Not That Bad

Dispatches from Rape Culture

By: Roxane Gay

Narrated by: Roxane Gay, Brandon Taylor, Emma Smith-Stevens, A.J. McKenna, Lisa Mecham, Vanessa Martir, xTx, Sophie Mayer

Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Edited and with an introduction by Roxane Gay, the New York Times best-selling and deeply beloved author of Bad Feminist and Hunger, this anthology of first-person essays read by all 30 contributors, including Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, and Lyz Lenz, tackles rape, assault, and harassment head-on.

*Vogue, “10 of the Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2018”

*Harper’s Bazaar, “10 New Books to Add to Your Reading List in 2018”

*Elle, “21 Books We’re Most Excited to Read in 2018”

*Boston Globe, “25 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018”

*Huffington Post, “60 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018”

*Hello Giggles, “19 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018”

*Buzzfeed, “33 Most Exciting New Books of 2018”

In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and best-selling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are "routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied" for speaking out. Contributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers, and critics, including actors Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union and writers Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, and Claire Schwartz.

Covering a wide range of topics and experiences, from an exploration of the rape epidemic embedded in the refugee crisis to first-person accounts of child molestation, this collection is often deeply personal and is always unflinchingly honest. Like Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me, Not That Bad will resonate with every listener, saying "something in totality that we cannot say alone".

Searing and heartbreakingly candid, this provocative collection both reflects the world we live in and offers a call to arms insisting that "not that bad" must no longer be good enough.

The full list of narrators includes: Roxane Gay, Gabrielle Union, Ally Sheedy, Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, Claire Schwartz, Aubrey Hirsch, Jill Christman, Lynn Melnick, Brandon Taylor, Emma Smith-Stevens, A.J. McKenna, Lisa Mecham, Vanessa Mártir, xTx, Sophie Mayer, Nora Salem, V.L. Seek, Michelle Chen, Liz Rosema, Anthony Frame, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Miriam Zoila Pérez, Zoe Medeiros, Sharisse Tracey, Stacey May Fowles, Elisabeth Fairfield Stokes, Meredith Talusan, Nicole Boyce, and Elissa Bassist.

©2018 Roxane Gay (Compilation and introduction) (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Such a powerful and necessary collection!" (AudioFile)

Shakes you to the core

If you ever wondered how a rape survivor feels and deals with it, here it is laid out in gut wrenching , searing honest essays from survivors. I am sure these stories will stay with me for years to come and for that i commend author for coming up with this anthology.

Glimpse into the reality of rape.

This book grabs you by your heart and never lets go until you’re done. I would recommend this to everyone in our society.

painful but important

I'm thankful for the authors for sharing their stories to drive awareness of different forms in which sexual violence and abuse can manifest. there's a great range of writing here. some authors share detail, others approach their stories with more restraint, all of them are poetic in their own way. all of them shed light on the complex journey of healing. I think this book will help listeners be able to engage with survivors with more appropriate sensitivity and empathy.

Good book!

Definitely could be triggering to some but content is needed and necessary. This book is very important.

Trigger Warning but an amazing book!!

There are triggers in this book but each survivor's account of what happened to them is powerful and true.

Relevant! Mandatory!

I’d never taken such an in-depth look at rape culture. How it is ingrained in us and how we lightly pass off sexual assault and trauma. It made me understand that my own experience with rape WAS that bad and it was real. Listening to this I realize that I too have not only dipped my foot in but taken a swim in this indoctrinating world dictating who counts and what “real” rape means. It was painful to hear at times and sometimes frustrating. It was relevant and should be mandatory reading for anyone effected, bothered, or even confused about what rape culture truly is.

Riveting storytelling!

Gritty, heart-wrenching and sometimes heartbreaking. Each story was well told, compelling and offered deep insight into the untold experiences of so many women.

Everyone should read this

This collection of essays was incredibly powerful, and sat with me long after it ended...

Essential listening

Essential reading. I recommend listening, though — each writer narrates their own entry, and their voices add so much to the telling that I can’t imagine experiencing the book any other way (although I got the Kindle version, too). The essays are not about the rapes and assaults themselves but generally about how the writers dealt with the aftermath. It's all so nuanced and powerful. Most writers didn’t tell anybody, let alone report, what happened — although there’s one particularly memorable essay where a teenage girl tells everyone and no one believes her. This book couldn't help but make me think about those who say America doesn’t have a rape culture and point to a country where women are stoned to death for being raped — “Now that’s a rape culture,” they say. In this book, so many of the women downplayed their own trauma because at least it wasn’t as bad as if it'd been a stranger with a gun, a gang rape, or a murder, too. Their suffering was prolonged because they couldn't stop thinking of others who had it worse. The suffering caused by this country’s pervasive sexual violence and aggression will continue as long as people are given credence who say it’s not that bad compared with what’s happening over there. Grade: A

Hear this now.

Heartbreaking and familiar. Somehow reassuring amid all of the terrible. Worth every minute. Worth every tear. Feels like hearing, "it's not just you."