Gather Together in My Name was published by Random House in 1974. The second volume of Angelou’s autobiography covers approximately 1945-1949: the years immediately following the birth of her son Guy, when the seventeen-year-old Angelou attempted to support herself and her child through a series of jobs and relationships in postwar California.
The book is remarkable for its honesty about failure and bad judgment. Angelou recounts working as a cook, a waitress, a madam’s assistant; falling in love with unsuitable men; briefly working as a prostitute; and narrowly escaping addiction. She does not romanticize these experiences or present them as mere victimhood — she was making choices, often bad ones, in a world that offered young Black women few good options. The book’s courage lies in its refusal to construct a narrative of steady upward progress: the path from traumatized child to accomplished artist was not straight.
The writing is more experimental than in Caged Bird: Angelou uses dialogue more extensively, plays with chronology, and employs a more knowing, ironic narrative voice. The younger Angelou of this volume is not a innocent child but a young woman beginning to develop the toughness and intelligence that will eventually make her an artist — but she is also reckless, naive, and repeatedly endangered by her own bad judgment.
Collecting Gather Together in My Name
First edition (Random House, New York, 1974): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $100–$300
- Very good: $40–$100
- Signed: $200–$500
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the second autobiography about? Gather Together in My Name (1974) covers Angelou’s life from age 17 to 19 — the years after her son Guy’s birth, when she worked as a cook, waitress, nightclub dancer, and madam in post-WWII California. The memoir is unflinchingly honest about Angelou’s youthful mistakes, including her brief involvement in prostitution, and demonstrates the courage that defines her autobiographical writing.