A woman I work with encouraged me to read "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" because I thought Maya just wrote poetry. How wrong was I?? I couldn't believe what I was reading! Maya is trully a great writer. She writes naked - the stories are so raw and true and emotional that you can only have the utmost respect for someone who can include you in their life so deeply. The things that she experiences seems like things that should've happened to several different people in several different lifetimes - not one woman! And I "Gather Together in My Name" is only the second book of her life! I can't wait to read more!