Audio heaven: Naomi

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Vagina: A New Biography – Naomi Wolf

An astonishing work of cutting-edge science and cultural history that radically reframes how we understand the vagina – and consequently, how we understand women – from one of our most respected cultural critics and thinkers, Naomi Wolf, author of the modern classic The Beauty Myth. When an unexpected medical crisis sends Naomi Wolf on a deeply personal journey to tease out the intersections between sexuality and creativity, she discovers, much to her own astonishment, an increasing body of scientific evidence that suggests that the vagina is not merely flesh, butt an intrinsic component of the female brain – and thus has a fundamental connection to female consciousness itself. Utterly enthralling and totally fascinating, Vagina: A New Biography draws on this set of insights about “the mind-vagina connection” to reveal new information about what women really need, and considers what a sexual relationship – and a relationship to the self – transformed by these insights could look like.
Unabridged.
Read by Therese Plummer.

Saturday, 14 July 2012

Crucible of Gold – Naomi Novik

Naomi Novik beloved series returns, with Captain Will Laurence and his fighting dragon Temeraire once again taking to the air against the broadsides of Napoleon forces and the friendlyâ€”and sometimes not-so-friendly fire of British soldiers and politicians who continue to suspect them of divided loyalties, if not outright treason. For Laurence and Temeraire, put out to pasture in Australia, it seems their part in the war has come to an end just when they are needed most. But perhaps they are no longer alone in this opinion. Newly allied with the powerful African empire of the Tswana, the French have occupied Spain and brought revolution and bloodshed to Brazil, threatening Britain's last desperate hope to defeat Napoleon. And now the government that sidelined them has decided they have the best chance at negotiating a peace with the angry Tswana, who have besieged the Portuguese royal family in Rioâ€”and thus offer to reinstate Laurence to his former rank and seniority as a captain in the Aerial Corps. Temeraire is delighted by this sudden reversal of fortune, but Laurence is by no means sanguine, knowing from experience that personal honor and duty to one's country do not always run on parallel tracks. Nonetheless, the pair embark for Brazil, only to meet with a string of unmitigated disasters that force them to make an unexpected landing in the hostile territory of the Incan empire, where they face new unanticipated dangers. Now with the success of the mission balanced on a razor's edge, and failure looking more likely by the minute, the unexpected arrival of an old enemy will tip the scales toward ruin. Yet even in the midst of disaster, opportunity may lurkâ for one bold enough to grasp it.
Unabridged.
Read by Simon Vance.