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''Mom & Me & Mom'' (2013) is the seventh and final book in author Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies. The book was published shortly before Mother's Day and Angelou's 85th birthday. It focuses, for the first time in her books, on Angelou's relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter. The book explains Baxter's behavior, especially Baxter's abandonment of Angelou and Angelou's older brother when they were young children, and fills in "what are possibly the final blanks in Angelou's eventful life".〔 The book also chronicles Angelou's reunion and reconciliation with Baxter. Angelou was well-respected as a poet and writer, and was one of the first African-American female writers to openly discuss her life through autobiography. ''Mom & Me & Mom'' is an overview of Angelou's life and revisits many of the same anecdotes she relates in her previous books. The first section, entitled "Mom & Me", centers on Angelou's early years, before the age of 17, and her transition from resentment and distrust of her mother to acceptance, support, and love towards her. After Baxter helps her through the birth of her son, Angelou goes from calling Baxter "Lady" to "Mom". In the book's second section, entitled "Me & Mom", Angelou chronicles the unconditional love, support, and assistance they gave to each other, as Baxter helps her through single motherhood, a failed marriage, and career ups and downs. As she had begun to do in ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'', and continued throughout her series, Angelou upheld the long traditions of African-American autobiography. At the same time she made a deliberate attempt to challenge the usual structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. She had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. Angelou was, as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated, "without a doubt, ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer".〔 She had also become "a major autobiographical voice of the time".〔 Like Angelou's previous autobiographies,'' Mom & Me & Mom'' received mostly positive reviews. Most reviewers state that Baxter is presented well in the book. Angelou celebrates the unconditional acceptance and support of her mother, who comes across "as a street-smart, caring woman who shaped the author's life and legacy by her words and example".〔 The book has been called "a profoundly moving tale of separation and reunion, and an ultimately optimistic portrait of the maternal bond".〔 Pictures of Angelou, Baxter, and members of their family appear through the book and enhance the text. An audio version, read by Angelou, was released in CD form and as a digital download. ==Background== ''Mom & Me & Mom'' (2013) is the seventh of Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies. It was completed 11 years after the publication of her previous autobiography, ''A Song Flung Up to Heaven'' (2002), and over thirty years after she wrote her first autobiography, ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' (1969). ''Mom & Me & Mom'', in which Angelou relates her relationship with her mother Vivian Baxter, was published shortly before Mother's Day〔Driscoll, Molly (13 May 2013). ("Maya Angelou: 'Mom & Me & Mom' explores a powerful mother-daughter dynamic". ) ''The Christian Science Monitor''. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 and Angelou's 85th birthday. In the time period between the publication of her sixth and seventh autobiographies, Angelou was the first African-American woman and living poet selected by Sterling Publishing, who placed 25 of her poems in a volume of their ''Poetry for Young People'' series in 2004.〔("Maya Angelou Still Rises". ) ''CBS News.'' 11 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 In 2009, Angelou wrote "We Had Him", a poem about Michael Jackson, which was read by Queen Latifah at his funeral,〔Harris, Dana (7 July 2009. ("Michael Jackson's mega-farewell". ) ''Variety''. Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 and wrote "His Day is Done", a poem honoring Nelson Mandela after his death in 2013.〔Eby, Margaret (12 December 2013). ("Maya Angelou pens poem for Nelson Mandela: 'His Day is Done'" ), ''New York Daily News.'' Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 She published a book of essays, ''Letter to My Daughter'', in 2009, and two cookbooks, ''Hallelujah! The Welcome Table'' in 2004 and ''Great Food, All Day Long'' in 2010. During this period, she was awarded the Lincoln Medal in 2008〔Metzler, Natasha T. (1 June 2008). ("Stars perform for president at Ford's Theatre gala" ), ''Fox News.'' Associated Press. Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.〔Norton, Jerry (15 February 2011). ("Obama awards freedom medals to Bush, Merkel, Buffett" ), ''Reuters.'' Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 Angelou had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women〔("Maya Angelou" ), Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 and was, as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated, "without a doubt, ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer".〔Braxton, Joanne M. (1999). "Symbolic Geography and Psychic Landscapes: A Conversation with Maya Angelou". In Joanne M. Braxton,''Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A Casebook.'' New York: Oxford Press, p. 4. ISBN 0-19-511606-2.〕 She had also become "a major autobiographical voice of the time".〔Long, Richard (November 2005). "Maya Angelou". ''Smithsonian'' 36 (8): 84.〕 Angelou was one of the first African-American female writers to publicly discuss her personal life, and one of the first to use herself as a central character in her books.〔Als, Hilton (5 August 2002). ("Songbird: Maya Angelou takes another look at herself" ), ''The New Yorker''. Retrieved 25 February 2014.〕 Writer Julian Mayfield, who called her first autobiography "a work of art that eludes description",〔 stated that Angelou's series set a precedent not only for other Black women writers, but for the genre of autobiography as a whole.〔 Scholar Hilton Als called Angelou one of the "pioneers of self-exposure", willing to focus honestly on the more negative aspects of her personality and choices.〔 For example, while Angelou was composing her second autobiography, ''Gather Together in My Name'', she was concerned about how her readers would react to her disclosure that she had been a prostitute. Her husband Paul Du Feu talked her into publishing the book by encouraging her to "tell the truth as a writer" and to "be honest about it".〔Lupton, p. 14.〕 For the first time, Angelou focuses on her relationship with her mother in this book, and fills in what reviewer Fiona Sturges calls "possibly the final blanks in Angelou's eventful life".〔 According to Candace Smith, who reviewed the audio version of the book for ''Booklist'', Angelou and Baxter's relationship was "touched upon but never fully described" in ''Caged Bird'', but ''Mom & Me & Mom'' explains Baxter's actions, especially the reasons she sent Angelou and her older brother Bailey to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. The book also chronicles Angelou's initial uncomfortable reunion and eventual reconciliation with Baxter.〔Smith, Candace (1 June 2013). "Mom & Me & Mom." ''Booklist'', 109 (19–20), p. 120.〕 Pictures of Baxter, Angelou, and their family and close friends appear throughout the book and enhance the text.〔Bush, Vanessa (15 February 2013). "Mom & Me & Mom". ''Booklist ''109 (12), p. 17.〕 An audio version of the book, read by Angelou, was released in CD form and as a digital download.〔〔Kingsbury, Pam (15 June 2013). "Mom & Me & Mom". ''Library Journal'', 138 (11).〕 Angelou explains in the book's prologue why she wrote the book, which was to explain how she became, despite being born poor, Black, and female, a renowned author and poet. The book is divided into two sections: the first 13 chapters are grouped into the first section, called "Mom & Me", and the remaining chapters make up the second section, called "Me & Mom". Angelou thanks her mother, "who generously taught me how to be a mother", which allowed her to dedicate the book to her son, Guy Bailey Johnson, whom she calls "one of the most courageous and generous men I know".〔Angelou, dedication page.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mom & Me & Mom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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