As soon as "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" was published, public and critical acclaim poured in (via Smithsonian Magazine). In 1970, it was nominated for the prestigious National Book Award and spent two years on the best-seller list. The book continued to sell well, becoming an instant classic. When Maya Angelou read one of her poems at Bill Clinton's inauguration, "Caged Bird" found its way back onto the best-seller list (via Mental Floss). (Amanda Gorman, the young Black female poet at Joe Biden's inauguration, has Angelou to thank for shattering those glass ceilings.)
In 2011 when Time Magazine released their list of the top 100 non-fiction titles, "Caged Bird" topped the list at number five alongside Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father," Richard Wright's "Black Boy," and "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas." GoodReads boasts nearly half a million reader reviews with an astonishing 4.27 stars. As of 2020, "Caged Bird" had sold more than a million copies and is available to read in 17 different languages, bringing Angelou's genius worldwide.
