Hysterical manual for the 21st century woman

Usually I can't get through a book of comical columns. This is the rare exception. Caitlin touches on EVERYTHING a woman has ever grappled with, but rarely will bring up, even to her best friend. With every topic, with relentless British humor, she brings you to a place of seeing the most common of things totally differently. From Brazilian waxes to high heels to childbirth to one of the funniest, most astute pieces on relationships I've ever read, she irreverently tears the conventional, cultural norms to shreds and offers up a lucid, common sense look at things we too often inanely follow like lemmings.

While walking along the Pacific, listening to How To Be A Woman, a friend rode up on her bike. She's the same age as me, 59, has a successful business and who ran so much, prepping for a marathon to impress her kids, that she got plantar fasciitis. That was two months ago and she can still not walk far, never mind run. She breathlessly, sweating profusely, related how she goes to spin class three times a week, swims every day she can, and bikes umpteen miles to LOSE WEIGHT. This woman was, before she stated all this marathon training, MUCH THINNER THAN ME (and I'm a person whom no one considers fat, ok, except me,) and married to a guy who adores her no matter what she weighs. Having been quite happy race walking in the sunshine by the sea, I would have instantly switched to feeling like a clumsy elephant if it weren't for this book, to which I was listening. Caitlin is my heroine. She brings the insanity women just take for granted front and center and kept making me say to myself, "Well, of course!"

This book also provoked numerous discussions with friends and family; the most amazing conversations about subjects we'd never touched before. This is such a mind opening book, so informative, while causing one to constantly laugh out loud (which is no simple feat for a book.)

The first chapter is deceptive and Caitlin, stand up comedian she is, can be a bit loud. But stick with it, please, and then laugh your head off and, if you're a woman, be prepared to feel far more secure in your own sneakers than you did at the start. If you're a man, be prepared to actually start to understand those female enigmas around you. And no matter who you are, you will, without a doubt, look at everything around you in a whole new light.

46 people found this helpful

Listend twice I loved so much

This is a must read for every woman out there. I think it would help many a girl to relax and not take them selves so seriously.

Caitlin lays it on the line just how crazy the world has become and what we woman do to try and fit in as normal.

I have already listened to this book twice since I got it in January and I am sure will pull it out every couple of years to listen again to help remind me that I don't have to fit into what the world calls norm to be a women. I am a woman 100% no matter how little or how much effort I put into my appearance and if others don't like it then who cares.

16 people found this helpful

Everything Feminism Should Be

Smart, confident, funny and well-crafted. Moran pulls no punches when discussing the hardest choices women make, everything from abortion to what to call one's private parts. The modern handbook for feminsim.

14 people found this helpful

I wanted to like this more than I did

After the first half hour I really wanted to like this a lot. I was ready for a rockin' hilarious feminist jaunt. It almost was, I guess.
Some parts were really funny. I generally agree with Moran about life and stuff. I'm not a big fan of listening to lots of graphic talk about masturbation and the first two or three chapters felt like a forever of, well, I don't know if Audible edits language in these reviews, so I'll leave the actual words unsaid.

General warning for listeners: NSFW or for listening around kids.

I certainly liked Moran more as a mom than as a teenager in this book. I'd be curious to know more about her working life between those two stages. I think her other book or books might focus more on that time in her life.

10 people found this helpful

Hopeful, hilarious look at feminism and femininity

Where does How to Be a Woman rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This has been my favorite audiobook. Caitlin's delivery makes her words that much more relatable and funny. There were many times I didn't want to leave the car.

What did you like best about this story?

I've read many feminist texts, but this is the first that actually gave me hope about the fate of feminism and women in general. She balances the hysterical with the poignant and moving, and makes some truly excellent points in ways I've not heard before. There is something for everyone here.

What about Caitlin Moran’s performance did you like?

Caitlin's voice is such a part of her writing that hearing her read it makes it so much more effective.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Not for grandma, unless your grandma enjoys shocking vulgarity."

8 people found this helpful

Great performance of a great book

Any additional comments?

This is an instant all-time favorite. It's a philosophy primer that’s hilarious — not an easy feat to pull off, especially if you don’t dilute the philosophy. This is a great book for everyone who thought they might be a feminist. It explains everything that defines being a woman these days. She’s not afraid to call out her heroes for stupid comments (Germaine Greer). The personal anecdotes are priceless. A co-worker and I email mail sentences back and forth and crack each other up. The narration is spot-on; Moran's performance comes off as almost a standup concert.

6 people found this helpful

Really Just the Smartest, Funniest Memoir Ever

If you could sum up How to Be a Woman in three words, what would they be?

Better than Bossypants

Any additional comments?

I would rip this book out of someone's hands if I saw them with it and demand they listen to my copy instead. Reading it would be maybe 25% as good as hearing her tell it.

5 people found this helpful

Great book, too loud

Great book, interesting and very funny.
Caitlin reads it with flare but it gets too loud at certain points, with her shouting certain parts. While it was funny and enjoyable, I constantly had to change the volume of my device so as not to get a pierced eardrum. Be aware of this if you listen with earphones.

5 people found this helpful

Too much Information and not all that interesting

I wanted to enjoy this book. I really did. A funny woman telling funny stories about womanhood. I'm all in. But, I had to stop listening after about an hour and a half because the stories would be funny as short vignettes but Ms. Moran goes on and on and on about her marathon masturbation fixation at the age of 13 until the story is just not interesting. Does she want to shock? Okay, cover that in the first five minutes and then tell us something else that is enlightening or relatable. Nope! She does get to a point regarding porn that is a good one but to get there was hardly entertaining listening. The piece about hair was interesting though I quit after listening to her talk about names for her vagina and breasts. Really? Who bloody cares? I think she has a great sense of humor but I can't do eight plus hours of this. Sorry.

4 people found this helpful

FUNNIEST and TRUEST book ever!!

Caitlin Moran is my new hero! This book was so funny, so insightful and so unafraid of tackling the toughest issues, it left me practically breathless.

Topics covered include: What is feminism?, why bras suck, why all women are feminists, what your first crush on a celebrity feels like, what puberty feels like, what getting your first period feels like, what labor feels like, what getting an abortion feels like, why women need to be free to decide what is right for their own bodies, what it feels like to be condescended to by a man, how to react when you’re condescended to by a man, why hiring a woman to clean your house is NOT a betrayal of feminism, and much, much more.

Listening to this as an audio book read by the author only added to my enjoyment and appreciation. She is funnier than any stand-up comedian I have ever heard, simply brilliant. I bookmarked so many passages it would be impossible to quote even a tenth of them, but here are two that give you an idea of how devastatingly right-on her observations are.

“It’s difficult to see the glass ceiling because it’s made of glass. Virtually invisible. What we need is for more birds to fly above it and shit all over it, so we can see it properly.”

“The real cost of living is dying, and we’re spending days like millionaires: a week here, a month there, casually spunked until all you have left are the two pennies on your eyes.”

6 people found this helpful