti
This one of her series of autobiographical books covers the period of her life in the early 1950s when she goes from being a struggling single mother in San Francisco, to a rather well-known and successful singer and dancer. She joins the troupe producing the Black opera Porgy & Bess as it leaves Canada for a tour of Europe and North Africa, and through her recollections we are able to enjoy the international response to this opera. Maya also reveals her struggle to overcome her deep distrust of white folk that comes from her upbringing in Arkansas. I first read this book in 1994 after being impressed by her poetry reading at President Clinton's first ingauration, and then buying all of her books I could find in local bookstores. I had the good fortune of seeing her in person several years later when she performed with the Seattle Men's Chorus.
—Ronald Wise
This volume is the third installment of her memoir. Ms. Angelou recounts the years after she left Stamps, Ark and moved to San Francisco in the 1950's. She takes us through her time as a dancer at the Purple Onion during Phyllis Diller's headline years. The Purple Onion puts her in contact with the cast of Porgy and Bess and she joins the traveling company and tours Europe. She is unflinchingly honest in her feelings and thoughts on race in the US and in Europe. She brings a poetic quality to her narrative descriptions. While not as engaging as "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings', Ms. Angelou take us back to another era and gives us an African American perspective on the post-War years.
—Ireland Fuller
