Graceful Burdens
Out of Line collection
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Narrated by:
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Samira Wiley
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By:
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Roxane Gay
About this listen
From New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay comes an unforgettable tale of nightmarish bureaucracy in which genetic profiling has redefined the “unfit mother.”
A trip to the library prompts one woman to question her fate in this galvanizing short story. For a woman like Hadley, deemed not acceptable to procreate, there’s only one recourse. Unlicensed for motherhood, she can alleviate her grief and frustration at a “baby library,” where a curiously endless supply of infants is available for a two-week loan. But the borrowed life that serves as a temporary balm leads to a journey of self-discovery that will forever change the direction of Hadley’s future.
Roxane Gay’s Graceful Burdens is part of Out of Line, an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Audible narration by Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale)
©2020 Roxane Gay (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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In the Time of Our History
- By: Susanne Pari
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Twelve months after her younger sister Anahita's death, Mitra Jahani reluctantly returns to her parents' home in suburban New Jersey to observe the Iranian custom of "The One Year." Ana is always in Mitra's heart, though they chose very different paths. While Ana, sweet and dutiful, bowed to their domineering father's demands and married, Mitra rebelled, and was banished.
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Enjoyable
- By J. E. Jordan on 05-23-23
By: Susanne Pari
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Scars and Stilettos - 2nd Edition
- By: Harmony Dust
- Narrated by: Harmony Dust
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Scars and Stilettos: At 13, after being abandoned by her mother one summer and left to take care of her younger brother, Harmony becomes susceptible to a relationship that turns out to be toxic, abusive, and ultimately exploitative. She eventually finds herself working in a strip club at the age of 19, and her boyfriend becomes her pimp, controlling her every move and taking all of her money. Ultimately, she discovers a path to freedom and a whole new life.
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A religious book
- By Amazonbuyer on 10-12-21
By: Harmony Dust
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I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying
- Essays
- By: Bassey Ikpi
- Narrated by: Bassey Ikpi
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying, Bassey Ikpi explores her life - as a Nigerian-American immigrant, a black woman, a slam poet, a mother, a daughter, an artist - through the lens of her mental health and diagnosis of bipolar II and anxiety. Her remarkable memoir in essays implodes our preconceptions of the mind and normalcy as Bassey bares her own truths and lies for us all to behold with radical honesty and brutal intimacy.
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Full, poignant, purposeful
- By Bree on 08-21-19
By: Bassey Ikpi
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Under the Water
- By: Paul Pen, Simon Bruni - translator
- Narrated by: James Daniels
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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From the outside, Frank and Grace seem to have the perfect family. He’s a loving husband, she’s a devoted wife, and together they have two happy children. But appearances can be deceiving. A strange series of misfortunes has left them reeling: an unexplained break-in, a catastrophic handgun accident, and a bizarre poisoning that’s left Grace feeling especially unnerved. Packing up their RV for a move across the country, they’re ready for a fresh start, expecting to leave all their problems safely behind.
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Good syuff
- By Kindle V C on 10-12-19
By: Paul Pen, and others
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Brutal, brilliant, and moving
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Dark, thought provoking, sometimes frustrating
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Bad Feminist
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A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman ( Sweet Valley High) of color ( The Help) while also taking listeners on a ride through culture of the last few years ( Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown).
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"I am a mess of contradictions" - RG
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In this eye-opening short story, a tech reporter’s mistake unites two women eight thousand miles apart. One in New Jersey, one in the Philippines. Same name: Sandra Guzman. Same job: content moderators for a mega social media website. What transpires between them is a friendship that changes their perceptions of each other’s privilege and challenges the power of the very industry they work for.
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Meh.
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Difficult Women
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The women in these stories live lives of privilege and of poverty, are in marriages both loving and haunted by past crimes or emotional blackmail. A pair of sisters, grown now, have been inseparable ever since they were abducted together as children and must negotiate the elder sister's marriage. A woman married to a twin pretends not to realize when her husband and his brother impersonate each other. A stripper putting herself through college fends off the advances of an overzealous customer.
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Solid good writing, but not a great collection
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Opinions
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Overall
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Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling society—state-sponsored violence and mass shootings, women’s rights post-Dobbs, online disinformation, and the limits of empathy—alongside more individually personalized matters: can I tell my co-worker her perfume makes me sneeze? Is it acceptable to schedule a daily 8 am meeting? In her role as a New York Times opinion section contributor and the publication’s “Work Friend” columnist, she reaches millions of readers with her wise voice and sharp insights.
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High expectations were surpassed, as expected
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What listeners say about Graceful Burdens
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chelsea Plouffe
- 11-02-23
Wonderful, captivating.
A short story that is all intrigue and heart from beginning to end. A brief glimpse into a scary, but empowering world.
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- Constance
- 10-29-20
handmaid's tale-esque
Samira Wiley..what a gem. Loved this short story! Margaret Atwood dystopia themed setting..wondering how far in the future this is..
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- obituary mambo
- 01-08-21
Stunning!
I had no idea what to expect from this short story, but I love Roxane Gay, so I figured it would be worth a quick read. Absolutely amazing! The ability to build such a fully realized world in so few pages is truly a gift. The characters are well drawn and the story intriguing. Samira Wiley's narration is a thing of pure beauty. Absolutely fabulous!
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- JBHarris
- 09-06-20
Incredible
I want to know more! THIS WAS SO.GOOD! I LOVE ROXANNE GAY! Please write more!
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- Liz K.
- 03-25-23
Dystopian and women-positive
But men should read it too….
I really enjoyed the narrator’s voice, warm and supple.
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1 person found this helpful
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- SusanInTheMidwest
- 09-03-20
A dystopian gem
Ms. Gay has a way with narrative, and does not disappoint in this consideration of a not-so-futuristic alternate reality wherein women’s reproductive rights are restricted in new and heartbreaking ways, and the underground efforts to right this wrong.
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- Jetneo
- 10-23-22
A cautionary tale
Reminiscent of Handmaids Tale, Roxanne charts the emotions of women coping with the New Reality. Bringing to question Motherhood, Ownership, and Privilege. All the while breaking your heart and breaking the rules.
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- Dana Williams
- 03-27-23
Wish it would have been longer!
A Handmaid’s Tale-like story- I’d love to read more- how it came to be, where it goes from here…
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3 people found this helpful
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- Seriously
- 07-26-22
Prescient
With the overturning of Roe, this dystopian short story feels prescient with the times. Galvanizing.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Maxmouse
- 03-03-22
Great short story!
Well performed and written. Good futuristic story of brave women taking chances for the betterment of others.
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