Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
Author: Maya Angelou
ISBN-13: 9781860491405
ISBN-10: 1860491405
Publication Date: 3/16/1995
Pages: 160
Edition: New Ed
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

3.5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

17 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

sherrie824 avatar reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 57 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
An excellent book on a lifetime of learning. Filled with wit, wisdom and many truths. It inspires you to be a better person and to make the best of what ever situation you may find yourself facing. It is a quick read but very deep in meaning. I found myself flipping back to a couple of chapters just to soak up the message again. I honestly hope that when I am Ms. Angelou's age I can look at my life experiences with such grace!
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on
Helpful Score: 1
If you have never read anything from this author, now is your chance. Anything that she writes about is uplifting and inspiring. When she speaks and writes, she takes the time to put herself and her feelings into it. Another enjoyable read from sister Maya.
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 79 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
As always Maya Angelou is an amazing writer, poet and woman. A great book.
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Ms. Angelou is incredible, insightful, and so full of wisdom
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 60 more book reviews
In a series of short essays Maya Angelou "...writes about family, argues for spirit and grace, insists on the importance of laughter and style and reflects on brutality and crime...as lessons to living they are a unique interpretation"

This is the essence of Maya Angelou...if you want to sample her basic beliefs, this is a great book to read. IMHO it would also make a wonderful gift for any young person, they can hardly go wrong following her lessons.

"We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike"
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 28 more book reviews
Maya Angelou is a beautiful spirit. Her writing is pure poetry.
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 36 more book reviews
This wonderful Lady speaks for herself. As anyone touched by her knows. it is always a pleasure to read her work!
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 9 more book reviews
New York Times Bestseller, Must have for all Maya Angelou fans! "Passionate, lively, and lyrical, Maya Angelou's unforgettable work offers a gem of truth on every page."
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 8 more book reviews
This book contains short essays from Maya Angelou about her life and the lives of women. Very easy to pick up and read in one sitting!
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 211 more book reviews
As always, Ms. Angelou says it and says it superbly.
tish avatar reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 384 more book reviews
this book is just plain wonderful.i have read it over and over. the chapters are short and they say so much.OH NO...now ihave to go find it and read it again...LOL
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 5 more book reviews
Enjoyed this book, Maya Angelou has a unique way of writing her ideas on life, love and everyday situations.
BarbJean4 avatar reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 20 more book reviews
I was in a packed gym of college fans who were eager to hear from Ms.Angelou re: this bk. She began her greeting, challenging us with the words a child had said to her. We were all horrified, that anyone would call her "ugly" was inconceivable. We all looked around the room to try and figure out where the brat was. Ms.A. finished her presentation with kindness in her demeanor and taught us so much about ourselves that it was amazing. I am glad this book is a best-seller. Makes me wish she were my Auntie!
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 192 more book reviews
From back of book:

Maya Angelou, one of the best-loved authors of our time, shares the wisdom of a remarkable life in this bestselling spiritual classic. This is Maya Angelou talking from the heart, down to earh and real, but also inspiring. This is a book to be treasured, a book about being in all ways a woman, about living well, about the power of the word, and about the power of spiritualiy to move and shape your life. Passionate, lively, and lyrical. Maya Angelou's latest unforgettabe work offers a gem of truth on every page.
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 552 more book reviews
Annotation
Author, screenwriter and poet Maya Angelou distills the wisdom of a lifetime into this inspiring collection of down-to-earth essays about matters timely and timeless. The author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings celebrates the inimitable strength of her womanhood and the power of the word to surpass all boundaries of society and humanity.

From the Publisher
Wisdom from a remarkable woman of many talentsa writer who captured America's heart on Inauguration Day.

From The Critics
Publishers Weekly
Angelou ( I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ) is leery of people who give up too easily, whiners, complainers, men seeking an ``earth mother'' and vulgar entertainers. In this collection of short essays, many only two to three pages in length, she discusses the value of charity and her faith in God. She rages with eloquence at the deaths of loved ones, and shares her thoughts on discovering an authentic personal style, the insidious effects of racism, and pregnancy as an experience to be shared by a woman and her mate. Angelou includes reminiscences of her childhood in Stamps, Ark., on being a single mother and on dancing in a professional duo with Alvin Ailey. These quietly inspirational pieces convey her sense of life as an ongoing adventure. (Oct.)

Library Journal
In this small gem of a book, Angelou, the popular poet and novelist ( All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes , LJ 3/15/86, among others), shares her thoughts about humankind: how to respect others of different cultures, opinions, and values as taught by universal philosophies. Annie Johnson in ``New Directions'' and Aunt Tee in ``Living Well, Living Good'' are just some of the characters Angelou uses throughout to illustrate with precision and color the respect and perseverance she values. The narratives are carefully constructed with exhilarating assurance as the reader makes the transformative journey from what she is to what she must finally be. Angelou's prose is brisk, fluid, and entrancing. This work will provide a taste of wisdom to all who read it. Highly recommended.-- Gayle S. Leach-Bethea, Maryland House of Corrections, Jessup

School Library Journal
YA-Morality, manners, friendships, and love are a sampling of the subjects covered by renowned playwright and poet. Students will contemplate the art of the essay as well as the wisdom of the woman in these pithy, candid pieces that are taken from her own experiences. Funny, sad, or poignant, they all make a plea for tolerance and understanding. Angelou's command of the English language is exceeded only by her love of humanity.-Jackie Gropman, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA

BookList
Since her momentous and moving reading of the presidential inaugural poem, Angelou has received much well-deserved attention. These brief essays--sermonettes, rather--form a spiritual autobiography of a spirited African American. One of the most gripping shows her, as a single professional woman, haranguing a group of black professional men in a bar, challenging them to accept her as the complex and driven being that she is, only later realizing that she was unwilling to extend the same understanding to the men in her life. There is a quiet but demanding honesty about these pieces that warms, and sometimes sears, the heart.
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 27 more book reviews
This is a small hardback book with intact jacket . Very good words!
reviewed Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now on + 715 more book reviews
Angelou shares wisdom of a remarkable life in this spiritual classic.