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Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

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Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

By: Jeanette Winterson
Narrated by: Jeanette Winterson
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About this listen

Shortlisted for: UK Author of the year – Specsavers National Book Awards 2012

When Jeanette Winterson, author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, left home at 16 because she was in love with a woman, Mrs. Winterson asked her: "Why be happy when you could be normal?" This book is the story of a life's work to find happiness. It is the story of how the painful past returned to haunt Jeanette's later life, and send her on a journey into madness and out again, in search of her real mother. It is also a book about other people's stories, showing how fiction and poetry can form a string of guiding lights, a life raft which supports us when we are sinking.

©2011 Jeannette Winterson (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Art & Literature Authors LGBTQ+ Studies Lesbian Studies Funny Happiness Heartfelt Inspiring Witty Thought-Provoking

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The Pride List of Queer Storytelling

To mark Pride 2023 Audible teamed up with non-profit organisation, Out on the Page, supporter and champion of LGBTQIA+ writers and writing, to release an extensive Pride List of Queer Storytelling. Featuring contributions from some of the UK’s most important and exciting voices from the LGBTQIA+ community, this audiobook is one of the many featured on the list that is available to listen to on Audible.
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Like many people my age (about the same age as Jeanette Winterson), I read 'Oranges' when it was first published all those years ago, and loved it. But somehow read no more of Ms Winterson's output until I picked up "Why Be Happy" after seeing the TV programme with Alan Yentob, the other week.



I was not disappointed. Loved it, in fact. Better still, reading it has made me want to go out and read Ms Winterson's other books. She paints a complex picture of the redoubtable Mrs W, highlighting the fact she may not have even had the writing career she went on to have without Mrs W's monstrous creation - of herself. And ultimately, there is a touching, strange loyalty to Mrs W. This book has maturity and complexity, and tries to blur the line between fiction and autobiography - something touching about the fact the writer wants to do that, too.



I normally stick to meaty slabs of books on Audible that give value for money, so it says something for the power of the writer and writing here, that I spent my money on something slighter (I mean physically not a mighty tome, as opposed to slight in content, as it is not at all sketchy).



Great book; an insight into what makes a writer, and how we construct our identities. This is that rare thing; a book that stays with you, always.

Oranges Is Not The Only Book

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Great listen after Oranges. All the better for being read by Jeanette Winterson herself. Only wish she narrated more of her books!

all the better for being read by author

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This is a truly unique book - perhaps because it offered an outside voice to things I might not otherwise have thought worth lookingat....having been adopted myself, having not bonded with my own family. perhaps I feel this way because I identify with some of the themes - the process of finding something of my biological roots is challenging. I know that what JW has put into this book feels solid and true. It eloquently confirms what I know to be true - that adoption is like grafting one branch onto another tree. The result can be stunning, but the process of self identification as a 'third type' is sometimes brutal but necessary. JWs introspection, her ability to conjure an image, tell a truth and exorcise her past is phenomenal. She writes of mental health and shadow work with a clear comprehension of the depths some must plunge to when seeking health by means of creativity & relationship. This is a good book.

Heart rending. strong, courageous and beautiful.

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This book really wasn't what I was expecting. Having read Oranges, I thought this would just be the ongoing auto-biographical story of the author's life. I was wrong and pleasantly so. This book analysed the impact her childhood and upbringing had had on her life and subsequent decisions made. Winterson explores the importance of literature, her knowledge and insight, just wonderful to hear, and how this had been her route to a different life. There is no sense of self pity from Winterson about her traumatic childhood, just an honest look at the inevitable impact it had by drawing on her psychological knowledge. The fact the author is telling the story, makes it all the more real. Wonderful.

Not just an autobiography, much more profound.

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Very enjoyable and entertaining book full of insight and humour. I love the author’s voice. Highly recommended.

Absolutely Brilliant

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For anyone moved by Oranges are not the only fruit that stunned the critics in the 90s, this more than autobiography is essential listening especially as the author herself is both the narrator and reader. A great exploration into the idea of wounds healing in both directions.

brilliant redemptive autobiography

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I loved every second of this audio book. Jeanette Winterson writes and reads brilliantly about her tumultuous life. I laughed, I cried, I didn't want it to end.

Utterly compelling

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If you could sum up Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? in three words, what would they be?

Auto-psycho-graphy

What did you like best about this story?

The way the author perceives her life and the way she is describing it.

What does Jeanette Winterson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Tone of voice. Emotion. Personal touch. Everything. This is an autobiographical book and the fact it is read by its author gives it a special validity.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did.

Any additional comments?

An amazing encounter of not an easy life, understanding description of things that would normally look horrid to an onlooker. The fact Jeanette is referring to the woman who raised her as Mrs. Winterson speaks for itself.
I especially liked the book part, being a bookish person myself. I was about to listen to this autobiography for about two years and I believe this was the right time for me as it helped me a lot personally.
Good listen, good narration, I never thought I would stop and continue later. The book just got me. Recommended.

Superb

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The reading of this wonderful book by the author added value to an already terrific read. Such wisdom and clarity, I want to read it all again.

Moving, funny, intelligent, superb.

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So expressively read by the author, this book is an moving reflection on her life and her sometimes tortured path through it. I admired the honesty of the writing and delivery.

A moving journey

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