
Mad Girl
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.52
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bryony Gordon
-
By:
-
Bryony Gordon
About this listen
Bryony Gordon has OCD.
It's the snake in her brain that has told her ever since she was a teenager that her world is about to come crashing down: that her family might die if she doesn't repeat a phrase five times, or that she might have murdered someone and forgotten about it. It's caused alopecia, bulimia, and drug dependency. And Bryony is sick of it. Keeping silent about her illness has given it a cachet it simply does not deserve, so here she shares her story with trademark wit and dazzling honesty.
A hugely successful columnist for the Telegraph, a best-selling author, and a happily married mother of an adorable daughter, Bryony has managed to laugh and live well while simultaneously grappling with her illness. Now it's time for her to speak out. Writing with her characteristic warmth and dark humour, Bryony explores her relationship with her OCD and depression as only she can.
Mad Girl is a shocking, funny, unpredictable, heart-wrenching, raw and jaw-droppingly truthful celebration of life with mental illness.
©2016 Bryony Gordon (P)2016 Headline DigitalListeners also enjoyed...
-
Glorious Rock Bottom
- By: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon is a respected journalist, a number one best-selling author and an award-winning mental health campaigner. She is also an alcoholic. In Glorious Rock Bottom Bryony opens up about a toxic 20-year relationship with alcohol and drugs and explains exactly why hitting rock bottom - for her, a traumatic event and the abrupt realisation that she was putting herself in danger, time and again - saved her life.
-
-
absolutely fabulous ⭐
- By pixie on 03-05-23
By: Bryony Gordon
-
Eat, Drink, Run
- How I Got Fit Without Going Too Mad
- By: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon was not a runner. A loafer, a dawdler, a drinker, a smoker, yes. A runner, no. Yet somehow, as she began to recover from the emotional roller coaster of laying her life bare in her mental health memoir Mad Girl, she started to realise that getting outside, moving her body and talking to others for whom life was also an occasional challenge might actually help her.
-
-
Super relatable and I really enjoyed the listen
- By N. Hanson on 04-12-25
By: Bryony Gordon
-
The Sober Diaries
- How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many women, Clare Pooley found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle, so she left her successful role as a managing partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy, but she never expected to find herself an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day and spending her evenings Googling 'am I an alcoholic?'
-
-
The performance makes this one worthwhile...
- By River Holmes-miller on 04-24-18
By: Clare Pooley
-
Stash
- My Life in Hiding
- By: Laura Cathcart Robbins
- Narrated by: Laura Cathcart Robbins
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of hiding her addiction from everyone—stockpiling pills in her Louboutins and elaborately scheduling her withdrawals between PTA meetings, baby showers, and tennis matches—Laura Cathcart Robbins is running out of places to hide. She has learned the hard way that even her high-profile marriage and Hollywood lifestyle can’t protect her from the pain she’s keeping bottled up inside. Facing divorce, the possibility of a custody battle, and the insistent voice of internalized racism that nags at her as a Black woman in a white world, Laura wonders just how much more she can take.
-
-
Best Mom/wife alcoholism memoir I’ve read
- By Allison M. Billet on 04-06-23
-
Astor
- The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic.
-
-
A family first made, then destroyed by wealth.
- By Barbara W. on 09-23-23
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
Down the Drain
- By: Julia Fox
- Narrated by: Julia Fox
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julia Fox is famous for many things: her captivating acting, such as her breakout role in the film Uncut Gems; her trendsetting style, including bleached eyebrows, exaggerated eyeshadow, and cutout dresses; her mastery of social media, where she entertains and educates her millions of followers. But all these share the trait for which she is most famous: unabashedly and unapologetically being herself. This commitment to authenticity has never been more on display than in Down the Drain. With writing that is both eloquent and accessible, Fox recounts her turbulent path to cultural supremacy.
-
-
Zero Character Growth.
- By Alisa on 11-27-23
By: Julia Fox
-
Glorious Rock Bottom
- By: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon is a respected journalist, a number one best-selling author and an award-winning mental health campaigner. She is also an alcoholic. In Glorious Rock Bottom Bryony opens up about a toxic 20-year relationship with alcohol and drugs and explains exactly why hitting rock bottom - for her, a traumatic event and the abrupt realisation that she was putting herself in danger, time and again - saved her life.
-
-
absolutely fabulous ⭐
- By pixie on 03-05-23
By: Bryony Gordon
-
Eat, Drink, Run
- How I Got Fit Without Going Too Mad
- By: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon was not a runner. A loafer, a dawdler, a drinker, a smoker, yes. A runner, no. Yet somehow, as she began to recover from the emotional roller coaster of laying her life bare in her mental health memoir Mad Girl, she started to realise that getting outside, moving her body and talking to others for whom life was also an occasional challenge might actually help her.
-
-
Super relatable and I really enjoyed the listen
- By N. Hanson on 04-12-25
By: Bryony Gordon
-
The Sober Diaries
- How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many women, Clare Pooley found the juggle of a stressful career and family life a struggle, so she left her successful role as a managing partner in one of the world's biggest advertising agencies to look after her family. She knew the change wouldn't be easy, but she never expected to find herself an overweight, depressed, middle-aged mother of three who was drinking more than a bottle of wine a day and spending her evenings Googling 'am I an alcoholic?'
-
-
The performance makes this one worthwhile...
- By River Holmes-miller on 04-24-18
By: Clare Pooley
-
Stash
- My Life in Hiding
- By: Laura Cathcart Robbins
- Narrated by: Laura Cathcart Robbins
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of hiding her addiction from everyone—stockpiling pills in her Louboutins and elaborately scheduling her withdrawals between PTA meetings, baby showers, and tennis matches—Laura Cathcart Robbins is running out of places to hide. She has learned the hard way that even her high-profile marriage and Hollywood lifestyle can’t protect her from the pain she’s keeping bottled up inside. Facing divorce, the possibility of a custody battle, and the insistent voice of internalized racism that nags at her as a Black woman in a white world, Laura wonders just how much more she can take.
-
-
Best Mom/wife alcoholism memoir I’ve read
- By Allison M. Billet on 04-06-23
-
Astor
- The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic.
-
-
A family first made, then destroyed by wealth.
- By Barbara W. on 09-23-23
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
Down the Drain
- By: Julia Fox
- Narrated by: Julia Fox
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julia Fox is famous for many things: her captivating acting, such as her breakout role in the film Uncut Gems; her trendsetting style, including bleached eyebrows, exaggerated eyeshadow, and cutout dresses; her mastery of social media, where she entertains and educates her millions of followers. But all these share the trait for which she is most famous: unabashedly and unapologetically being herself. This commitment to authenticity has never been more on display than in Down the Drain. With writing that is both eloquent and accessible, Fox recounts her turbulent path to cultural supremacy.
-
-
Zero Character Growth.
- By Alisa on 11-27-23
By: Julia Fox
-
There Was a Little Girl
- The Real Story of My Mother and Me
- By: Brooke Shields
- Narrated by: Brooke Shields
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brooke Shields never had what anyone would consider an ordinary life. She was raised by her Newark-tough single mom, Teri, a woman who loved the world of show business and was often a media sensation all by herself. Brooke's iconic modeling career began by chance when she was only 11 months old, and Teri's skills as both Brooke's mother and her manager were formidable. But in private she was troubled and drank heavily.
-
-
Interesting, but sounds a little entitled at times
- By Karen on 12-09-14
By: Brooke Shields
-
Quitter
- A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery
- By: Erica C. Barnett
- Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A startlingly frank memoir, Quitter documents one woman's struggles with alcoholism and recovery, with essential new insights into addiction and treatment.
-
-
Long Drunkaloug But Well Defined
- By Danielle T on 11-16-20
By: Erica C. Barnett
-
This Side of Alcohol
- Random Thoughts and Candid Words of Pain, Hope, Humor, Love—and All That Is Possible in Sobriety
- By: Peggi Cooney
- Narrated by: Peggi Cooney
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Side of Alcohol is borne out of the cathartic journaling I did during the first two years following my break-up with alcohol. It tells the story of what I did to get and stay sober, allowing me to transform my shame, guilt, and anger into self-compassion, self-discovery, and forgiveness—of myself and others. From self-loathing isolation to a joyous community of support and rediscovered intimacy with my family.
-
-
The pure emotion and story telling
- By Samantha hansen on 09-26-24
By: Peggi Cooney
-
Inside Out
- A Memoir
- By: Demi Moore
- Narrated by: Demi Moore
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, Demi Moore has been synonymous with celebrity. From iconic film roles to high-profile relationships, Moore has never been far from the spotlight - or the headlines. Even as Demi was becoming the highest paid actress in Hollywood, however, she was always outrunning her past. Throughout her rise to fame and during some of the most pivotal moments of her life, Demi battled addiction, body image issues, and childhood trauma that would follow her for years - all while juggling a skyrocketing career and at times negative public perception.
-
-
I loved this Memoir
- By mrsbee19 on 09-25-19
By: Demi Moore
-
Drinking Games
- A Memoir
- By: Sarah Levy
- Narrated by: Sarah Levy
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On paper, Sarah Levy’s life was on track. She was 28, living in New York City, working a great job, and socializing every weekend. But Sarah had a secret: her relationship with alcohol was becoming toxic. And only she could save herself. Drinking Games explores the role alcohol has in our formative years, and what it means to opt out of a culture completely enmeshed in drinking. It’s an examination of what our short-term choices about alcohol do to our long-term selves and how they challenge our ability to be vulnerable enough to discover what we really want in life.
-
-
Surface Level, Young Adult Essays
- By dr8901 on 03-29-23
By: Sarah Levy
-
Push Off from Here
- Nine Essential Truths to Get You Through Sobriety (and Everything Else)
- By: Laura McKowen
- Narrated by: Laura McKowen
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Push Off from Here, McKowen delves deeply into each of her nine points: what they mean, how they work, and how every person can live them. She addresses topics such as the correlation between trauma and addiction, the importance of radical honesty, letting go of the illusion of control, the value of community, a reminder that healing is a continual process, and that the process is a gift. Whether you’re just starting out or have been sober for decades, McKowen instructs us to be kind to ourselves: Change is messy and progress is rarely linear, but we can always push off from here.
-
-
As a "Quit Lit" connoisseur, this is a new fave!
- By Cheri Howard on 06-24-23
By: Laura McKowen
-
The Myth of Normal
- Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
- By: Gabor Maté MD, Daniel Maté
- Narrated by: Daniel Maté
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health?
-
-
Bought book after hearing podcast...
- By Adrian on 09-14-22
By: Gabor Maté MD, and others
-
We Are the Luckiest
- The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life
- By: Laura McKowen
- Narrated by: Laura McKowen
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What could possibly be “lucky” about addiction? Absolutely nothing, thought Laura McKowen when drinking brought her to her knees. As she puts it, she “kicked and screamed . . . wishing for something - anything - else” to be her issue. The people who got to drink normally, she thought, were so damn lucky. But in the midst of early sobriety, when no longer able to anesthetize her pain and anxiety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Lucky to feel her feelings, live honestly, really be with her daughter, change her legacy.
-
-
Influencer Recovery, Part One
- By Keith Keller on 01-31-20
By: Laura McKowen
-
Between Breaths
- A Memoir of Panic and Addiction
- By: Elizabeth Vargas
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Vargas
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beloved former ABC 20/20 anchor Elizabeth Vargas reveals her alcohol addiction and anxiety disorder in a shockingly honest and emotional memoir. From the moment she uttered the brave and honest words, "I am an alcoholic," to interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Elizabeth Vargas began writing her story, as her experiences were still raw. Now, in Between Breaths, Vargas discusses her accounts of growing up with anxiety—which began suddenly at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam.
-
-
Brave and Beautiful
- By LAFalls on 09-14-16
By: Elizabeth Vargas
-
Ten Steps to Nanette
- A Memoir Situation
- By: Hannah Gadsby
- Narrated by: Hannah Gadsby
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gadsby grew up as the youngest of five children in Tasmania, where homosexuality was illegal until 1997. After moving to mainland Australia and receiving a degree in art history, they found themselves adrift, working itinerant jobs and enduring years of isolation punctuated by homophobic and sexual violence. When Gadsby was twenty-seven, a friend encouraged them to enter a stand-up competition. They won, and so began their career in comedy.
-
-
An emotional connection
- By John on 04-23-22
By: Hannah Gadsby
-
The Man Who Couldn't Stop
- By: David Adam
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this captivating fusion of science and personal memoir, writer David Adam explores the weird thoughts that exist within every mind. David has suffered from OCD for twenty years, and The Man Who Couldn’t Stop is his honest attempt to understand the condition. At what point does a harmless idea become a blinding blizzard of unwanted thoughts? Drawing on the latest research on the brain, as well as historical accounts of patients and their treatments, this is an audiobook that will challenge the way you think.
-
-
Amazing look into the mind of OCD
- By K. Sorensen on 01-27-15
By: David Adam
-
God, If You're Not up There, I'm F*cked
- Tales of Stand-up, Saturday Night Live, and Other Mind-Altering Mayhem
- By: Darrell Hammond
- Narrated by: Darrell Hammond
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tina Fey’s Bossypants meets David Carr’s The Night of the Gun in Darrell Hammond's groundbreaking memoir, God, If You’re Not up There, I’m F*cked - a raw look inside the troubled life and mind of an American comic genius.
-
-
A "must listen" for Hammond fans
- By K on 08-12-18
By: Darrell Hammond
Critic reviews
"I loved it. A brilliant fast and funny and frank look at something that absolutely needs to be talked about in this way." (Matt Haig)
"Funny, warm and fearlessly honest. This book is a must for anyone who's ever lost their mind but was too polite to mention it." (Sali Hughes)
"A powerful and intimate look at the way our minds can torment us, this honest and rather beautiful book will bring comfort to those who fear they are alone in their madness." (Cathy Rentzenbrink)
What listeners say about Mad Girl
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pamzoc
- 11-30-22
Love love love
I enjoyed every second of this book! Thank you Byrony for sharing this with us!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AlaskaLife
- 09-07-21
Fabulous!
It took me a while to get into the book, it was a little maniac in the delivery at first, and I could only listen in short bursts. The second half explained why. Great insight into the daily battle many face. Great read/listen. I would recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Syeira
- 09-15-17
Great story for OCD sufferers
I haven't met anyone else that has severe OCD like I do yet. After listening to numerous books about this disorder it's nice to listen to someone's honest and real experiences. Excited that she's coming out with another book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Katie
- 05-04-17
Must Read
Loved it! Thank you for stepping of the comfort zone & having the hard talk. So many need it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!