Easton Press "The Maya Angelou Collection" Signed Limited Edition, 6 Volume Matching Collector's Set [Sealed]

VERY FINE (Sealed). The five volumes are brand new, mint, and flawless. Sharp corners without any bumped corners. Unread books with square and tight spines. Volume 6 is sealed and Very Fine- with one slightly bumped corner. A historic six-volume leather-bound set of Maya Angelou's autobiographical works, including a Signed Limited Edition of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Maya Angelou is the acclaimed novelist and poet. Includes the original collector's notes by the publisher. Over the past four decades, Maya Angelou has established herself as one of the greatest poets and authors of our time with twelve New York Times Best Seller, a Pulitzer Prize nomination, and numerous other awards to her credit. Now you can own Maya Angelou's critically lauded memoirs in one magnificent leather-bound collection. All of the award-winning memoirs are included in this collection: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Signed Collector's Edition), personally signed by Maya Angelou. [Very Fine/Sealed] All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes [Very Fine/Sealed] The Heart of a Woman [Very Fine/Sealed] A Song Flung Up to Heaven [Very Fine/Sealed] Gather Together in My Name [Very Fine/Sealed] Singin' & Swingin' & Gettin' Merry Like Christmas [Sealed/VERY FINE- with a slight bumped corner] I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiography describing the early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by black American women in the years following the Civil Rights Movement: a celebration of black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Angelou uses her autobiography to explore subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy. She also writes in new ways about women's lives in a male-dominated society. Maya, the younger version of Angelou and the book's central character, has been called "a symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America". Angelou's description of being raped as an eight-year-old child overwhelms the book, although it is presented briefly in the text. Another metaphor, that of a bird struggling to escape its cage, is a central image throughout the work, which consists of "a sequence of lessons about resisting racist oppression". Angelou's treatment of racism provides a thematic unity to the book. Literacy and the power of words help young Maya cope with her bewildering world; books become her refuge as she works through her trauma. Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two years. It has been used in educational settings from high schools to universities, and the book has been celebrated for creating new literary avenues for the American memoir. However, the book's graphic depiction of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries.…