How to Be a Woman (Moran) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
...Remind[s] us, in this era of manufactured outrage, what a truly great rant should look like: rude, energetic and spinning off now and then into jubilant absurdity…None of what she says is new, and it's written in a style that, inevitably, tips here and there from larky into dashed off…But this is to miss the point. The book is so joyful, so free of the piety that has felled many a worthier title and—this is its real value—so liable to find readers who in a million years wouldn't identify with Susan Faludi, that it feels like a rare case of winning the argument…. How to Be a Woman is a glorious, timely stand against sexism so ingrained we barely even notice it.
Emma Brockes - New York Times


Moran’s frank wit is appealing.
The New Yorker


Totally brilliant.
Independent (UK)


Scathingly funny…. Moran makes us think about femininity and feminism, and whether you agree or not, she’s fascinating.
People


Bravely and brilliantly weaves personal anecdotes and cutting insight into a book that is at once instructional, confessional, and a call for change…. Moran shifts effortlessly between her own hilarious experiences and larger questions about women’s place in the modern world.
Interview Magazine


The UK’s answer to Tina Fey, Chelsea Handler, and Lena Dunham all rolled into one.
Marie Claire


Half-memoir, half-polemic, and entirely necessary.
Elle (UK)


Part memoir, part postmodern feminist rant, this award-winning British TV critic and celebrity writer brings her ingeniously funny views to the States. Moran’s journey into womanhood begins on her 13th birthday when boys throw rocks at her 182-pound body, and her only friend, her sister Caz, hands her a homemade card reminding her to please turn 18 or die soon so Caz can inherit her bedroom. Always resourceful—as the eldest of eight children from Wolverhampton—the author embarrasses herself often enough to become an authority on how to masturbate; name one’s breasts; and forgo a Brazilian bikini wax. She doesn’t politicize feminism; she humanizes it. Everyone, she writes, is automatically an F-word if they own a vagina and want “to be in charge of it.” Empowering women is as easy as saying—without reservation—the word “fat” and filling our handbags with necessities like a safety pin, biscuit, and “something that can absorb huge amounts of liquid.” Beneath the laugh-out-loud humor is genuine insight about the blessings of having—or not having—children. With brutal honesty, she explains why she chose to have an abortion after birthing two healthy daughters with her longtime husband, Pete. Her story is as touching as it is timely. In her brilliant, original voice, Moran successfully entertains and enlightens her audience with hard-won wisdom and wit.
Publishers Weekly


A spirited memoir/manifesto that dares readers to "stand on a chair and shout ‘I AM A FEMINIST.' " With equal amounts snarky brio and righteous anger, Moran brings the discussion of contemporary women's rights down from the ivory tower and into the mainstream.... While some American readers may struggle with the British references and slang, they will find their efforts rewarded. Rapturously irreverent, this book should kick-start plenty of useful discussions.
Kirkus Reviews