"Mom & Me & Mom" Maya Angelou

I was surprised to find that I had gotten this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.  I have tried to get books by well-known authors through LTER, but I haven't snagged any before.  But this time I got lucky.

I have read very little of Angelou.  I started "I know why the caged bird sings," but have not gotten very far.  I remember thinking the language of the book was beautiful and the story important, and so I'm not sure what has kept me from it.

"Mom & Me & Mom" is about the relationship between Angelou and her mother, Vivian Baxter, whom she called Lady, and then so did every one else.  Angelou had been sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with her grandmother when she was very young, and she didn't return to live with her mother in California until she was 13.  She didn't really know her mother when she was sent to Arkansas and wasn't ready to accept her when she returned to her mother.  But Angelou grew to love her mother, and they had a close relationship until her mother's death.

I was surprised at how simple the language of this book was.  I recall thinking that the writing in "Caged Bird" was lyrical, but this simple English did not have a poetic feel to it.  The read was easy and short, just taking a couple of hours to finish.  Not having known anything about Maya Angelou except that she was a writer and poet, the story of her life was new to me.  Of note is that Angelou was a great reader as a child and did well in school, but that did not keep her from getting pregnant during her senior year and giving birth to her son soon after graduation.  That she would go on to be a successful writer, singer and actor and eventually a college teacher made me feel better about choices I have made in my life and that success can follow even poor choices if you accept the choices and move on.

The first half of the book is called Me & Mom and is about Angelou learning to know what kind of person her mother was and growing to love her.  The second half, Mom & Me, is about their relationship after Angelou is an adult.  She comes to depend on her mother for support and advice, and later takes care of her near the end of her life.  Vivian Baxter was a woman who knew what she wanted and got it, wouldn't compromise her morals, and seemed to live life to the fullest.  While what she did might not have always been within the law, it was always done for the purpose of helping others.

The part of the book that was autobiographical seemed complete and easy to follow.  She doesn't explain everything that happens, but we get the gist of how it was to raise her son, her marriage, some of her relationships with men, work, career and going to Wake Forest.  The story of her mother, though, had many gaps.  For instance, at one time Angelou says that her mother was going to join the merchant marines, but we don't know if that happened or not.  She refers to some organizations her mother was a member of, such as Stockton Black Women of Humanity, but I would have liked to hear more about those.

I was excited to get this book, but frankly I'm glad it was a quick read, because I was expecting something more - possibly something more academic.  I wonder if the audience of the book is supposed to be young adults, but from the content I doubt it.  I need to put "Caged Bird" on the summer reading list and complete it this year.  Some of this book was a spoiler for it, but I am hoping that the style of writing is more to my taste than "Mom & Me & Mom."