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The Heart of a Woman

By Maya Angelou

By Maya Angelou

By Maya Angelou

By Maya Angelou

By Maya Angelou

By Maya Angelou

By Maya Angelou
Read by Maya Angelou

By Maya Angelou
Read by Maya Angelou

Best Seller
Paperback $18.00

Apr 21, 2009 | ISBN 9780812980325

Hardcover $24.00

May 17, 1997 | ISBN 9780375500725

Ebook $10.99

Apr 21, 2009 | ISBN 9781588369246

Audiobook Download $11.48

Nov 29, 2005 | 182 Minutes

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    The Heart of a Woman by Maya Angelou
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      May 17, 1997 | ISBN 9780375500725

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    About The Heart of a Woman

    In The Heart of a Woman, Maya Angelou leaves California with her son, Guy, to move to New York. There she enters the society and world of black artists and writers, reads her work at the Harlem Writers Guild, and begins to take part in the struggle of black Americans for their rightful place in the world. In the meantime, her personal life takes an unexpected turn. She leaves the bail bondsman she was intending to marry after falling in love with a South African freedom fighter, travels with him to London and Cairo, where she discovers new opportunities.

    The Heart of a Woman is filled with unforgettable vignettes of such renowned people as Billie Holiday and Malcom X, but perhaps most importantly chronicles the joys and the burdens of a black mother in America and how the son she has cherished so intensely and worked for so devotedly finally grows to be a man.

    About The Heart of a Woman

    In The Heart of a Woman Maya Angelou leaves California with her son, Guy, to go to New York. There she enters the society and world of black artists and writers. Not since her childhood has she lived in an almost black environment, and she is surprised at the obsession her new friends have with the white world around them. She stays for a while with John and Grace Killens and begins to read her writing at the Harlem Writers Guild. She continues to sing, most notably at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, but more and more she begins to take part in the struggle of black Americans for their rightful place in the world. She helps organize a benefit cabaret for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and then is appointed Martin Luther Kings Northern Coordinator.

    Shortly after that, through her friend Abbey Lincoln, she takes one of the lead parts in Genet’s The Blacks (it was a remarkable cast, including Godfrey Cambridge, Roscoe Lee Brown, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Raymond St. Jacques, and Lou Gossett), and even writes music for the production.

    In the meantime her personal life has taken a tempestuous turn. She has left the New York bail bondsman she was intending to marry and has fallen in love with a South African freedom fighter named Vusumzi Make, who sweeps her off her feet and eventually takes her to London and then to Cairo, where, as her marriage begins to break up, she becomes the first female editor of the English-language magazine.

    The Heart of a Woman is filled with unforgettable vignettes of famous people, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm X, but perhaps most important is the story of Maya Angelou’s relationship with her son. Because this book chronicles, finally, the joys and the burdens of a black mother in America and how the son she had cherished so intensely and worked for so devotedly finally grows to be a man.

    About The Heart of a Woman

    Maya Angelou has fascinated, moved, and inspired  countless readers with the first three volumes of  her autobiography, one of the most remarkable  personal narratives of our age. Now, in her fourth  volume, The Heart of a Woman, her  turbulent life breaks wide open with joy as the  singer-dancer enters the razzle-dazzle of fabulous  New York City. There, at the Harlem Writers Guild,  her love for writing blazes anew.

    Her  compassion and commitment lead her to respond to the  fiery times by becoming the northern coordinator  of Martin Luther King’s history-making quest. A  tempestuous, earthy woman, she promises her heart to  one man only to have it stolen, virtually on her  weding day, by a passionate African freedom  fighter.

    Filled with unforgettable vignettes of  famous characters, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm  X, The Heart of a Woman sings  with Maya Angelou’s eloquent prose — her fondest  dreams, deepest disappointments, and her dramatically  tender relationship with her rebellious teenage  son. Vulnerable, humorous, tough, Maya speaks with  an intimate awareness of the heart within all of  us.

    About The Heart of a Woman

    Maya Angelou has fascinated, moved, and inspired  countless readers with the first three volumes of  her autobiography, one of the most remarkable  personal narratives of our age. Now, in her fourth  volume, The Heart of a Woman, her  turbulent life breaks wide open with joy as the  singer-dancer enters the razzle-dazzle of fabulous  New York City. There, at the Harlem Writers Guild,  her love for writing blazes anew.

    Her  compassion and commitment lead her to respond to the  fiery times by becoming the northern coordinator  of Martin Luther King’s history-making quest. A  tempestuous, earthy woman, she promises her heart to  one man only to have it stolen, virtually on her  weding day, by a passionate African freedom  fighter.

    Filled with unforgettable vignettes of  famous characters, from Billie Holiday to Malcolm  X, The Heart of a Woman sings  with Maya Angelou’s eloquent prose — her fondest  dreams, deepest disappointments, and her dramatically  tender relationship with her rebellious teenage  son. Vulnerable, humorous, tough, Maya speaks with  an intimate awareness of the heart within all of  us.

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    Also by Maya Angelou

    The Complete Poetry
    Rainbow in the Cloud
    His Day Is Done
    Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie
    Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well
    See all books by Maya Angelou

    Also by Maya Angelou

    The Complete Poetry
    Rainbow in the Cloud
    His Day Is Done
    Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie
    Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well
    See all books by Maya Angelou

    Also by Maya Angelou

    The Complete Poetry
    Rainbow in the Cloud
    His Day Is Done
    Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie
    Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well
    See all books by Maya Angelou

    About Maya Angelou

    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… More about Maya Angelou

    About Maya Angelou

    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… More about Maya Angelou

    About Maya Angelou

    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… More about Maya Angelou

    About Maya Angelou

    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… More about Maya Angelou

    Product Details

    Category: Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs

    Paperback | $18.00
    Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks
    Apr 21, 2009 | 352 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780812980325

    Category: Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs

    Hardcover | $24.00
    Published by Random House
    May 17, 1997 | 288 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9780375500725

    Category: Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs

    Ebook | $10.99
    Published by Random House
    Apr 21, 2009 | 352 Pages | ISBN 9781588369246

    Category: Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $11.48
    Published by Random House Audio
    Nov 29, 2005 | 182 Minutes | ISBN 9780739334690
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    Praise

    “Remarkable . . . a great lady moving right on through a great memoir.”
    –Kirkus Reviews

    “Maya Angelou has . . . achieved a kind of literary breakthrough which few writers of any time, place, or race achieve. . . . What makes [her] writing unique is . . . a melding of unconcerned honesty, consummate craft, and perfect descriptive pitch, yielding a rare compound of great emotional force and authenticity.”
    –The Washington Post Book World

    “To say that Angelou is a living legend is in no way an exaggeration. [She is] one of the great voices of contemporary literature.”
    –The Voice

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

    “A uniquely gifted wordsmith and storyteller.”
    –The San Diego Union-Tribune

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