I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
6/2/20261 hr 36 min
Maya Angelou's debut autobiography was an instant hit when it was published in 1969, and it has never gone out of print in the nearly 60 years since it was released. This week, Jeff and Rebecca explore what made I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings so groundbreaking, how Angelou subverted expectations at every turn, and why it continues to be widely celebrated and influential today. Subscribe to our free newsletter, and become a member for access to early, ad-free listening and bonus content. Follow Zero to Well-Read on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Email us: zerotowellread@bookriot.com Thank you to ThriftBooks for being the presenting sponsor of this season of Zero to Well-Read! Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks to our sponsor, Quince! Go to Quince.com/wellread for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJeff O'Neill· Host0:00
Today on Zero to Well Read, we're talking about I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and this episode is sponsored by thriftbooks.com, and you can find all kinds of editions of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings there. I wanna shout out a couple here. The one you're gonna see most often, and this is a great pick, they've continued to use the 1971 paperback cover, which is almost like this Matisse-like cutout o- of a bird against a sunset. That's very cool. There's some other paperbacks you can find from the '70s I like just as well. There's a July 1978 Bantam one that has these kinda pinkish-red ribbons. It's very '70s and cool. There's a 1983 one that's kinda the same, but inverted on the other side, and it's in green. There are all kinds of ed- editions you can check out. There is a special edition from the Folio Society from 2001, not in stock right now, but if you save it to your list on thriftbooks.com, they'll send you a notification when it becomes available. Thanks to thriftbooks.com for sponsoring this season of Zero to Well Read.
Rebecca Schinsky· Host1:02
Hey, folks. Rebecca here. I have some exciting news to share. Since we launched the show, the number one listener request has been for some kind of book club or community reading experience. We've been thinking about it and talking about what that might look like and how it could be uniquely Zero to Well Read. You might have even heard us working through some of the elements of it on a recent mailbag episode. And so today, we are delighted to announce the launch of Zero to Well Read Guided Read-Alongs. We're starting