Maya Angelou has been called a national institution and the people's poet. It has been suggested that she has manifested an indomitable spirit and benign will in her most famous book, I Know Why the Caged Sings. Along with this autobiographical work, Angelou's The Heart of a Woman is critiqued in this text, which includes Rachel Thomas' essay on the prose and poetry of the author. An extensive biography of Angelou follows Professor Harold Bloom's introduction.
This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School; preeminent literary critic of our time. The lives of the greatest writers of the world are explored in the new series Bloom’s BioCritiques. In addition to a lengthy biography, each book includes an extensive critical analysis of the writer’s work, as well as critical views by important literary critics throughout history. These volumes are the perfect introduction to critical study of the important authors currently read and discussed in high schools, colleges, and graduate schools.
