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How to Be a Woman

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How to Be a Woman

By: Caitlin Moran
Narrated by: Caitlin Moran
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About this listen

1913 - Suffragette throws herself under the King's horse. 1969 - Feminists storm Miss World. Now - Caitlin Moran rewrites The Female Eunuch from a bar stool and demands to know why pants are getting smaller. There's never been a better time to be a woman: We have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain....

Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should you get Botox? Do men secretly hate us? What should you call your vagina? Why does your bra hurt? And why does everyone ask you when you're going to have a baby? Part memoir, part rant, Caitlin Moran answers these questions and more in "How To Be A Woman" - following her from her terrible 13th birthday ("I am 13 stone, have no friends, and boys throw gravel at me when they see me") through adolescence, the workplace, strip clubs, love, fat, abortion, TopShop, motherhood and beyond.

Caitlin Moran had literally no friends in 1990, and so had plenty of time to write her first novel, The Chronicles of Narmo, at the age of fifteen. At sixteen she joined music weekly Melody Maker and at eighteen briefly presented the pop show Naked City on Channel 4. Following this precocious start she then put in eighteen solid years as a columnist on the Times - both as a TV critic and also in the most-read part of the paper, the satirical celebrity column "Celebrity Watch".

The eldest of eight children, home-educated in a council house in Wolverhampton, Caitlin read lots of books about feminism - mainly in an attempt to be able to prove to her brother, Eddie, that she was scientifically better than him. Caitlin isn't really her name. She was christened "Catherine". But she saw 'Caitlin' in a Jilly Cooper novel when she was 13 and thought it looked exciting. That's why she pronounces it incorrectly: "Catlin". It causes trouble for everyone.

©2011 Caitlin Moran (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks
Biographies & Memoirs European Gender Studies Literary History & Criticism Literature & Fiction Funny Witty Thought-Provoking

Critic Reviews

"Spectacular! Very, very funny, moving, and revealing" (Jonathan Ross)
"Moran's writing sparkles with wit and warmth. Like the confidences of your smartest friend." (Simon Pegg)
“I devoured How to Be A Woman in one sitting.... This is the book that frustrated boyfriends have wanted someone...to write for decades” (Dan Stevens, The Times)

What listeners say about How to Be a Woman

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Pucking Brilliant

Narration was amazing! This book sums up the stages of becoming a woman, figuring shit out, and realising we've got not idea and isnt that bloody great!

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Amazing Read!!

I'm so glad I took the time to read this. What an inspirationaland funny eye-opener. Definitely worth the read!!

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Absolutely brilliant!

I loved this so much I struggled to have to pause it for toilet breaks. This is a book EVERYONE can enjoy. Moran is funny, sassy and optimistic.

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loved it!

Would you listen to How to Be a Woman again? Why?

Great book! Cleverly written and read with a friendly, casual and hilarious narrative voice; Caitlin Moran is a woman to be proud of!

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Challenging

I loved it! some parts I tuned out mainly because the wit was lost on this 25 year old Australian at points but the message to be a strong woman and love the life you have is amazing

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Highly entertaining, great narration.

Highly entertaining and thought provoking. Great narration. I listened to this with my husband and we both enjoyed it.

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loved it!

Honest, humble and relatable stories. This book made me smile, nod and think "yes!" on more than one occasion!

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Should be mandatory reading for boys and girls!

Absolutely brilliant, poignant, hilarious and thought-provoking. I shall henceforth strive to be a strident feminist like Caitlin.

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Loved it, love C. Moran.

How could anyone else narrate this book and give it justice? Caitlin is a great story teller and for me, she has demystified feminism. Here's to humanism!

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Proper good bab' (as they'd say in Wolverhampton)

Who was your favorite character and why?
Caitlin herself. I lived for like ten years in Wolves' (her hometown) so understandably I'm probably slightly biased about how awesome this book is, probably because I'm still coming to terms with how awesome Caitlin Moran is! Seriously, how edge case is her scenario?! Growing up home schooled, self educated, living in a council estate on welfare.. to writing one of the most incredible feminist literature books of the 21st century.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
If you like the dulcet tones of a Wolverhampton accent' at length go for it ;-)

Any additional comments?
This is written from her passionate, quirky perspective but yet manages to write down what a lot of us have been thinking and feeling. I've lost count on how many other books reference this one; from Clementine Ford's 'Fight like a girl' to 'Amy Poehlers -'Yes please.' it keeps coming up. I love the simple formula it provides to work out if "some misogynistic societal pressure is being exerted on women by calmly enquiring, ‘And are the men doing this, as well?’ If they aren’t, chances are you’re dealing with what we strident feminists refer to as ‘some total bull ##it’.

Just to let you know, I work for Audible, but the views expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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5 people found this helpful

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