Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Not That Bad

By: Roxane Gay
Narrated by: Roxane Gay, Brandon Taylor, Emma Smith-Stevens, A.J. McKenna, Lisa Mecham, Vanessa Martir, xTx, Sophie Mayer
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.49

Buy for $22.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Edited and with an introduction by Roxane Gay, the New York Times best-selling and deeply beloved author of Bad Feminist and Hunger, this anthology of first-person essays read by all 30 contributors, including Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, and Lyz Lenz, tackles rape, assault, and harassment head-on.

*Vogue, “10 of the Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2018”

*Harper’s Bazaar, “10 New Books to Add to Your Reading List in 2018”

*Elle, “21 Books We’re Most Excited to Read in 2018”

*Boston Globe, “25 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018”

*Huffington Post, “60 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018”

*Hello Giggles, “19 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018”

*Buzzfeed, “33 Most Exciting New Books of 2018”

In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and best-selling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are "routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied" for speaking out. Contributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers, and critics, including actors Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union and writers Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, and Claire Schwartz.

Covering a wide range of topics and experiences, from an exploration of the rape epidemic embedded in the refugee crisis to first-person accounts of child molestation, this collection is often deeply personal and is always unflinchingly honest. Like Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me, Not That Bad will resonate with every listener, saying "something in totality that we cannot say alone".

Searing and heartbreakingly candid, this provocative collection both reflects the world we live in and offers a call to arms insisting that "not that bad" must no longer be good enough.

The full list of narrators includes: Roxane Gay, Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, Claire Schwartz, Aubrey Hirsch, Jill Christman, Lynn Melnick, Brandon Taylor, Emma Smith-Stevens, A.J. McKenna, Lisa Mecham, Vanessa Mártir, xTx, Sophie Mayer, Nora Salem, V.L. Seek, Michelle Chen, Liz Rosema, Anthony Frame, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Miriam Zoila Pérez, Zoe Medeiros, Sharisse Tracey, Stacey May Fowles, Elisabeth Fairfield Stokes, Meredith Talusan, Nicole Boyce, and Elissa Bassist.

©2018 Roxane Gay (Compilation and introduction) (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Such a powerful and necessary collection!" (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Not That Bad

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    489
  • 4 Stars
    89
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    457
  • 4 Stars
    64
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    455
  • 4 Stars
    66
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Shakes you to the core

If you ever wondered how a rape survivor feels and deals with it, here it is laid out in gut wrenching , searing honest essays from survivors. I am sure these stories will stay with me for years to come and for that i commend author for coming up with this anthology.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential listening

Essential reading. I recommend listening, though — each writer narrates their own entry, and their voices add so much to the telling that I can’t imagine experiencing the book any other way (although I got the Kindle version, too). The essays are not about the rapes and assaults themselves but generally about how the writers dealt with the aftermath. It's all so nuanced and powerful. Most writers didn’t tell anybody, let alone report, what happened — although there’s one particularly memorable essay where a teenage girl tells everyone and no one believes her. This book couldn't help but make me think about those who say America doesn’t have a rape culture and point to a country where women are stoned to death for being raped — “Now that’s a rape culture,” they say. In this book, so many of the women downplayed their own trauma because at least it wasn’t as bad as if it'd been a stranger with a gun, a gang rape, or a murder, too. Their suffering was prolonged because they couldn't stop thinking of others who had it worse. The suffering caused by this country’s pervasive sexual violence and aggression will continue as long as people are given credence who say it’s not that bad compared with what’s happening over there. Grade: A

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hear this now.

Heartbreaking and familiar. Somehow reassuring amid all of the terrible. Worth every minute. Worth every tear. Feels like hearing, "it's not just you."

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Important Essays about sexual violence

Roxanne Gay drew me to this very thought provoking and timely book of essays. We have a huge problem and it is called rape culture. These essays should be required reading for freshmen in college. I really liked the book. I cannot stop thinking about it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good book!

Definitely could be triggering to some but content is needed and necessary. This book is very important.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Glimpse into the reality of rape.

This book grabs you by your heart and never lets go until you’re done. I would recommend this to everyone in our society.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

painful but important

I'm thankful for the authors for sharing their stories to drive awareness of different forms in which sexual violence and abuse can manifest. there's a great range of writing here. some authors share detail, others approach their stories with more restraint, all of them are poetic in their own way. all of them shed light on the complex journey of healing. I think this book will help listeners be able to engage with survivors with more appropriate sensitivity and empathy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enlightening, essential

In spite of dark subject matter, or because of it, this is a crucial read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

For thinking

While I didn't agree with everything, felt like I needed to learn more about some of the ideas, and it made me stop and really think about some ways we all contribute to rape culture, no matter how enlightened or feminist we feel.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

STELLAR COMPILATION!!

Every woman should have this on their bookshelf! the words of these women and men shine brightly. They shine a light on a very serious and much more diverse issue than I ever imagined.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!