• Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket

  • Stories
  • By: Hilma Wolitzer
  • Narrated by: Hilary Huber
  • Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (41 ratings)

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Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket  By  cover art

Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket

By: Hilma Wolitzer
Narrated by: Hilary Huber
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Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket by Hilma Wolitzer, read by Hilary Huber, with a foreword by Elizabeth Strout.

From her many well-loved novels, Hilma Wolitzer - now 91 years old and at the top of her game - has gained a reputation as one of our best fiction writers. These collected short stories - most of them originally published in magazines including Esquire and the Saturday Evening Post in the 1960s and 1970s, along with a new story that brings her early characters into the present - are evocative of an era that still resonates deeply today.

In the title story, a bystander tries to soothe a woman who seems to have cracked under the pressures of her life. In several linked stories throughout, the relationship between the narrator and her husband unfolds in telling and often hilarious vignettes. Of their time and yet timeless, Wolitzer’s stories zero in on the domestic sphere with wit, candor, grace and an acutely observant eye. Brilliantly capturing the tensions and contradictions of daily life, Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket is full of heart and insight, providing a lens into a world that was often unseen at the time and often overlooked now - reintroducing a beloved writer to be embraced by a whole new generation of readers and listeners.

©2021 Hilma Wolitzer (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

"Wit, wisdom and warmth form the foundation of this sparkling collection. Wolitzer is a natural-born storyteller whose rigor, attention and generosity create miracles on each and every page." (Tayari Jones)

"The uncannily relevant, deliciously clear-eyed collected stories of a critically acclaimed, award-winning American literary treasure.” (Boston Globe)

"Hilma Wolitzer sees the miraculous, and the tragic, in modest lives and domestic particulars - wonders that might pass as ordinary events to the untrained eye. She magnifies the world. She insists, in one gorgeous sentence after another, that there’s no such thing as a usual hour, let alone a usual day." (Michael Cunningham)

What listeners say about Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Dark with humor?

Don’t read if you are depressed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Brutal. I couldn’t stop reading it.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very entertaining!

The narrator is terrific. I have listened to her many times. She can make anything sound fun. The writing is smart. The stories are rich and poignant.
Very enjoyable way to spend 8 hours.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Thoroughly Enjoyed!

Each chapter is a separate story about the life of seemingly different women. I love that many of the chapters are from the 60s and 70s. Thought provoking… sometimes sad, sometimes humorous. This book isn’t for everyone but I really enjoyed it!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Beautiful writing about banality

The writing is witty, but the character is not worth spending time with, living such a self-absorbed and narrow life with so little insight.

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