Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas - by Maya Angelou (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this third self-contained volume of her autobiography, which began with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou moves into the adult world. Maya struggles to support herself and her son through a series of odd jobs and weathers a failed marriage to a white man before landing a gig singing in one of the most popular nightclubs on the San Francisco coast. From there, she is called to New York to join the cast of Porgy and Bess. Maya soon finds herself on a joyous and dramatic adventure, touring abroad through Italy, France, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Egypt with spirited cast members, and performing for large, enthusiastic audiences. The exciting experience is dampened only by Maya's nagging guilt that she has abandoned the person she loves most in life, her son, whose reentrance into her world reveals to Maya the healing power of devotion and love.

Charged with Maya Angelou's remarkable sense of life and love, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas is a unique celebration of the human condition-and an enthralling saga that has touched, inspired, and empowered readers worldwide.

Review Quotes

"The buoyant, gifted Maya Angelou continues her autobiography. . . . Both her joy and her despair have twice as much impact as most people's."
-New York

"Angelou may be one of the best hunters of the heart, one of the best to explore the insides of folks, black or white, and find what moves them, what makes them real and tangible to themselves and others."
-The Christian Science Monitor

"Angelou is a sharp observer and commentator on culture. . . . [Her book is] filled with penetrating observations about the people she encounters."
-Chicago Tribune Book World

"Honest, funny and heartwarming . . . The strength of the book is Angelou's lyrical writing . . . a God-given gift."
-The Washington Star

"Angelou is one of the geniuses of the Afro-American serial autobiography."
-The New York Times

About the Author

Maya Angelou was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, she wrote numerous volumes of poetry, among them Phenomenal Woman, And Still I Rise, On the Pulse of Morning, and Mother. Maya Angelou died in 2014.