High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Singin` and Swingin` and Gettin` Merry Like Christmas is the third book of Maya Angelou`s six-volume autobiography series. Set between 1949 and 1955, the book spans Angelou`s early twenties. In this volume, Angelou describes her struggles to support her young son, form meaningful relationships and forge a successful career in the entertainment world. The work`s 1976 publication was the first time an African American woman had expanded her life story into a third volume. Scholar Dolly McPherson called the book "a graphic portrait of the adult self in bloom", while critic Lyman B. Hagen called it "a journey of discovery and rebirth".