A great book ruined by the narrator

Living a Feminist Life is one of my top books of 2017 and I'm a huge fan of Sara Ahmed's work in general. But the narration of this audiobook edition simply does not work for this text. I'm teaching this book in a feminist theory class, so I decided to also get the audiobook to review relevant passages during my commute to campus. I listened to the first several seconds, where the book is introduced, and then jumped to the chapter I was planning to discuss with my class that day. The book is over 14 hours long but I couldn't make it through even a full hour--and this is a book that I've reread several times in print. The narration is a terrible fit for the text. I know that the narrator cannot be an expert in the field, but her emphasis is off more often than not. More egregious are missteps such as her mispronunciation of the author's name (watching a couple of YouTube videos where Ahmed introduces herself would have done the trick) and of the word 'affect' as a noun. Ahmed is known as an affect theorist. Affect is key to her argument here and in her larger body of work. The odd choices of inflection and emphasis and the relentless repetition of the wrong pronunciation of affect obscure Ahmed's points, at best--I have a hard time seeing how a listener of this narration and without the benefit of the printed text would be able to grasp much of what the author is trying to convey.

20 people found this helpful

A Must Read (or Listen)

An excellent book which everyone should read (or listen to). Sara Ahmed so effectually details how one can live a life of feminism. Her words are poetic, and so many will see themselves in her words.

Gallagher’s performance is also excellent. I will note that the chapter labels are incorrect, which causes some difficulty when transitioning between the audio book and the physical version.

Brilliant and useful theory beautifully read

I loved the reader’s voice. The content of the book is also outstanding. Brilliant theory told through explorations of a few key everyday words. I learned a lot about living a feminist life that wasn’t already hashed out in other feminist theory. Plus, I was inspired and humbled by Ahmed’s reflections on living that life.

Amazing book

Excellent 👏🏻🙌🏽 love this book and good job author. I wish people do understand the feminist more open minded

AMAZING!

This is a must read/hear for every woman! I love the mixture of poetry that permeates Ahmed's words describing such personal and yet very known histories that shape our bodies in the world.

important read

This book is poignant and well written. It speaks to many experiences of folks working in higher education contexts and beyond. Sarah Ahmed is brilliant and relatable. I highly recommend!

Should be required for ever person on the planet

This book has changed me. This book should change you. This book should change everyone.