Maya Angelou's volumes of autobiography are a testament to the talents & resilience of this extraordinary writer Loving the world she also knows its cruelty As a black woman she has known discrimination & extreme poverty but also hope joy achievement & celebration In the sequel to her best-selling I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou is a young mother in California unemployed embarking on brief affairs & transient jobs in shops & night-clubs turning to prostitution & the world of narcotics