The Complete Poetry Hardcover – Illustrated, March 31, 2015

I rarely write book reviews because the vast majority of people do not actually read books and therefore, write uniformed opinions. However, this is a lovely hard bound copy of a complete anthology of Maya Angelou's poetry which is quite extraordinary, unique and beautiful. This hardcover book comes with a nice dust jacket and the quality of paper is excellent. I was delighted to receive this book of this famous woman's poetry. It makes a special addition to my library. I highly recommend this book for those who actually read and can appreciate sophisticated poetry.

This is an outstanding collection of poetry by one of America's foremost poets. Angelou's eloquence and lyrical ability is just breathtaking. Obviously most of the poems are written from the point of view of an African American woman. Many are sad such as "Tears" and "Song for the Old Ones." Some are defiant such as "Riot: 60's" and "Still I Rise." A few have humor such as "The Health-Food Diner" and "Harlem Hopscotch." "Times-Square-Shoeshine-Composition" defies categorization but was one of my very favorites. "Our Grandmothers", "Sons and Daughters", "Human Family," and "Man Bigot" are poignant and are my very favorites in this collection. All Americans should read Angelou's poetry. It's all just beautiful. Highly recommended.

This book is excellent. It opens doors to the African- American community. It gives faith and to their articles and writings of time. This book is a beautiful thing of age. I Really enjoyed the read. Highly suggested it to others. I'm glad Maya is still with us. Great book.

The Poem, "A Brave And Startling Truth" in Maya Angelou The Complete Poetry has 3 words changed. These changes affect the tone and tempo, and sense of the poem. They should never have been made.Last line of the 2nd stanza - "To lie them in Identical plots in foreign soil" was changed to " To lay them ...."Last line of the 4th stanza - "By nightmares of abuse," was changed to "By nightmares of sexual abuse"Second line of the 7th stanza - "We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe," omitted "and kithless globe' - The poem was read by Maya in 1995, she died in 2014, and this book was published in 2015 by Random House. Who had the right to change Maya's Poem? No One - Not Even Random House!

Original.

poetry one can relate to. so much poetry is tooo ethereal and makes little sense. maya writes from the head as well as the heart. recommended.

The jacket and corners took a bit of abuse in the shipping because only a thin plastic shipping envelope was used to ship in, but nothing too serious. A padded paper envelope would be better. Inside of book and pages in pretty good shape.

Strong, delicate, fierce, tentative, saddening, uplifting, compassionate, callous, confusing, clarifying, edifying, frightening, reassuring, criticizing, encouraging, inspiring. All these words are NOT strung together to show off a dictionary!These are the adjectives I truly have to use!!!