EBONY GAVE IT TWO THUMBS UP :

Slam Queen vs. Inaugural Poet: L.A. Poet Dares to Blast Angelou, Stirs Up a Storm (Thulani Davis, September 4 - September 10, 2002, Village Voice)

In an April 14 book review in the Los Angeles Times, [Los Angeles-based poet Wanda] Coleman concluded, "Unfortunately, the Maya Angelou of A Song Flung Up to Heaven seems small and inauthentic, without ideas, wisdom or vision. Something is being flung up to heaven all right, but it isn't a song." She accused Angelou of writing a book full of "empty phrases and sweeping generalities . . . dead metaphors ("sobbing embrace," "my heart fell in my chest") and clumsy similes ("like the sound of buffaloes running into each other at rutting times"). The book has gotten some other poor reviews, but it seems that Coleman caused trouble by accusing Angelou of hustling the public, selling a skimpy book in large type and large hype at a high price, containing rehashed material and what may be exaggerated claims for a high-minded, race-conscious past. [...]

"The direct responses I got personally, either by e-mail or phone, or in public, most of it from African Americans, was saying, 'Thank God someone finally said it,' and from whites it was fearful, like, 'We hope you'll be all right.' "

One reason for the controversy is simply that the review was in the L.A. Times, and to be seen mainly by whites. Black publications rarely print tough reviews, and those who write them in mainstream publications will hear from everyone involved. But most black publications are sensitive to the fact that black readers are famously thin-skinned, and so they rarely give any occasion to be deluged with e-mail.

Wow, that's one of the saddest things I've ever read. What can you say about a culture that's incapable of withstanding honest criticism? Posted by Orrin Judd at September 3, 2002 11:09 PM