-
Ill-Equipped for a Life of Sex
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $17.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
We quickly became the typical I-must-talk-to-you-every-night-and-drive-over-to-your-house-at-10-p.m.-because-I-absolutely-cannot-go-to-sleep-if-I'm-not-in-the-same-bed-as-you couple falling in love...But just as quickly our honeymoon period came to an end. At first it wasn't clear. And then it was very clear. And then it was so f--king clear that John and I found ourselves driving to Beverly Hills for couples therapy.
When Jennifer Lehr found herself, at age twenty-eight, falling in love with a brilliant, kind, supportive comic named John, she breathed a sigh of relief. After a decade spent in a string of destined-to-fail relationships, and countless hours of therapy trying to repair the damage, her Mr. Right had come along.
Even Jennifer's judgmental grandparents had no choice but to succumb to John's considerable charms. Happily ever after? Not so fast. True love, Jennifer soon discovers, doesn't necessarily go hand-in-hand with a white-hot sex life. Just months into the relationship, she finds herself grappling with the question: What do you do when you find the committed, loving partnership you've always hoped for, but the sex is just so-so...that is, when and if it happens at all?
Distraught, yet dedicated to making their relationship work, Jennifer and John embark on couples therapy, twelve-step meetings, romantic getaways, Scheduled Date Nights...and their gritty determination begins to pay off.
Looking back at her life (sexual history, botched romances, neurotic parents) while tracing her and John's bumpy progress toward marriage, what emerges is a provocative, courageously honest, poignant, and ultimately cheering chronicle of one woman's sexual odyssey. Ill-Equipped for a Life of Sex is the quintessential modern-era love story - complete with confused expectations, myths of romantic love, and the overriding hope that a successful relationship can be forged from the rubble.
Related to this topic
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Exposed
- The Ashley Madison Hack
- By: Sophie Elmhirst, Maria Luisa Tucker
- Narrated by: Sophie Nélisse
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people–looking to cheat on their partners–signed up for Ashley Madison in the early 2000s, seeking a private space to share their public desires. The promise of discretion was shattered in the summer of 2015, when anonymous hackers stole the company’s cache of user information and published it worldwide. The result? One of the most shocking data breaches of the internet age. Overnight, millions of unfaithful spouses had their real names, addresses and sexual preferences published online in a searchable database that anyone could browse.
-
-
No mind change
- By Joshua on 02-13-24
By: Sophie Elmhirst, and others
-
Deputy Mayor Putin
- By: Maeve McQuillan
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Gwilym Lee
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a once faceless bureaucrat, a man whose own wife said he was born under the sign of the vampire, become the idealized face of Russian manhood and its authoritarian leader? Deputy Mayor Putin examines the man behind the myth. We will explore how Putin’s formative years shaped and drove him and how the supporting cast of characters he gathered along the way helped him get to the Kremlin’s inner sanctum.
-
-
Interesting
- By T J on 03-02-24
By: Maeve McQuillan
-
Trace of Doubt
- By: Samantha Weinberg
- Narrated by: Samantha Weinberg
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1985, a brilliant young British DNA scientist Helena Greenwood is found murdered in her front garden in a quiet suburb in California. The police believe they know the killer’s identity but there’s no evidence against him, and the only thing linking him to the crime is the fact he’d been charged with sexually assaulting Helena just a few months previously.
-
-
Frustrating
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-24
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
Elvis and Me
- By: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Narrated by: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inspiration for the major motion picture Priscilla directed by Sofia Coppola, this New York Times best seller reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, told by the woman who lived it.
-
-
What a story!
- By Pen Name on 08-28-22
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Exposed
- The Ashley Madison Hack
- By: Sophie Elmhirst, Maria Luisa Tucker
- Narrated by: Sophie Nélisse
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people–looking to cheat on their partners–signed up for Ashley Madison in the early 2000s, seeking a private space to share their public desires. The promise of discretion was shattered in the summer of 2015, when anonymous hackers stole the company’s cache of user information and published it worldwide. The result? One of the most shocking data breaches of the internet age. Overnight, millions of unfaithful spouses had their real names, addresses and sexual preferences published online in a searchable database that anyone could browse.
-
-
No mind change
- By Joshua on 02-13-24
By: Sophie Elmhirst, and others
-
Deputy Mayor Putin
- By: Maeve McQuillan
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw, Gwilym Lee
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a once faceless bureaucrat, a man whose own wife said he was born under the sign of the vampire, become the idealized face of Russian manhood and its authoritarian leader? Deputy Mayor Putin examines the man behind the myth. We will explore how Putin’s formative years shaped and drove him and how the supporting cast of characters he gathered along the way helped him get to the Kremlin’s inner sanctum.
-
-
Interesting
- By T J on 03-02-24
By: Maeve McQuillan
-
Trace of Doubt
- By: Samantha Weinberg
- Narrated by: Samantha Weinberg
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1985, a brilliant young British DNA scientist Helena Greenwood is found murdered in her front garden in a quiet suburb in California. The police believe they know the killer’s identity but there’s no evidence against him, and the only thing linking him to the crime is the fact he’d been charged with sexually assaulting Helena just a few months previously.
-
-
Frustrating
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-24
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
Elvis and Me
- By: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Narrated by: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inspiration for the major motion picture Priscilla directed by Sofia Coppola, this New York Times best seller reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, told by the woman who lived it.
-
-
What a story!
- By Pen Name on 08-28-22
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking listeners into the mind of Bankman-Fried.
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Sorry for Your Loss
- By: Michael Cruz Kayne
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sidesplitting, heartrending look at life—and death. This powerfully personal production, recorded live from the Minetta Lane Theatre, cuts through the platitudes, directly reaching out to anyone who has ever experienced loss—or will. So...everyone.
-
-
A Must Listen for the Grieving
- By Chris on 09-25-23
-
The Demon Next Door
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough recently made a shocking discovery: The small town of Temple, Texas, where he had grown up, had harbored a dark secret. One of his high school classmates, Danny Corwin, was a vicious serial killer. In this chilling tale, Burrough raises important questions of whether serial killers can be recognized before they kill or rehabilitated after they do. It is also a story of Texas politics and power that led the good citizens of the town of Temple to enable a demon who was their worst nightmare.
-
-
Odd narration choice
- By Amanda Fredericks on 03-08-19
By: Bryan Burrough
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
Audible Masterpiece
- By Phoenician on 09-10-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
-
-
Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
By: Jack Weatherford
-
The Debutante
- By: Jon Ronson
- Narrated by: Jon Ronson
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
-
-
Interesting but not compelling
- By Gail Jester on 04-15-23
By: Jon Ronson
-
Brutally Honest
- Mel B’s tell-all memoir
- By: Melanie Brown, Louise Gannon
- Narrated by: Melanie Brown, Phoenix Chi Gulzar Brown, Andrea Brown, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As one-fifth of the iconic Spice Girls and judge on X Factor and America's Got Talent, Melanie Brown, aka Scary Spice, has been an international star since the age of 19. And yet there are sides of Mel that no one has ever seen, or really known. Brutally Honest is an exposé of the struggles and acute pain that lay behind the glamour and success. With deep personal insight, remarkable frankness and Melanie’s trademark Yorkshire humour, this audiobook removes the mask of fame and reveals the mother, wife and daughter behind the Spice Girl everyone thinks they know.
-
-
I'm touched
- By Faith on 11-29-18
By: Melanie Brown, and others
-
Two Women Walk into a Bar
- By: Cheryl Strayed
- Narrated by: Cheryl Strayed
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-one years after Cheryl Strayed set off on the Pacific Crest Trail to heal from the death of her beloved mother, Cheryl’s mother-in-law, Joan, is given weeks to live. As she and her husband help see Joan through her final days, Cheryl reckons with their complicated relationship, determined to connect with a woman who both showed her love and (sometimes hilariously) held her at a distance. Cheryl reflects on their two decades together as she comes to a deeper understanding of the secrets and sorrows in Joan’s complicated past.
-
-
Cheryl tells a great story!
- By Amazon Customer on 01-01-24
By: Cheryl Strayed
-
Own It
- The Secret to Life
- By: Diane von Furstenberg
- Narrated by: Diane von Furstenberg
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Diane von Furstenberg, entrepreneur and philanthropist, presents her words to live by. In an easy-to-navigate A-Z dictionary format, designed to be browsed or listened to as a whole, Own It offers listeners Diane’s well-earned wisdom for enjoying both personal and professional growth at any age.
-
-
Some books should just never be opened
- By Mark on 06-08-22
-
The Year of Magical Thinking
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Vanessa Redgrave
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When celebrated writer Joan Didion’s life was altered forever, she wrote a new chapter. In this adaptation of her iconic memoir, Didion transforms the story of the shattering loss of her husband and their daughter into a one-woman play performed by Tony Award winner Vanessa Redgrave, who originated the role on Broadway in 2007.
-
-
Difficult story, but worth it
- By Maya on 08-07-20
By: Joan Didion
-
Something Ain't Right
- By: Roger Stringer, Zachary Stringer
- Narrated by: Roger Stringer, Zachary Stringer
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger Stringer grew up in rural Mississippi, hunting and eating everything from deer to rabbits. When he had two sons, Zac and Justin, he gave them guns and took them to the woods as well. Then one day when the boys were home alone, he got a call from Zac that Justin had been shot. What follows is an intimate and gripping memoir about the shooting’s aftermath. The story moves between the perspectives of Roger and Zac as they take us through their journey of betrayal, redemption, and ultimately confrontation with a company that had kept its corruption a secret for decades.
-
-
The Journey for Truth
- By samsararose on 05-19-23
By: Roger Stringer, and others
-
Chase Darkness with Me
- How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders
- By: Billy Jensen, Karen Kilgariff - foreword
- Narrated by: Karen Kilgariff, Billy Jensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Chase Darkness with Me, you’ll ride shotgun as journalist Billy Jensen identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You’ll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle’s pursuit of the Golden State Killer which is chronicled in I’ll Be Gone In The Dark which Billy helped finish after Michelle’s passing, and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown 4 family.
-
-
COULD NOT STOP
- By KK on 04-14-19
By: Billy Jensen, and others
What listeners say about Ill-Equipped for a Life of Sex
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susie
- 10-21-13
An All-Time Great Book of Married Sex
What happens when you’ve found the love of your life, but the sex quickly becomes just so-so? If you’re Jennifer Lehr, you pull up your boot straps and MAKE it work—couples therapy, sex therapy, and plain old date night until, eventually, it really does work.
"Ill-Equipped" is probably one of the all-time great books about a marriage falling apart and a woman whose husband is disinterested in sex with her. Lehr is unsparing, funny, insightful, heartbreaking, and relatable.
Emily Zeller pulls off the snarky L.A. pragmatist, and brings out the humor and hurt in the writing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joyalina
- 12-31-13
Not for Everyone -- But I Loved It
When I first stumbled across this audiobook, it had yet to be reviewed by the Audible listener community. So I went to Amazon where Jennifer Lehr is personally EXCORIATED by reviewer after reviewer. Multiple reviews include the words “self-absorbed,” “spoiled,” and “narcissistic.” The writing is described as “stilted,” “puerile” and “immature.” One reviewer even mentioned the Lehrs’ child, noting that she “will have to read the painfully embarrassing and pointless details of her mom’s promiscuity, chilly inability to enjoy sex, shrewish control freak behavior, materialism and the utterly demeaning and heartless way her mother has publicly castrated her father.” OUCH.
But, there were also a number of five star reviews that praised Ms. Lehr’s writing as “engaging,” “compelling,” “fun,” and “courageous.” Overall, the book was positively reviewed by critics and the subject matter was intriguing. So I took a chance. (Hey, I could always return the book if I hated it.)
Nine hours later, having laughed (and sometimes cringed) my way through this book, I understand why some reviewers did not like it. You either “get” Ms. Lehr and her sense of humor, or you don’t. Personally, I got it. What some may perceive as “self-absorbed,” I thought was self-deprecating. What some may perceive as “narcissistic,” I thought was wryly reflective. What some may perceive as “promiscuity,” I thought was an honest exploration of a woman’s developing sexuality. Mostly, however, I think I got this book because I didn't take it too seriously.
I also realize that my enjoyment of this book may be, in large part, due to Emily Zeller’s flawless narration. She not only captured the tone of Ms. Lehr’s writing perfectly, she managed to make Ms. Lehr’s character likeable and real. It’s equally notable that the stylistic issues some reviewers had with the printed copy of this book (poorly chosen font, over-hyphenation, and gratuitous photographs) did not apply to this audiobook. Whatever the reason, if you don’t take yourself (or others) too seriously, if you have ever experienced the anti-climax of a first kiss, if you have ever wondered why you always date guys who are all wrong for you, if you have ever realized that “frog” in your life is really a prince, or if you have ever loved someone enough to struggle though the hard times, I think you will enjoy this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful