Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #114902
Cost: $500.00

Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well

Maya Angelou

"THANK YOU FOR A MARVELOUS SUMMER AFTERNOON. JOY!": INSCRIBED BY MAYA ANGELOU TO SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE CRITIC JUDY STONE

ANGELOU, Maya. Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well. New York: Random House, (1975). Octavo, original half red cloth, original dust jacket. $500.

First edition of Angelou's second poetry collection, inscribed to a critic and journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle: "Judy Stone, Thank you for a marvelous summer afternoon. Joy! Maya Angelou. Aug 10 '76."

"This is Maya Angelou's second volume of poems and her poetry is just as much a part of her autobiography as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name. She writes deceptively simple songs of experience that are disarming because there isn't any conventional persona between her and you when she says 'Come. And Be My Baby.' She's a funky kind of mother with a lowdown wisdom of the heart, which may be why you open to her sentiment. Mostly these are poems about and for people, especially children. Like 'John J.,' whose momma didn't want him, or 'Little Girl Speakings' which makes something special of the contention that 'Ain't nobody better's my Daddy.' There's one about 'The Telephone' that never rings when you need it; and a number of rhymed and repetitive lyrics that might almost be incantations to comfort the lonely. It's all so damned artless, there's just no accounting for how strong she is, except to say Maya's got the gift" (Kirkus). This copy is inscribed to Judy Stone, the sister of investigative journalist I.F. Stone and a longtime journalist and film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle for many years.

A very nearly fine copy.

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