
This American Ex-Wife
How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life
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Narrated by:
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Lyz Lenz
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By:
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Lyz Lenz
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply validating manifesto on the gender politics of marriage (bad) and divorce (actually pretty good!) in America today, and an argument that the former needs a reboot—from journalist and proud divorcée Lyz Lenz
“This American Ex-Wife is a bomb, a bouquet (but not a wedding bouquet), a memoir, a manifesto, and a total joy to read.”—Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to Me
AN ELECTRIC LIT BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Studies show that nearly 70 percent of divorces are initiated by women—women who are tired, fed up, exhausted, and unhappy. We’ve all seen how the media portrays divorcées: sad, lonely, drowning their sorrows in a bottle of wine. Lyz Lenz is one such woman whose life fell apart after she reached a breaking point in her twelve-year marriage. But she refused to take part in that tired narrative and decided to flip the script on divorce.
In this exuberant and unapologetic book, Lenz makes an argument for the advantages of getting divorced, framing it as a practical and effective solution for women to take back the power they are owed. Weaving reportage with sociological research and literature with popular culture along with personal stories of coming together and breaking up, Lenz creates a kaleidoscopic and poignant portrait of American marriage today. She argues that the mechanisms of American power, justice, love, and gender equality remain deeply flawed, and that marriage, like any other cultural institution, is due for a reckoning. A raucous argument for acceptance, solidarity, and collective female refusal, This American Ex-Wife takes listeners on a riveting ride—while pointing us all toward a life that is a little more free.
©2024 Lyz Lenz (P)2024 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“With This American Ex-Wife Lenz adds to her already impressive canon of cultural criticism. . . . Through a vivid mix of research, reporting, and personal anecdote, [she] reveals the power imbalances inherent to traditional heterosexual marriage, and calls for a radical act of refusal by women who have been too-long defined by their relationships to men.”—Literary Hub
“This American Ex-Wife is a bomb, a bouquet (but not a wedding bouquet), a memoir, a manifesto, and a total joy to read.” —Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to Me
“A tour de force, instant classic memoir-meets-manifesto . . . Cishet love is a battlefield, and This American Ex-Wife is a long-awaited shield. This book will rightfully end and prevent certain types of marriages, by which I mean it will save lives.”—Alissa Nutting, author of Made for Love
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Her husband sounds totally incompatible with any self respecting woman. But what really gets to me is that, in so many ways, he sounds like a personality clone of MY ex-husband, who I also left after 12 years of marriage. Are there LOTS of men like that? There must be. I feel like I dodged a bullet because I never had children with my ex. Lyz makes it clear how much worse THAT would have made things.
I can totally relate to her repeated emphasis on the absence of true partnership from the man’s side and how women are usually the ones handed a load of bull of how marriage is work that you just have to stick to.
The statistics, facts and other info peppered through the book make this an incredibly informative and eye opening read.
Every divorced woman needs to read this. I often lapse into self pity that I don’t have a man. This book reminded me that I am FREE of a bad situation and that I should be very cautious about any future decisions. More importantly, every woman thinking about marriage and children needs to read this. There is a lot of truth here. Every word of it.
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