A Joyful, Chaotic, Unpredictable, Inspiring Day in the Life of Ada Calhoun

By: Courtney Reimer

Narrated by: Courtney Reimer, Ada Calhoun

Length: 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

Follow along as Ada Calhoun and Audible editor Courtney Reimer—both Gen X women living the chaos and joy Calhoun chronicles in her new work, Why We Can’t Sleep – go about their busy days to illustrate the universality of the modern midlife crisis. You’ll hear the many sounds of a life fully lived amid commuting, dining, parenting, and preparing for all the obstacles family and career might throw in the way. 

©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

We get it, people are busy; get over yourselves.

And by the way, that is, ALL people are busy, not just women. As a woman myself, I am getting sick and tired of hearing "our" side of things elevated and men's "anything" being diminished. Tearing people down because they are not us and just cannot possibly understand our [fill in the blank here], so we must constantly bring up our "struggle" is not how any of us are going to go on to have fulfilling lives.

All in all, this recording was just...why? Why was this quotidian piece of crap not only made, but offered to the public at large as some sort of worthwhile listen? If the lives of these two women were already so full of obligations, duties, etc, that they are trying to illustrate just how little time they can squeeze in for themselves and their art, let alone their families or careers, then making this completely unnecessary "day in the life of" recording of a privileged dweller in one of the world's richest cities ever was just another exercise in solipsism, a newer version of the selfie, or a quick dinner pic for the Instagram account crowd, and it serves no real purpose.

I did not enjoy this offering, even though it was "free." I have now been burned by enough sub-par "freebie" Audible Original offerings that they are easily overshadowing the few really good ones I stumbled upon. How many worthwhile offerings will now go unlistened-to, since they have pretty much conditioned me to ignore the whole "freebie" offerings of the Audible Originals? Oh well, their loss, ultimately.

What?!

I'm sorry GenX, but if you had been paying attention to anyone else during the first 35 or 40 years of your life you might have noticed that this is what women have ALWAYS done. Your grandmother and great grandmother (who didn't have a bodega or supermarket on every corner) would have had to raise, kill, gut and defeather that chicken and grow the vegetables to go with it. They wouldn't have had to visit Mom and Dad in the nursing home or hospice, because Mom and Dad moved in with them when they could no longer care for themselves - and you had to clean, cook and care for them, too. Evenings weren't for the computer, but for chores you could do in poor lighting, like mending clothing - which wasn't a throw-it-away-and-buy-new item.

I could go on and on, but I don't have the time right now. So, yes, life can be difficult and there are seldom enough hours in the day, but GenX doesn't have a monopoly on that lifestyle.

So beautifully done - and so accurate!!

Yes! The Women’s GenX struggle is real. Career, home, kids, marriage, parents, commuting, organizing, etc. This is so insightful and so well done!

Good read!

I wasn't expecting this but felt it was decent, especially as a free read. it is very true about women managing work, family, friends and other obligations-all at the same time.

A waste of time.

This was 30 minutes of two women talking about how busy their lives are. Apparently, it is supposed to be about the struggles of Gen X women, but it didn't touch the subject. Instead, the author an narrator spent the entire book bragging about all the things they do during the day.

Quit Whining; You’re Not Unique

Quit whining about how difficult your life is and do more research before spewing nonsense. I looked forward to listening to this presentation, but your credibility vanished almost immediately with the statement that Gen X women are unique in having to juggle many life responsibilities, such as homemaking, work,and caregiving for both children and elderly parents simultaneously without a lot of (if any) assistance.

Well, I hate to break it to you, but Gen X women are not the only ones that have had that distinction. Younger baby boomers have also experienced - and are still experiencing - the same life, job, and familial responsibilities.

A very disappointing production. Don’t waste your money or time on it.

Bazinga

The story was short and meh. I asked myself why was this made. If you are really busy why waste time on this project? The narrator did ok. This was like listening to a podcast. A podcast of people complaining about everyday life. Seriously that was it. Two people complained about being busy. I got it FREE and feel like I greatly overpaid. I can't recommend this to anyone.

Disclaimer: I've been listening at 2x speed for so long anything else sounds like slow motion. My enjoyment of the narrator is based on my listening speed. I only leave 5 stars for books I've listened to multiple times. I'll update my review if I listen again.

Ugh

I didn't understand the overall point of this book at all. It just seemed like a bunch of women complaining about their responsibilities. I think the point may have been that there is an equal expectation on women vs men in our society, but this is nothing new or different. With how busy we all are, I felt this was a waist of 24 mins.

Sooooooo booooooooooooooorrrrinnnnnnggggggggg

I don't get the point of this book.... there's no substance to it. I'm not even sure how this qualifies as a book.

Better than Ada Calhoun's book!

I loved the interview style of this book, where you could hear what was going on. I thought Ada's book would be like this, but it wasn't.

The style if this short, reminded of the interview style documentary Audible by the author of "Dopesick America". I almost craved tolisten to something like, "Finding Tess" again, and this curbed that itch for a while!

Not long enough!