(Borrowed from the Jackson Heights Library) In between longer books, I took out three short volumes by two favorite authors: Joan Didion and Maya Angelou. I have read all of Angelou's autobiographies and most of her poetry, but not her essays. (I met her once when I was in high school. She was promoting one of her books at a Philadelphia bookstore. I had written her a letter and enclosed a copy of an essay I had written about her which won a prize. She sent me back an autographed copy of a book of her poetry. She was delightful to me at the bookstore.) At less than 150 pages, this is an easy but powerful read, full of Angelou's personal experiences and observations derived from a rich and varied life. Her relationship to the South is particularly fascinating and the piece on a slavery folk museum in Baton Rogue, LA is poignant. I disagreed with her views on supporting the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas. She felt that having an African-American voice on the court outweighted his deplorable record on Civil Rights, that he could be persuaded to see the light. (She doesn't even mention the Anita Hill controversy.) Now decades later, we see the damage Thomas and his wife have done to the country. But her eloquent writing defending her position is wroth reading.
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