I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I understand the importance of the first African-American president as a educator of history. However, I do not fully understand it from the perspective of an African-American. I did not grow up in an era of outright segregation and I did not grow up with stories from my elders of living in fear or regret or shame because of the color of my skin. However, Reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou gave me some sense of how far this country has come in regards to equality of races because, amongst many things, this book has a large current that shows the reader how it felt to be an African American and truly struggle with racism in the 1930s and 1940s.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiographic fiction of Maya Angelou's early to middle childhood. It is considered an autobiography because it is based off the author's life, but it is also considered fiction because Maya Angelou writes in such a poetic and lyrical manner. The book has many themes to it: identity, love, coming of age, family, religion, and racism. At the time of its publication, which was in 1969, it was considered a major breakthrough for African-American writers and female writers. People explained it as one of the first African-American feminist books. Intelligently, the author easily conveys a message to the reader by the 3rd page. Angelou writes, "If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. it is an unnecessary insult." Angelou's writing is beautiful and utterly honest.

Angelou speaks about so many tormenting ideas. She's never comfortable in her own body or even in her own home as a youth. Part of this is due to living in a broken home. Angelou and her brother, Bailey Jr., live with their grandmother in the South, mother in the Midwest and West, and father in the West all during their childhood. It appears as if she has no solid root. However, the two constants in her life are her brother's love and her love for books. Angelou is said to have fallen in love with Shakespeare as a child. She refers to the many different books she read during her childhood in her autobiography.

The major struggle that Angelou has to come to terms with is her race. Angelou observes how her grandmother is treated while living in the South. And, without further explanation, Angelou understands as a very young child the clear distinction between white and black people. Here's an excerpt of how she felt one day after a white man gave a speech that insinuated the limitations she would have as an adult black female:
"It was awful to be Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense. We should all be dead. I thought I should like to see us all dead, one on top of the other. A pyramid of flesh with the whitefolks on the bottom, as the broad based, then the Indians with their silly tomahawks and teepees and wigwams and treaties, the Negroes with their mops and recipes and cottonsacks and spirtuals sticking out of their mouths."

The autobiography does not go beyond Angelou at age 16. I would like to know how her life unravels into the woman she is- accomplished, famous, and a professor. She has won numerous awards, written many books and poems, and she even spoke at Pres. Clinton's inauguration. I like to think that her one saving grace was love of reading.

*Side Note: One of my favorite poems ever is by Maya Angelou called Phenomenal Woman. I recommend it to all women out there. Print it out and keep it in your closet for those days when you just need to believe in yourself.

Inauguration of President Obama

I had the opportunity to watch Pres. Obama's inauguration speech yesterday while teaching at school. In the Opinion section of the New York Times today, several speech writers, former writers for presidents from Nixon to Clinton, provided their own thoughts on the quality of the inaugural speech. The article is called The Speech: The Experts' Critique.

I guess everyone was looking for Pres. Obama's speech to be THE SPEECH that would coin a new phrase and be embedded into American history. There are so many comparisons of Obama's speech to Kennedy's speech or even FDR's. Is Obama's speech as memorable? For the most part, these experts agree that Obama's speech is solid and good. However, they do not believe that it is a speech to be remembered in history.

Honestly, I don't need a speech to be remembered. I just need a new president who has a world-view and liberal openness. I believe we have found the president to lead us into a new chapter. One part of Obama's speech impresses me far more than others. Here's an excerpt:
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

We may not take a specific sentence from Obama and write it into every US History textbook. Regardless, I'd rather have a component president who's actions speak more than words.

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

After reading Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress, I have been on the prowl for another story about female coming of age and discovery of identity. I finally decided to give The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing a try after being on my reading list for over a year. The book, consisting of many short stories and vignettes, is written by Melissa Bank. The reader follows the protaganonist, Jane, through the ups and downs of love.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed by this book. I would have stopped reading it, but the book moves very fast and is a quick read. At the most, I recommend this as a beach read. The author's writing is not anything special. I felt there wasn't enough character development of Jane. We are introduced to her as a very young teen in the first chapter, but even the author's attempt of writing Jane from a teen point-of-view was not believable. Then, the second chapter immediately jumps to Jane in her 20s and the reader is left feeling like many years of life development is lost. What happened to the character in one of the most pivotal stages of life- college?

Apparently, there is a movie out there based on this book. It is called Suburban Girl and features Sarah Michelle Gellar. It seems like a lot of books turn into movies. This is great for screen play writers, which is a profession I've thought about quite a bit (would it be as fun as it sounds?). However, how do certain books turn into movies and others don't? Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress was a far superior book, but it never became a New York Times Bestseller and is not turning into a movie. What is the special formula that makes one book a success over another?

Side Note: Speaking of books turning into movies, I finished reading Stephanie Meyer's second book in the Twilight series. This one is called New Moon. Without giving too much away, it follows the author's same recipe of built up cliff hangers with action written near the end of the book. There is a twist in this story and it is a little darker. It follows a similar theme to many series: the middle book has to be dark in order to build up a story. Take Empire Strikes Back for example- it was the middle story in the Stars Wars Trilogy and it was very sad and dark to allow Return of the Jedi to have even more of an impact. However, I look forward to a better story for the third and fourth book.

Once Twilight is finished, I will be sad. However, my friend Laney just gave me the first three books of the True Blood series. It now seems like I cannot get enough of vampires!

Bushisms

As President-Elect Obama prepares for his transition, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on the Bush presidency. News has been abuzz about how Bush will be remembered in history. I will remember 9/11, War in Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. However, there are also some more light-hearted things I will remember. For example, I'll remember Cheney shooting his friend accidentally while hunting. I will also miss the Bush gnome that my friend, Lanaya, gave me. It's pretty much a garden gnome with Bush's face smirking at you and the gnomes two fingers are crossed behind his back as if keeping a secret.

Another thing I will miss is the Bushisms. A "Bushism" is a phrase to describe all the made up words and incorrect sentences that Bush has said over the years. Some of these sentences are so convoluted that you really have no idea what was going on in that man's head. Here are some of my favorites:

-"They misunderestimated me."
-"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect the war on terror to Iraq."
-"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
-"That's George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three- three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?"

These are just a few that I found to be funny. For a more comprehensive list, check out this article from BBC News: The 'misunderestimated' president?

In 7 days, we will have a new, very intelligent president who is eloquent. Will this be the end of -isms? Perhaps, but I can also remember Bush and his misunderestimatings.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being- A 2nd Time Around

I was introduced to this book by my good friend Jackie when I was 22 years old. I bought it at Myopic Books on Milwaukee as a used book. There are very few books that I decide to keep for the long haul. My criteria for keeping books are 1) a friend will be interested in borrowing it and 2) I'll eventually read it again. Well, seven years later, I returned to The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.
Within my circle of friends, there is a similar connection we have to this book- it was a favorite during the college years. I think the reason for this trend is that the book is both unconventional and philosophical. At an age in which we were being enlightened through school and also trying to establish our identity, perhaps this book was the perfect manner to reflect on life. There are many themes to this novel- love and lust, marriage, independence, trust, life in Eastern Europe during Soviet domination- but the main theme that prevails is the idea of light and heavy.

Kundera plays with idea of life choices and the pull of these decisions making us feel light or heavy. All of this is demonstrated through the characters he creates. Kundera toys with the idea that decisions which make us feel light are positive and decisions that make us heavy are negative. However, the author pulls in Nietzsche's idea of eternal return- that life is a burden in and of itself because of an ending cycle of eternity. As a result, lightness may actually be heavy and unbearable. Through Kundera's characters, we see their cyclical nature of light and heavy as they try to navigate through their life whether it be facing death, losing love, or questioning the worth of one's life.

The manner in which the author is able to fully discuss this heavy topic of light and heavy is shown through the story written in 3rd person. But, Kundera does not stop there to truly make the reader understand his ideas. In addition, the author rather unconventionally switches to 1st person through out the story. The author pulls away from the story to reflect on it. In one section, the author writes about the protagonist, Tomas, and his decision not to sign an anti-communist petition. In the middle of the chapter, the author writes in 1st person. Here's the excerpt:

"This is the image from which [Tomas] was born. As I have pointed out before, characters are not born like people, of woman; they are born of a situation, a sentence, a metaphor containing in a nutshell a basic human possibility that the author thinks no one else has discovered or said something essential about."

Although some might find this jarring, I find it to be refreshing. I appreciate different forms of writing. In Kundera's case, he is able to switch from 3rd person to 1st person effortlessly. Perhaps, this is the reason for the success of this book in particular in the early 1980s and the reason why I decided to keep this book on my shelf all these years.

Forget the Publisher- Publish Your Book Yourself

Have you ever dreamed about writing a book and getting it published? Before, writers had to get agents to help them convince publishers to take on their books. Publishers would then read the books and take a long time deciding whether or not to support the projects. The entire process was daunting and often times led to dead ends. Now, it's never been easier to publish your own book. Welcome to the world of self-publishing on-line.

I never knew these mediums even existed until one of my artistic freshmen showed me his very own book. Zachary Kloes, a fourteen-year old artist and apparently self-published writer, published his own book through Lulu.com- an on-line system that allows people to publish books, music, magazines...almost anything. Lulu.com allows people to self-publish and also makes it easy for the consumer to purchase items. In Zach's case, he is selling his book titled The Autobiography of a Werewolf. Zach wrote, published, and even drew the front cover of his paperback book now on sale for $10.90.
Here's a description of the book written by the author:
"In a world where one fourth of the population holds a dark secret, four friends make a discovery, one that will change their lives forever, one of them is not fully human, he is a werewolf. And while they deal with their own problems, a sinister creature from the darkest corner of the woods threatens their lives and the lives of those around them with its strange and alluring ways."

This is a great opportunity for anyone aspiring to get a book out there. Of course, the main advantage of having a big name publisher is the publicity. Authors who sell their books with one of the larger publishing companies can sell thousands if not millions. These self-publishers tend to only sell to their family or friends- perhaps up to 100. Nevertheless, 100 copies sold at about $10 per book and the majority of the money earned goes directly to the self-publishing author adds up to a profit that isn't half bad. There have been some other success stories; sisters created their own cookbook for dinner parties and sold over 500. I discovered an article that gives a lot of good advice about the best way to market oneself through self-publishing (Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know).

After reading an interview with Stephanie Meyer, I was struck by how simple it seemed to be a writer. Stephanie Meyer explained that she never wrote a book or considered herself an author until after Twilight became successful. In fact, she mostly wrote the book for herself. You don't need an MA in English in order to get something out there. It is liberating to think that anyone's creativity can catch on- even the creativity of a teenage student. Of course, it never hurts to write a niche book.