Men Explain Things to Me

By: Rebecca Solnit

Narrated by: Luci Christian Bell

Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

In Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit takes on the conversations between men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't. The ultimate problem, she shows in her comic, scathing essay, is female self-doubt and the silencing of women. Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of 14 books about civil society, popular power, uprisings, art, environment, place, pleasure, politics, hope, and memory, most recently The Faraway Nearby, a book on empathy and storytelling. She is a Harper's Magazine contributing editor.

©2014 Rebecca Solnit (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Beginner

It really seemed like it was trying to convince me to become a feminist when I've already been one for many years. It also did not take into account intersectionality at all. Felt like something a freshman woman's studies class would read.

Easy, well researched feminist critique

Enjoyed and valued the text; pieces delineating the warning women should be required reading and rereading. Did not enjoy the sound of the voice actor. Found her voice opposite to the text many times-soft, sweet, even delivery when the text confronting brutality, inequity, righteous anger. The piece framed by V.Woolfe seemed unnecessarily long and unexpectedly single-minded. Good writing, important content

great book

Good content, quick and easy read. I enjoyed this little book a great deal. addresses women's issuers.

subject - reader mismatch

the readers voice is far too cheerful for the subject matter, which I found to be rather distracting

Terrible narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend this book based on the narrator. Her voice is smarmy, girlie and inappropriate for such intelligent, strong content.

it's a very interesting topic

I liked it very much, and I understand it's a short essay but it still felt short and like something was missing at the end.

Read it if you need it

I shouldn’t admit this: I downloaded this audiobook based on a tweet. It wasn’t what I expected. And while some of the writing was engaging and there were thought provoking ideas, I could barely stomach the reader’s performance. (I’m glad it was a relatively short read.) What professional actor/VO artist (reading a feminist work) doesn’t find out the correct way to pronounce Betty Friedan’s name before submitting the final? Just one glaring example, but as mentioned by others, the performance was not right for the material. Blech. Read it instead, if you must.

Great book, terrible narration

This book turned out to be so much more than playful anecdotes about male condescension. Men Explain Things to Me was a powerful account of the state of women's affairs nationally, here in our back yard, and throughout the world.

Unfortunately, I felt the narration and delivery were completely inappropriate and did not do this book justice. Bell read off soul crushing statistics and tales of rape with a bubbly cheerfulness that made me cringe. It was painful to get through this audio book for that reason, making me wish I'd just read it the old fashioned way...on my Kindle :)

An overall change in perspective

Although I did not give it five stars overall- the story is worth five if not more. There are a lot of hard-hitting topics that drive the point home and covers the entire spectrum of female inferiority in today's culture and society. There were some stats that were hard to stomach and almost made me want to stop reading but ultimately the message was worth it. These are unpleasant truths that need to be told and read and understood by all.

On a very separate random note unless I hear the narratoris voice doing the audio recording; I feel like I tend to not like the books more with a different narrator. It's almost as if a friend was telling an acquaintance my story but passing it off as their own- there's a kind of ingenuity that isn't there.

Otherwise great book and I will definitely listen to it again to catch anything I may have missed while being squeamish!

suspend any presumption and actively listen

This is a great short book. Written by a person with knowledge on the subject and clearly articulated points. This was a difficult read for me. Because it required that I presume nothing keep and open mind and critically explore what role I have played, am playing and will play in the future as a man. A great read.