What I love about Maya Angelou’s writing is that there is no self-pity for all the things that happened to her. She is so wonderfully and brutally honest and frank about her thoughts and feelings. These things happened. She is. In fact there is a great deal of compassion and humor in her narration of her childhood, growing up years, and adulthood. Best is how in the middle of all this she found herself, came to terms with a great deal, and decided she was the architect of her own life. Even now, this is how she views life – with compassion and humor. No excuses, no recriminations, no nothing, no looking back, no waiting for the future – only the here and now, and only the desire to live life fully.