Editorial Review

If you're looking for something in between Charles Dickens and James Thurber, try Walter Cronkite'sRead more

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Modern American History Through the Eyes of Walter Cronkite
To live the life of Walter Cronkite is to live a thousand years.For nearly half a decade Walter Cronkite served as the voice of reason to millions of Americans who looked to his print, radio, and television reports for information and reassurance.This autobiography covers the life of Walter Cronkite from his early life as a lowly radio announcer to his ultimate stand at the pinnacle of journalism.
"Revolutionary forces are already at work [outside the US] today, and they have man's dreams on their side."
In a fascinating and thought-provoking autobiography (1996), Walter Cronkite reflects on his career in journalism, from the earliest days in which he listened to radio on a crystal set, through his own participation in world events as a television journalist.Without the ego one usually associates with newscaster-celebrities, Cronkite gives the history of journalism--radio, newspapers, news syndicates, and television--by giving anecdotes from his own long career, always showing what he learned from his mistakes (which he is remarkably candid and often humorous in describing), and giving ample credit to the people who helped him.His thoughtful observations about the impact of television and its negative effects on voting participation, along with his predictions for the future of this country, offer a broader perspective and warning about our national vision.
very good but could be better organized
For me who watched Walter Cronkite almost every night from the 1960's to the 1980's when Dan Rather took over, this is most enlightening book. Behind the scene stories were given for a lot of news stories.Unlike Eric Sevaried, Cronkite never stated any of his personal feelings and comments on the air. Quite a lot of them were found in this book.
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Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Audiobooks    5. Biography    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Television Personalities    7. Journalists    8. Literary    9. United States    10. Biography & Autobiography / General   

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MCENTIRE EXAGGERATES A LOT!!
There are two sides to every story and Tom Carter, the ghostwriter and co-author of this "Norman Rockwellish" biography attempts to help McEntire glorify her position in the annals of country music.There is a lot that leaves to be desired in this book.The truth is greatly exaggerated and I just remember the one hot summer when Reba left her fans standing in the hot sun at fan fair and they began stomping and tearing her pictures to bits!!

THERE'S VERY LITTLE TO BELIEVE IN THIS BOOK!
I lost all respect for McEntire when she abandoned her country roots to record what she says "sells".Bah!Then this book came out and she attempts to glorify herself even further!!Her descriptions of what she went through the night she lost her band in a plane crash are sensationalized.No doubt she suffered horrors, anyone would have.But then less than a week later she went on the Academy Awards show to promote herself singing "I'm Checking Out" a song that was nominated from the movie "Postcards From the Edge".I remember that night and while I'm convinced she was grieving over her loss, she was still out to get her name before the public, something she loves to do!!It was in very, very bad taste for her to do this.Then all the malarky about her relationship with her ex-husband and her current husband??Come on, how stupid does she think we are???I'll never forget that fan fair year when she left her fans high and dry in the hot, humidity and they tore her pictures to a pulp and stomped on them.With good cause.Yet she goes on to say in this book that she couldn't sign autographs because she couldn't put herself or her precious entourage through the rigors!Well hello!!Then, she has the audacity to say that to quote her "I also think more of my fans than that.I know they were tired".Hah!!If she knew they were tired she would have had someone inform them that she would not be signing autographs before the lines started forming!!I agree with the previous reviewer who says she's a phony.Her own sister had a falling out with her and she even trashes her in the book!Message:Don't mess with this redhead and don't ever get on her bad side.The woman is nuts!!

ANYTHING BY TOM CARTER IS SENSATIONALIZED!!
Reba McEntire is an egotist!!Everything she has done has always been about her and how she can get her name publicized. Tom Carter sensationalizes all of McEntire's idealisms and quirks.In a word, McEntire is a phony through and through.I found very little in this autobiography that edified or inspired.As a matter of fact, there were a few things in there that McEntire should admit the truth on....particularly the fact that she was messing around with Narvel Blackstock long before she ever divorced Charlie Battles. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Biography    5. Composers & Musicians - Country & Folk    6. Country musicians    7. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    8. United States    9. Biography & Autobiography / General   

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An excellent read from the Daughter of Nat King Cole
What can I say. This book is one of those that you can't put down. Very frank and honest account from the daughter of one of the greatest singing legends. Natalie, (I call her by her Christian name because having read this book, I feel I know her well, which I find important when reading someones autobiography) has had some difficult times and gone from riches to rags, and back to riches, with some life altering experiences along the way. The 'Unforgettable with love' album is also amazing. I'm off to buy 'Ask a woman who knows' concert. READ THIS BOOK!

An Amazing Inspiration
Natalie shares with astounding truth, humbleness, and shows us all how much she has been through, and how she - with the Divine help in her life - has triumphed from the darkest days. This book is an astounding beacon of hope for anyone who has been through both the highs and lows of life, and wants to genuinely rise from within. This Book Is an Amazing Inspiration and So Is Natalie!
Natalie shares with astounding truth, humbleness, and shows us all how much she has been through, and how she - with the Divine help in her life - has triumphed from the darkest days. This book is an astounding beacon of hope for anyone who has been through both the highs and lows of life, and wants to genuinely rise from within. Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Audiobooks    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Composers & Musicians - Pop    8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    9. People of Color    10. Singers    11. United States    12. Women    13. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts   

Editorial Review

For most writers, the greatest challenge of spiritual writing is to keep it grounded in concrete language. The temptation is to wander off into the clouds of ethereal epiphanies, only to lose readers with woo-woo thinking and sacred-laced clichés. Thankfully, Anne Lamott (Read more

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Come as you are
Anne Lamott's Some Thoughts on Faith is delicious nonfiction. It's at once irreverent, reverent, poetic, rusty, sad and joyous. Anne starts by sharing her experiences with religion in childhood and then how she finally found a home in religion. But she is never preachy. She's at once religious yet more real than any religious person you've ever met, sharing her ups and downs in life, her struggles with various issues like alcoholism, bulimia, drug abuse, and, less seriously, her jiggly thighs and buttocks that she refers to lovingly as her "aunties." Her descriptions were like poetry in so many places as she describes the people she's met in her travels. Take this, for example:
An Honest Faith.
Let's be completely honest for a moment.Life is hard.Sometimes it can be incredibly hard.Bad things happen to good people and this happens quite often.We live in a fallen and sinful world.Contrary to the "Gospel of Prosperity" (aka greed) that seems popular in many places (and promoted by preachers such as Joel Osteen), you can sacrifice everything and still have nothing to show for it in this world.In fact, as followers of Jesus we have been promised "trials and tribulations".Yet, as followers of Jesus we have hope, joy, love, and peace.We have everything that the world (and what we ourselves) seek.It's not easy to not give into the despair and disillusions around us.We can get caught up in existing instead of living just as easily as anyone else.But, we can truly live and live a life abundant.It is a struggle, but it can be done.
We kill tree's to make books like this?
I wish I could have given this turkey zero stars. I tried very hard to connect with this train wreck of a book but I just couldn't. If this junk makes for good book fodder then I stand a pretty decent chance of becoming an author someday. I desperately tried to search for some kind of redeeming value in this book but I guess I just didn't get it. I'm not sure why this is a best selling "Christian" book either. It was this best seller status that led me to give it a read. Don't do what I did. Give this one a pass. She kept swearing and cursing, taking Gods name in vain, kept referring to God as a female, she stated that she prefers women pastors to men pastors, perhaps worst of all, had an abortion (almost got a second abortion) and prefers to have no father figure in her sons life. (It's pretty safe to say she doesn't like men, except for when she's getting knocked up of course...). So much for traditional American/Christian values. I don't see how this is considered a good "faith" story. It's a good thing I just checked this out from the library, I would have felt more than just alittle slighted had I bought it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Literary    5. Religious    6. Women    7. Biography & Autobiography / Religious   

Editorial Review

Hip radio comedy fans and theater folks who belong to the cult of Obie-winning playwright/performer David Sedaris must kill to get this book. These would be fans of the scaldingly snide Sedaris's hilariously described personal misadventures like Read more

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Chuckle out loud humor!
"Naked" is a bizzare, yet humorous, glimpse into the life and times of David Sedaris, made even more bizzare when the fact sinks in that it's a memoir. Through his essays, Sedaris treats us to an insider's look at his warped childhood, and subsequent warped adulthood, touching upon subjects such as his golf-obsessed father, the relationship between his old-world-stalwart grandmother and his end-of-her-rope mother, and hichhiking days accompanied by a parapalegic. The essays are superbly written, perfect for reading out loud, enthralling, and endowed with a usually-hitting, self-depracating humor. Some jokes are hit or miss, but it averages out to a definitely amusing read. For anyone with a strange family, or a skewed view of the world, there's something in "Naked" to relate to.

Not too shabby
Sedaris' Naked is a quick, enjoyable read. The honesty and incisiveness he uses to portray his family members is excellent, although the accompanying cruelness from such honesty can be off-putting. Some of his essays, such as c.o.g., about his experiences as an apple-picker and then an Oregon-shaped clock maker's assistant who declares Sedaris to be a 'child of god' are both hilarious and incisive. However, other essays, while humorous, are largely forgettable. Looking back through the book I found essays that I barely remembered even though I had read them only days before. Sure, they were funny at the time, but a lot of them lack impact. However, when Sedaris is on, he is on, and some of his stories, such as his description of his grandmother, Ya-Ya, his attempt at being a childhood detective to clear his name, and his visit to a nudist colony, are both funny and memorable. It's these kind of essays that make the book really worth reading.

David Sedaris, laughter cover to cover
Brilliantly hilarious, carefully crafted, beautifully expressive! Thumbs up for David Sedaris' Naked.
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Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Literature/Classics    2. Audio - Literature / Classics    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Form - Essays    6. General    7. Literary    8. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

Amy Tan begins Read more

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Easy-to-digest wisdom
Amy Tan's wisdom has always intrigued and enchanted me.I've absorbed it through her stories.Here it is undiluted, as she tells about her life, her parents, and her journeys, both outer and inner.

Uneven both in quality and in tone, although some essays are great reading
This book is basically a collection of essays, and to me anyway, it felt quite thrown together.The last essay might have explained this, as it revealed that Tan is suffering from Lyme Disease.I got the feeling that she wanted very much to put out a book, but just wasn't quite up to it, and so collected these essays, which did not quite add up.
As good as any fiction novel...
I absolutely adore Amy Tan's work, and have for over ten years now.However, it's taken me a long time to get to this book, simply because I couldn't help but think, "Amy's fiction novels are great, but how interesting can HER life really be?"Well, I'm only half-way through this book, and I'm wishing I hadn't waited so long to read it!Tan is hilarious, and this memoir is as good as any of her fiction novels.I love how she is not afraid to be herself.(She may not always want to be herself, but she doesn't let that stop her from doing anything that she wants to do.)She's not afraid to "live", with a "kiss-this-if-you-don't-like-it" attitude.She is brave to point out all of her imperfections for the whole world to see, and I commend her for that.There is so much to say about this book, and so much to learn about (and from) Amy Tan, but one thing's certain:Amy Tan's writing is enchanting. I very much recommend this book to everyone. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    3. Audio - Nonfiction    4. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Chinese Americans    8. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    9. Essays    10. Family relationships    11. General    12. Literary    13. Novelists, American    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

Somewhere in the middle of this blunt autobiography, Merle Haggard talks about the "art called country music" and describes it astutely as "emotion set to rhythm." "A song was an excuse," he writes, "to sing some of the sentimental things." Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that when Haggard attempts the unsung word he's oddly terse, dry, and emotionless--despite his roaring successes and multiple misfortunes. Haggard is nothing if not frank, although his candid storytelling often becomes sensationalistic. For example, his five-year coke orgy during the late '70s and early '80s warrants the opening chapter of an otherwise chronological tale. The death of his father when Haggard was 9 is clearly the defining moment of his life, yet we have to get past his wet T-shirt phase before we hear about it. Read more

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Good... but still waiting for a definitive bio
If you're a fan, of course you have to read this. It's great fun. But you'll be highly aware throughout that there's a crying need for a really thorough and thoughtful Haggard biography, and that maybe Hag is not the greatest analyist of his own life, at least in book form.
Still love the music
This is possibly the worst book Ive ever read. The book is done in seventh grade grammer about a not too bright person. It has very little to say about anything other than His rambling thru life from one scrape to another due to inmaturity and bad judgement. Merle mentions He was taken advantage of by Managers, friends, record producers, etc; Well......... I think He was taken for another ride by the author of this book! But.... still love the music !

Entertaining and revealing story
I enjoyed reading this book about a singer whose music I've always loved.Tom Carter did a good job with the chatty style, and I liked Merle's humor and honesty and humility.I highly recommend the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    2. Audiobooks    3. Biography    4. Composers & Musicians - Country & Folk    5. Country musicians    6. Haggard, Merle    7. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    8. United States    9. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

There is a passage early in Augusten Burroughs's harrowing and highly entertaining memoir, Read more

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Mental Illness Is Not Funny
I picked this book up after I had read that the author had been declared by some media outlet as one of the "fifteen funniest people in America."
Yes...some of it really is funny...
...But!! Not enough to grab me by the collar!I agree with others here who said they liked some of the aspects of this "memoir", save for the disturbing sex scenes. I do believe it's hard to take in when a 13 year old is having a very adult relationship with a 32 year old. I found nothing tasteful about this. Nor did I see much humor in this. However, to be fair, there are very funny moments here. Love the scenes with the shrink's family. But by page 125 or so--the writing gets a bit sloppy and the story begins to lose its muster.
This book is an act of self gratification
I bought this on a whim because a few people had told me it was "hysterical" and it was a best-seller, so I figured it must be pretty good.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Amherst (Mass.)    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Audiobooks    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Childhood Memoir    8. Literary    9. Novelists, American    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Social life and customs    12. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography   

Editorial Review

In the world of contemporary travel writing, Bill Bryson, the bestselling author of Read more

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Not one of his better works
This collection of short essays he published in an English paper (and meant for an English audience) seem to miss the mark for American readers.It's as if he published this because he needed money.There was nothing original in this book, nothing really funny and what few authentically funny parts there were seemd trite and at times exaggerated.
A minor work of collected news columns
Not particularly interesting or funny. None of the ridiculous turns of language of a Dave Barry column, no elder-statesman crabbiness like Andy Rooney's. Just routine bitching about airlines, office supplies, and so on. Save it for "A Walk in the Woods" or "A Short History of Nearly Everything"

Good, but Bryson can be preachy
Bryson has been one of my favorite authors for years now - the first thing of his that I read was a magazine article comparing American weather extremes with those in his beloved England.This collection of his writings on things American has me confused.Most of it, as his wife points out, is griping about this and that.Bryson has a tendency to talk down anything that doesn't fit into his view of how life ought to be and a maddening myopia when it comes to understanding why things are the way they are in this modern world.Balancing that though is his self-deprecating humor and his beautiful writing skills.There is a piece on global warming in this book that all ought to read.So, basically, even though he is preachy, and a bit gripy, he is laugh-out-loud funny and writes so very well that I will keep reading him. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1971-    2. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    3. Anecdotes    4. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    5. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    6. Audiobooks    7. Description and travel    8. Essays & Travelogues    9. General    10. Humor    11. Literary    12. Social life and customs    13. Travelers    14. United States    15. Travel / Essays & Travelogues   

Reviews (26)

The Man!
If I could trade places with anyone in history in would be Frank Sinatra.
If You Don't Want to Hear Any More About Sinatra...
...don't read the dang book!
Stop Complaining
There are obviously a lot of people out there who love hating Frank Sinatra.Kitty Kelly writes a filthy book thousands of Sinatra-haters swoon over,and Bill Zehme writes a fabulous book for the FANS that everyone complains about.Maybe Zehme's stories aren't all true.At least HE puts in the "alledgedly."
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Editorial Review

In his earlier books, TV news anchor Tom Brokaw has leaned heavily on the experiences of others to remember and define what he calls "the Greatest Generation"--those who came of age during World War II and its aftermath. In Read more

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Excellent book
This is an excellent and heartwarming book about growing up in South Dakota. Brokaw, easily the most intelligent, fair and personable of the network news anchors, goes into what made him what he is today -- growing up in America's heartland, the struggles of his father and mother, his life growing up, and his temporary descent into idiothood -- before pulling back and marrying his college sweetheart.
A Long Way fromHome: Growing Up in the American Heartland in
A very interesting book that brings back a lot of memories for me, growing up in North Dakota during the same time period.I guess we were pretty much raised the same in this area.I am just now realizing that we were all pretty much in the same boat (we didn't have much, but we didn't realize it).

The young life of Tom Brokaw.
I can relate to this book.My parents lived through the Depression and raised their children in the prosperous sixties and seventies.They live in northern Wisconsin where most of the population was white.The similarites with Brokaw's South Dakota is basically the same.As a product of the Midwest, Brokaw is more similar to me than Rather (Texas) or Jennings (Canada).Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. General    6. Literary    7. National characteristics, American    8. Television journalists    9. Television news anchors    10. United States    11. Biography & Autobiography / General   

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He often says very little but he says it so well.
I'm afraid this review will be very lonely. Apparently no one is listening to the audio cassette version & writing about it. William Buckely is a gifted writer & his work translates well to the spoken word especially with him as the narrator. He tells of his childhood at some length which was privledged. He didn't think so at the time. His father thought that schooling abroad would be helpful & so to his horror he was dragged away from his idyllic life to boarding school in England for a time. Apparently he hated it. What he does like sailing.I love the open sea too so I enjoyed those stories. It is obviously his first love & he returns to it again & again. He has had a remarkable career as ajournalist, commentator & editor of National Review since busting out with his first book a runaway best seller, God & Man at Yale. This was published I believe right out of school, in the early 50's. He has the resources to pursue whatever he wants & he has done a lot be it horseback riding, skiing or riding the Trans Siberian Railroad across the length of Russia. But always he returns to sailing. He has raced extensively, talks at length about the mechanics of sailing & life at sea. He seems to have met everybody & is friends with most of them. He has even gone sailing with a lot of them.He is the man when it come to modern conservatism in America, but there is little evidence of that in this work. He has the knack of seeming to be humble even as he is blowing his own horn. I enjoy the stories as I drive along. Time well spent. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Personal Memoirs    5. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography   

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Excellent
As i was traveling with my boyfriend to Florida to visit with my family i acciedntly bought this book. i meant to buy something else by Nicholas Sparks but it just so happens that is was Three weeks with my brother. I dont not have any brothers and up until this point i didnt think that the realastionships between brothers and sisters could be so close. I loved how this book tied in the relationship that the two brothers had as well as the relationship with the whole family. I myself have not done too much traveling around the world and loved the insight that the book gave me. I actually have looked into a trip to see some of the locations that the two brothers went to.
Very Emotional
It took me a while to get into the autobiography of Nicholas Sparks, but if you can get past the beginning, it is a very emotional story.I listened to it while I was driving and I was tearing up a few times, which isn't too good while driving, LOL.I think this would actually make a good movie.

Three Weeks With My Brother (CD edition)
This is one of the most wonderful, inspirational, and moving books that I have read. At first, I didn't realize that the authors were Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook and Message In A Bottle, among other best selling books, and his brother. I hope this doesn't give anything away except that I am kinda dumb when it comes to remembering authors and titles. The book is really an autobiography covering Nick and his entire family. He covers their many trials and tribulations and still manages to see the good that came out of what for me and others, I suppose, would be absolutely devastating and horrible things to happen. The descriptions of his family members, especially his wife, are outstanding and again food for thought and inspiration. We see how ordinary people can be extraordinary when you know them better.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Authors, American    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Brothers    7. Essays & Travelogues    8. Literary    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    11. United States    12. Voyages and travels    13. Biography & Autobiography / General   

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Great book but go to a performance first.
This is an excellent read, especially for Pride and country-western music fans.Charley gives real insight on who he is, his background, handling racism, and how he made it big. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Biography    5. Composers & Musicians - Country & Folk    6. Country musicians    7. United States    8. Biography: film, television & music    9. Country & western   

Reviews (10)

Dolly And Friends...
Dolly had a hard life growing up in the wilds of East Tennessee; she started out poor and indeed did have a 'coat of many colors' as her children's book explained.She wore hand-me-downs in the backwoods of Sevier County where my paternal grandfather's people lived.She's funny.Coming from the country, it took some doing and lots of help to get where she is today.She has re-invented her personality through the years from the young lovesick girl who write 'I Will Always Love You' to Porter Wagoner.After all, she was a young country bumpkin from the Knoxville area, and we inexperienced girls fall hard for the first person we can admire.He gave her the first 'big' break, singing on his show in Nashville.
*****A Country Superstar!*****
Put simply, I LOVE this book! I've just finished reading it for the second time and it's even better than it was the first time.
A Real Life Country Song
Five minutes of fame has now become enough to justify penning one's self-serving autobiography. Fortunately, Dolly Parton's 30+year career is suitable for book-length, and she avoids the standard celebrity tell-all fare in favor of interesting vignettes.Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Biography    5. Composers & Musicians - Country & Folk    6. Country musicians    7. United States   

Editorial Review

In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life, including a tragic occurrence while visiting her mother in St. Louis and her formative years spent in California--where an unwanted pregnancy changed her life forever. Marvelously told, with Angelou's "gift for language and observation," this "remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant." ... Read more

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Intersectionality as described by Maya Angelou
In her autobiographical novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou recounts her life story as a young, keenly intelligent but insecure black girl in the South during the 1930s and California during the 1940s. The book conveys the difficulties associated with the mixture of racial and gender discrimination endured by a southern black girl, though, and this is perhaps the most fundamental theme explored in her autobiography. The intersectionality of race and gender is a pivotal thread of Angelou's theme, where more than one type of subjugation results in a multiple burden for the victim. Overall, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a powerful, stirring account of the intersectionality of race and gender regarding black women. Though segregation had been officially declared null and void, many of the Southern states were steeped in racist tendencies that further multiplied the gender inequality that exposed black women to a multi-faceted oppression. Peiss, Hine, Terborg-Penn, Bederman, et. al. all examine threads of this intersectionality, and in discussing these threads, one can draw a distinct comparison between anti-black, anti-black women sentiment and Angelou's personal experiences. As a girl, Angelou believed her gender to be a limiting factor. She considered herself to be unheroic, and incapable of achieving spectacular feats like the boys in her comic books. In the narrative, being female for Angelou is just as trying as being black, and she struggled with the double burden, rather than embracing it. However, as more and more black women slowly overcame their troubles as a result of the overwhelming intersectionality of the time, so did Angelou. The novel ended with hope because she bucks the stereotype to become the first black female streetcar conductor. Angelou's spike in confidence and belief in her ability reflects the gradual evolution of black women's race and gender after decades of imprisonment, and foreshadows a future of activism, struggle for respect and eventual