Reviving Ophelia

Saving the Lives of Adolescent Girls

By: Mary Pipher PhD

Narrated by: Mary Pipher PhD

Why are more American adolescent girls prey to depression, eating disorders, addictions, and suicide attempts than ever before? According to Dr. Mary Pipher, a clinical psychologist who has treated girls for more than twenty years, we live in a look-obsessed, media-saturated, "girl-poisoning" culture. Despite the advances of feminism, escalating levels of sexism and violence--from undervalued intelligence to sexual harassment in elementary school--cause girls to stifle their creative spirit and natural impulses, which, ultimately, destroys their self-esteem. Yet girls often blame themselves or their families for this "problem with no name" instead of looking at the world around them.

Here, for the first time, are girls' unmuted voices from the front lines of adolescence, personal and painfully honest. By laying bare their harsh day-to-day reality, Reviving Ophelia issues a call to arms and offers parents compassion, strength, and strategies with which to revive these Ophelias' lost sense of self.©1996 Mary Pipher, Ph.D., (P)1996 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“An important book . . . Pipher shines high-beam headlights on the world of teenage girls.”
–Los Angeles Times

“A vibrant and insightful account . . . The loss of the spirit which Dr. Pipher so brilliantly portrays is the loss of the American spirit.”
–DR. NATALIE PORTER
Former president, Division of the Psychology of Women,
American Psychological Association

Must read for Dads too!

As a dad with a 9 year old daughter, this book was a real eye opener.

Beautifully written

If you have a teenage daughter, I HIGHLY recommend this book! I feel this information will help me tremendously.

Informative and interesting but missing 5 chapters

Would you consider the audio edition of Reviving Ophelia to be better than the print version?

No - the audio edition is missing 5 chapters from the print version.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

The printed version has more information in each chapter - stories were skipped as well as paragraphs.

Worth the read.

This book seems to be a bit dated, basing many of the ideas on the 1990's. It was well read and to the point without a lot of "fluff". I took away some good ideas.

Desperately needs an update

Would you try another book from Mary Pipher and/or Mary Pipher Ph.D.?

Based on the material and when it was written, "Reviving Ophelia" had some sound and good advice. It was, however, written in the 90's and is painfully apparent almost immediately. If the book were updated, or Dr. Mary Pipher were to write a new book on the same subject, I would be interested in reading it.

Was Reviving Ophelia worth the listening time?

In the end, it was not. I have this reaction because I was hoping that the book would help me with my 2014 daughters, who have very little in common with 1994 daughters.