Rules for Virgins
Wherein Magic Gourd Advises Young Violet on How to Become a Popular Courtesan While Avoiding Cheapskates, False Love, and Suicide
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Narrated by:
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Nancy Wu
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By:
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Amy Tan
About this listen
In her startlingly sensual story Rules for Virgins, beloved best-selling author Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter’s Daughter) takes us deep into the illicit world of 1912 Shanghai, where beautiful courtesans mercilessly compete for the patronage of wealthy gentlemen. For the women, the contest is deadly serious, a perilous game of economic survival that, if played well, can set them up for life as mistresses of the rich and prominent. There is no room for error, however: Erotic power is hard to achieve and harder to maintain, especially in the loftiest social circles.
Enter veteran seducer, Magic Gourd, formerly one of Shanghai’s “Top Ten Beauties” and now the advisor and attendant of Violet, an aspiring but inexperienced courtesan. Violet may have the youth and the allure, but Magic Gourd has the cunning and the knowledge without which the younger woman is sure to fail. These ancient tricks of the trade aren’t written down, though; to pass them on to her student, Magic Gourd must reach back into her own professional past, bringing her lessons alive with stories and anecdotes from a career spent charming and manipulating men who should have known better but rarely did.
The world of sexual intrigue that Tan reveals in Rules for Virgins actually existed once, and she spares no detail in recreating it. But this story is more than intriguing (and sometimes shocking) historical literary fiction. Besides inviting us inside a life that few writers but Tan could conjure up, the intimate confessions of Magic Gourd add up to a kind of military manual for the War of the Sexes’ female combatants. The wisdom conveyed is ancient, specific, and timeless, exposing the workings of vanity and folly, calculation and desire that define the mysterious human heart.
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Oakland-bred LaVeesha “Vee” Gilliam (Coco Jones) is a determined single mother of an autistic son and a gifted aspiring coder. When Vee loses her job as a food-services worker at the onsite restaurant at Grapengine, a large Silicon Valley tech company, she’s unable to pay for her son’s much-needed specialized education. By a twist of fate, mistaken identity, and her tech skills, Vee meets Troy Wilson (Keith Powers), the company’s wealthy founder and CEO and a wunderkind in the tech industry, who believes that Vee is a college-educated techie who works at his company.
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Overdue Diverse Representation in Tech!
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As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
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Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
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Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
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Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
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As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now, she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.
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Who Else Laughed, Cried, and Shuddered?
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Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
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The definitive version!
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Original cast members from the beloved TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reunite for an all-new adventure about connections that never die—even if you bury them. A decade has passed since the epic final battle that concluded Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). The game-changing spell that gave power to all potential Slayers persists. With new Slayers constantly emerging, things are looking grim for the bad guys.
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A dream come true
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What listeners say about Rules for Virgins
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Fern Stuart
- 05-07-22
A short, interesting listen :)
I thought the narrator was a great fit for the role.
I know some reviewers thought it was too short, but I enjoyed it and didn't mind the length. I can definitely understand there's potential for this story to be more than it was. However, because the story was told from one POV (one-sided instructions and anecdotes, etc). I think this works well as the short story it is.
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- Thomas P. Hagstrom
- 02-18-19
Very interesting short read
A near identical treatise can be found in "Valley of Amazement". This read discusses the sexual aspect of man woman intimacy. Amy Tan has the courage to present what others only hint at, and she does so with class, style, and a command of the English language.
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- Quiltrobin
- 11-14-13
Loved it - oh so briefly!
I've got to agree with other reviewers that this story was too short. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was just an appetizer. Now that my appetite has been whetted, I want more! Dear Amy Tan, are you listening? I'm feeling kind of teased, but maybe that was the point, it's part of the courtesan's repertoire?
Short as it is, I do recommend this tasty morsel.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Ms Gail
- 06-30-24
Great addendum to the Valley of Amazement.
As with all Amy Tan’s novels, I didn’t want it to end. I happened upon this book by accident and was elated I already knew the main character. As expected, it’s well written, the narration is pleasant, and the story is enticing. Enjoy!
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- RealMack83
- 06-19-15
Excellent story, surprisingly great advice on how to succeed as a woman in a male dominated culture.
Excellent story, when needs must, this is timeless advice from a seasoned older woman to her young (virginal) protégée on how to both enrapture their clients and avoid the pitfalls of their profession. I loved the dichotomy of the seemingly powerless woman actually being the alpha in the relationships from begging to end. I would recommend this to other women and a few male friends. It's certainly a credit to the author that she brought the story of her own Grandmother and her interest in her family history to light. Knowing her research motivations made me even more engaged. Now that I've been introduced to them, in this delightful short story, I'm really looking forward to reading the full novel Amy Tan wrote about these characters.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Lorri
- 12-30-20
Much Too Short
Okay, to be honest, I purchased this book with the expectation of receiving a book. It was more like a pamphlet, albeit, a very well-performed pamphlet. It is my fault because I should have looked at the length, but I was so excited to see an Amy Tan book I hadn‘t already read or listened to and hit the purchase button with wild abandon. I’m anxiously awaiting the next book/novel by Amy Tan. She is an extremely talented writer and an anszinc story teller. This one just wasn‘t what I expected and my least favorite of her writings.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Miss Right
- 01-18-17
Not what I expected
This actually put me to sleep. It's the teacher talking to the newbie and it just goes on and on, never bringing the character to life. This would be more engaging had Tan told the story from the young woman's viewpoint. How did she feel about the prospect of sexual servitude to the highest bidder? It's so appalling, I'd really like to know. Good stories are about human emotions.
I'd have stayed awake for that.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Barbara Myslinska
- 09-12-23
Rules for Virgins
I enjoy the story but was so disappointed when it ended where I was ready for the main ploy to begin.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 01-28-14
Where was my Magic Gourd?
If you could sum up Rules for Virgins in three words, what would they be?
Captivating, interesting and informative.
What did you like best about this story?
I felt as if I was Violet listening to a wise mentor, envisioning myself as a courtesan.
Any additional comments?
This book is short about 2 hrs, my biggest problem was it was hard to work and listen to since it was very detailed.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 03-02-17
I wish it was longer!
It was so beautifully writen that I was constantly rewinding to hear certain passages over an over. I wish it was so much longer then it is. I love the tools and tricks of a courtesan that Amy Tan wrote about. she never disappoints me.
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2 people found this helpful