Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

More than wit, Angelou writes with warm good humor about events of the years it took her to get where she is. One doesn't have to adopt for oneself all Angelou's life conclusions to appreciate how she came to them. While all human beings are equal, some are more equal than others, as Orwell would say, and Maya Angelou's talent is definitely in the class of more equal. Major complaint: There just wasn't enough of it.

I understand that Maya Angelou is a word smith. I understand that she writes good poetry, witty prose, and insightful observations.

I understand all this. But I don’t like what she produces.

In Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, Maya Angelou writes several essays. Some are reflections from her youth, others experiences from recent memory, and others observations of the world as a whole.

While I have absolutely no experience being a single, black mother trying to make ends meet in an era before civil rights were considered rights, and as such, cannot possibly understand the toil and hardship one goes through in that pursuit, I feel that some of the observations she makes are either ill conceived or totally wrong.

In one essay, she show more wonders why modern comedians resort to “gross” humor, and why television depicts families as dysfunctional in order to get a laugh. While I have no proof that she’s referencing The Simpsons, which features a family as she’s described, I can’t help but note, with a sense of irony in my thoughts, that she herself was a celebrity guest voice on that show. The essay, disregarding what show or shows in particular she meant, seems narrow-minded or just ill conceived. The shows that show us a dysfunctional family are funny because everybody has a dysfunctional family. If we don’t laugh about it, what are we to do?

Another essay that bugged me was one in which she was talking to a well-off white guy who accidentally let slip words indicating that there were black American soldiers, and “our boys”--the white ones. Angelou accused him of subconscious racism, and then wanted to talk about it in a nonthreatening manner. While I agree that people tend to have issues that may seem “racist,” I’m no surprised that her attempts to talk to this man about it were met by embarrassment, shame, and eventually never speaking to her again. If somebody accused me of being racist, or otherwise prejudiced, based on a slip of the tongue, and then wanted to talk about it, I’d feel terrible myself, as I’m not a racist, nor am I prejudiced against anybody for circumstances that are beyond their control, and to call me otherwise would be off putting, and make me feel that future interactions with that person would require me to tread lightly, so as to not have them think I’m racists, etc.

While Angelou has done much more living than I have, in Wouldn’t Take Nothing, she comes off as one of those annoying people who believes that everything they believe is right, and to disagree is to be wrong. This may not be what she actually believes, and it’s beyond my authority to make such a claim. However, this book left a bad feeling in my literary mouth, turning me off of any future sessions with Angelou. show less

Review of the abridged audio book: In the abridged audio version, this 1993 work consists of a single 90 minute cassette. I enjoyed driving while listening to the warm and melodious voice of Ms. Angelou. She is a woman of great humanity who has lived long and richly, and who has accumulated the perspective and wisdom of someone who has experienced decades of enormous social change. I found her grandmotherly advice to be heartwarming... sometimes quaint and dated, but sprinkled with gems worth remembering. Indeed, I shall seek a written unabridged copy

This book of essays is small, but powerful. Topics range from women to racism, from spirituality to relationships.

I got more out of this little book than I've taken away from many a tome. I know it is cliché to say that Dr. Angelou is wise, but it is true. This book is filled with warmth and wisdom, and there is not a single superfluous word in it.

This is a very short book (139 pages) of very short musings (2 or 3 pages). In addition, there are lots of blank pages and white space as well as title pages for each essay. The result is that it can be read very quickly and that none of the themes are very developed.

Neverthless, it's a good introduction to some of Maya's philosophy on such topics as whining, racism and lessons her mother and grandmother taught her.

"Many things continue to amaze me, even well into the sixth decade of my life. I'm startled or taken aback when people walk up to me and tell me they are Christians. My first response is the question 'Already?' It seems to me a lifelong endeavor to try to live the life of a Christian. I believe that is also true for the show more Buddhist, for the Muslim, for the Jainist, for the Jew and for the Taoist who try to live their beliefs."

3.5 stars mostly due to the extreme brevity of this book. show less

Many short stories which touch on life. We read this for book club and it was amazing how long we discussed some of these short works. It seemed that everyone had a lot to say about one of the stories or another. Quite thought provoking.

A series of very short rules to live by. The few that are more observations are enlightening but most are so often routed that they're almost cliches. Doesn't mean they're not true but merely too obvious to be inspiring.