Editorial Review:
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The culmination of a unique achievement
in modern American literature: the six volumes of autobiography that began more than
thirty years ago with the appearance of
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
A Song Flung Up to Heaven opens as Maya Angelou returns from Africa to the United States to work with Malcolm X. But first she has to journey to California to be reunited with her mother and brother. No sooner does she arrive there than she learns that Malcolm X has been assassinated.
Devastated, she tries to put her life back together, working on the stage in local theaters and even conducting a door-to-door survey in Watts. Then Watts explodes in violence, a riot she describes firsthand.
Subsequently, on a trip to New York, she meets Martin Luther King, Jr., who asks her to become his coordinator in the North, and she visits black churches all over America to help support King’s Poor People’s March.
But once again tragedy strikes. King is assassinated, and this time Angelou completely withdraws from the world, unable to deal with this horrible event. Finally, James Baldwin forces her out of isolation and insists that she accompany him to a dinner party—where the idea for writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is born. In fact, A Song Flung Up to Heaven ends as Maya Angelou begins to write the first sentences of Caged Bird.
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Reader Reviews for A Song Flung Up to Heaven:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: A song flung uo to Heaven
Comment: This book is funny, sad, educational, loving but above all inspiring. This book made me reflect about many aspects of my life, has made me appreciate all the little things in life. You can feel love through every single chapter. She is a wonderful writer, a wonderful women and inspiring in every single way. Teaches you that there is more to life, you just need to learn to pick up the pieces and get ready for a new day to come.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Book arrived in great condition
Comment: The seller sent this book in great condition. I read through it about 1 year after I bought it. I recommend the seller but not the book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful as always
Comment: To write from the heart and build a lasting connection with a reader is Maya's gift. The story is written concisely, but with depth. A must read for any Angelou fan or those seeking a personal glimpse at a tumultuous period in American history.
Customer Rating:
Summary: From a Sister
Comment: This is one of my favorite books of the last 200 years for the simple reason that my sister, Nancy, was walking down a street in New York and she heard a commotion from within a Manhattan bookstore, and when she poked her head in, who to her wondering eyes did appear but regal, imperious, humorous poet Maya Angelou reading from what was then (2004) her very latest autobiography. With trepidation, Nancy entered the store and managed to strike up a brief conversation with the author, and when she told Dr. Angelou that her brother, Kevin, was a poet in the Bay Area, the good Doctor grabbed a sharpie and scrawled my name on the title page, with a special message just for me--"Joy." Later I found out that this was not the most joyful time (personally speaking) for Dr. Angelou and that private trials and tribulations were wracking her soul and conscience--but she had the show business stance of, "give your audience what they deserve"and so she was able to impart her words of joy (or one word) to me once the book was wrapped and sitting underneath my Christmas tree. I shook it and held it to my ear, never guessing it was a book, never guessing that every word might have been written directly to be whispered into my ear.
I enjoyed finding out what Malcolm X and Dr., King were like, not as political figures per se, but as friends. We all know their history and the huge place they filled in the civil rights struggle here in America, but in this book, volume 6 of her autobiography, we find out how they (and also Nichelle Nichols from the original STAR TREK) fit into the colorful and florid pattern of Dr. Angelou;s voyage. We are present when she is trying to keep body and soul together by scraping out radio jingles and topical songs based on Philip Roth's PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT. (By the way, when is that fugitive track going to appear on the long-awaited boxed set collection of Dr. Angelou's songwriting genius? We were promised this by Rhino over seven years ago!) She brings us to the intimate home life of the beautiful Abbey Lincoln and also Rosa Guy, both of them welcoming spirits who made a place in their homes for the wandering soul of rolling stone Maya Angelou. Is there any place that has not been blessed with a visit from the author?
At bottom the book is sad, because, despite everything, she was in Ghana for much of the period exploring her African roots and the humid tendrils of her sexuality, and therefore she missed seeing firsthand what went down in the Audubon ballroom, a story she has often told. You don't really get a good sense of her relationships with people here, other than Guy a little bit. I think she was too mournful and driven to write this book with the same care as her previous books, but subsequent work both in Hallmark cards and other forms of writing, have seen a triumphant return. I wish her one word-- "Joy." Thanks, Nancy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Engaging and Well Writ
Comment: This is one of the six autobiographical works by Maya Angelou.
Here, Maya Angelou returns to the U.S. after living in Ghana working with Malcolm X.
When she gets back to her home, she finds out Malcolm X has been assassinated. This saddens and upsets her but confuses her too, since a black man has killed him. Eventually, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asks Maya to go around to black churches to try to gain support for the Poor People's March. But he too gets assassinated.
This work is full of depth and words that will help you delve into yourself and your feelings.
If you like this book, you may like to read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings which follows this.
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