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Men Explain Things to Me

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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

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 )
All stars
Most relevant
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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Brilliant writing as ever from Solnit, but the sing-song Good Morning America cadence of the narrator is almost unbearable. A real disservice to the author.

Please get the author to read this masterpiece

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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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Enjoyed first 5 chapters, very harrowing statistics, well put together, slightly slow in Chapter 6, but great overall read.
covers issues relevant to men and women who care about equality and basic human decency to one another.

Well researched lost momentum at chapter 6,

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