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Men Explain Things to Me

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Men Explain Things to Me

By: Rebecca Solnit
Narrated by: Lucy Christian Bell
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About this listen

Rebecca Solnit's essay 'Men Explain Things to Me' has become a touchstone of the feminist movement, inspired the term 'mansplaining', and established Solnit as one of the leading feminist thinkers of our time - one who has inspired everyone from radical activists to Beyonce Knowles.

Collected here in print for the first time is the essay itself, along with the best of Solnit's feminist writings. From rape culture to mansplaining, from French sex scandals to marriage and the nuclear family, from Virginia Woolf to colonialism, these essays are a fierce and incisive exploration of the issues that a patriarchal culture will not necessarily acknowledge as 'issues' at all.

With grace and energy, and in the most exquisite and inviting of prose, Rebecca Solnit proves herself a vital leading figure of the feminist movement and a radical, humane thinker.

©2014 Rebecca Solnit (P)2014 Audible Ltd Gender Studies Social Sciences

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Critic reviews

"Exceptional… The feminist debate has once again exploded into the mainstream over the last few years, and this collection marks Solnit out as among the most thoughtful of many energetic writers leading it" (Jessica Abrahams in Prospect)
"Slim but trenchant collection of essays… As a collection it is an eloquent reminder that we still have some way to go when it comes to speaking of the issues she raises. She writes forcefully about the case of Domonique Strauss-Kahn. And yet this is not a gloomy book" (Erica Wagner in The Financial Times)
'[Rebecca] is not one of the most important female essayists of her generation. She is one of the most important essayists of her generation." (Stuart Kelly in the Scotland on Sunday )
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The lady narrating sounds like she should be narrating an episode of desperate housewives. I tried a few times to listen but couldn’t get past her voice. What a shame. The book does seem a little simple in its premise, so not one of my favourites.

Such annoying narration!

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The narrator was completely tone deaf and inappropriate for this piece, reading incredibly sensitive material with this weird upbeat, ironic style. Sometimes I thought it was an AI reader it was so off.

Read the book don’t listen here

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Essential reading for women and men.

However, I wasn’t sure about the narration. She sounded very smiley no matter how harrowing the details she was relaying.

Essential reading for men and women

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I learnt so much from this book about the steps we are making to reach a more equal world for both genders.

Everyone should read this book not just women!

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The narrator sounds like she's smiling through all the descriptions of terrible wars, gang rapes of children etc. Like the endlessly, inappropriately cheery newsreader from 'Futurama', but with vocal fry.

Sorry, but has to be said. :(

Great essays, awful perky narration

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Amazing book of essays: So powerful. So thoughtful. So necessary.
The narrator, on the other hand, spoke like a news robot. Over-enunciating the wrong syllables, her cantor was inauthentic. She sounds comedically American- not like a real human, but a caricature of my country-people. The most disappointing and truly distracting aspect of her narration is that she, rather expertly, keeps an optimism and happiness in her tone, as if she’s smiling with every word. It’s as if the entire narration is an advertisement selling laundry soap. When she should be slower, more deliberate, more somber, she sounds like she’s telling someone’s secret, with a pleasurable smile. These stories require more gravity, more seriousness, more austerity. I wish I could tell her: It’s okay not to sound happy or read this with a smile. It’s okay not to be giving the listener an audible wink. Please, retake this. Be authentic. Be nuanced. Allow yourself to be immersed and affected.
For the potential reader, buy the book.

Great book, awful narrator

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This is one of the most informative books i have ever read. Nicely written and beautifully narrated.

What a book!

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I liked the narration, she sounds like Jenny Schecter from the L word.
As a jaded Brit I appreciate a bit of American enthusiasm.
Rebecca Solnit has created a life raft of ideas we can all cling to while we are gathering strength for the next part of the swim towards equality.

Excellent essays, insightful and hopeful

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Awful unfortunately, really wanted to like it but it meanders all over the place. It really feels like a mind dump where the author has poured out every thought without creating a cohesive path to a message. I couldn't finish it.

Rambling - never quite gets to the point

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Just discovered this author, am in love. Thoughtful essays, at turns funny, angering, always thought-provoking.

Where has this been?

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