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Becoming Beauvoir

A Life

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Becoming Beauvoir

By: Dr Kate Kirkpatrick
Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Becoming Beauvoir by Kate Kirkpatrick, read by Rachel Atkins.

“One is not born a woman, but becomes one”, Simone de Beauvoir

A symbol of liberated womanhood, Simone de Beauvoir’s unconventional relationships inspired and scandalised her generation. A philosopher, writer, and feminist icon, she won prestigious literary prizes and transformed the way we think about gender with The Second Sex. But despite her successes, she wondered if she had sold herself short.

Her liaison with Jean-Paul Sartre has been billed as one of the most legendary love affairs of the twentieth century. But for Beauvoir it came at a cost: for decades she was dismissed as an unoriginal thinker who ‘applied’ Sartre’s ideas. In recent years new material has come to light revealing the ingenuity of Beauvoir’s own philosophy and the importance of other lovers in her life.

This ground-breaking biography draws on never-before-published diaries and letters to tell the fascinating story of how Simone de Beauvoir became herself.

2020, The PROSE Award, Short-listed

©2019 Kate Kirkpatrick (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Art & Literature Authors Philosophers Professionals & Academics Women
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A real uncovering. Kirkpatrick dissects the celebrity image of Beauvoir and describes the forces on her life and the way that Beauvoir tried to take control herself. Fascinating and well written.

Fantastic work

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This is a fascinating listen and deals with the intricacies of her life and work. It portrays all the major characters she lived and worked with. Excellent. Appalling on the other hand was the sexism & ignorance she had to fight from the beginning to the end of her life. From idiot journalists to Professorial bounders to contemptible translators into English, she had to rise above much ... and heroically did so. Le Monde in particular should be ashamed of itself. The tale of the different treatment of the obituaries of SdB & JPS is shocking.

Her Life AND her Philosophy

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