Customer Reviews

Mother

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have never written a review, I'm the person who always reads but never writes. I saw that this book didn't have 5 stars average so I had to review it. Becoming a mother is the most miraculous and blessed thing that has ever happened to me - most Mothers will agree. This book pulled at my heart as it captured that love between me and my Son so perfectly. I read this book and cry every time. I will buy this book for each of my friends as they have their first children. Never has a book been so meaningful to me.

Motherhood is colorblind, but it's especially apt that the 78-year-old Maya Angelou sings praises for The Beleaguered Black Mother. Not only is the content delicious, but the unpaginated 10-page slender vanilla volume is elegantly designed. Rather than plow through a tome of childhood psychology, the reader gains four minutes of insights on mothering from birth through emancipation as an adult. Cliches are rescued by gems such as "nougats of glee" and "from my high perch of teenage wisdom." This is sentimentality at its best. How could it be otherwise, Dear Mother!

The book description is 32 pages, but I counted only 10 pages (printed singe-sided) with one poem on each page so that makes ten poems. And this goes for $9.95 not including shipping and taxes. Hmmm....

I like much of Maya Angelou's works, but I could barely read through all the poems, and consquently the entire book (which took all of 5 minutes). The poems were not particularly good, elegant, or insightful.

Well, I'm just plain shocked that Random House and Maya decided that ten short poems constituted a book.

This book is truly beautiful. As a mother it warmed my heart to know that a strong women like Maya would write a book like this. "Perfect for Mother's Day"

If you have followed Dr. Maya Angelou in all the years that I have followed her work since younghood, you may not get what is happening here. Maya has claimed her rights of passage from youth to a seasoned mature adult who has stood the test of time, survived all obstacles and is still standing. A book any longer than 10 pages would not resemble the message of this great poet of our time. Perhaps, it is a silent protest we know nothing about and never will. Dr. Maya Angelou is 78 years old. If she writes another full book it will take all she can give. She is well to all who see her, but to friends and family, we see that gloss in her eye, the slowness of her stride these days, and will power to talk when in pain. We must treasure these moments and wish Dr. Maya the strength to keep going until she is one hundred. She was meant to span a century and is deserving of peace, plenty of rest and I hope everything her heart desires in life and even it is just to still be admired for her work as a poet. This is the MAYA we know and love. THIS WOMAN'S WORK! is meant to be written as her destiny has been planned. Can you imagine carpal tunnel syndrome, an aching leg from being one of the greatest dancers, all of those movies she's produced...people she's helped, speeches she's completed and places she's traveled, not to mention her struggle for the intellectual rise of Black people in this nation. She paved the way for so many and like Jesus who was admired and than cast and stoned, I am routing for Dr. Maya to not have to succumb to society's way of destroying the ambition of successful Black Americans. Dr. Maya Shall NOT be moved. Listen, be wise and learn from MOTHER. I see a message, but one has to stand very still and LISTEN!!!!!

Written by Maya Angelou as a personal and touching Mother's Day salute, this tiny volume of poetry will truly make every day Mother's Day for any woman who reads it, be she a mother or a daughter. In a mere ten pages of text, the author traces and illuminates the complex mother/daughter relationship from conception ("I was created in you...you were created for me") through clinging, fretful babyhood, the turbulent teen years and adult understanding.

My favorite lines:

You were always
The heart of happiness to me,
Bringing nougats of glee,
Sweets of open laughter.

Angelou's little book is a gift to delight.

by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I checked out this book from our public library because I was intrigued by the notion of a tiny "book" the entire content of which is one, short poem by one of our country's most famous writers. In addition to her autobiographical works, Maya Angelou has published five volumes of poetry, and has read her work ("On the Pulse of Morning") at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton. There is no foreword, preface, afterword, bibliography, or any explanatory notes to "Mother," just the brief poem itself. If you did not stop to ponder and meditate, you could read the poem in five minutes. But that would be a shame. Angelou's poem evokes the grace and power of our mothers, and our experience of them beginning as babies, then proceeding through childhood, teenage rebellion, and then adulthood. My mother died a year ago and Angelou's poetry renewed my gratitude and admiration for her.

I am a big Maya Angelou fan, but I would not recommend this book. It is short and unimpressive.

You have to love Maya Angelou. I've been reading a lot of poetry lately. This one here and "Art of Innocence" by L.R.Hatcher. Two great books that I recommend.

I happened upon this book while perusing a home decorating store in Laguna Beach, CA. I opened it up and read a couple of pages and it really touched me, as I had my first baby 6 months ago. Maya beautifully puts into exquisite words what I have been imagining my baby to be thinking. It was just very poignant for me. I am completely enjoying my experience of being a new mom and this poem really touched me. I got home and read the whole thing only to be a bit disappointed at how short it is. It seemed like it would be longer, with a hardback cover and several pages of "stuff" that was not Maya's writing. I counted 18 total sheets of paper, including 5 blank pages and a few more that were almost blank. Oh well, I felt a little disappointed that there wasn't more for the $10 that I paid, but it's a beautiful poem and worth reading several times. Compared to how much money we've spent on stuff for the baby, $10 for this new mother doesn't seem too much and it really is a beautiful poem that wonderfully encapsulates what it feels like to be a new mother and completely in love with your child. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because I think that it should be in the $6/$7 range for the length, but I still feel that for me, it was worth the price. It would make a wonderful gift for any mother.