Maya Angelou's ease with both highbrow and middlebrow culture from poet to Oprah party pal is evident in these 20 short essays in Even the Stars Look Lonesome. Whether exploring her early career as a nightclub singer, or ruminating on subjects from aging and sexuality to African art and Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court nomination, Angelou balances lofty language with keenly self-aware wit (like on her sixtysomething penchant for wearing ''gaudy'' outfits). But many pieces such as the one blaming her failed marriage on an unfriendly house feel as incomplete as they are brief, like sketches deserving full portraiture. B


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