More Than a Woman

by Caitlin Moran

Overview

A Good Morning America Book Pick

The author of the international bestseller How to Be a Woman returns with another “hilarious neo-feminist manifesto” (NPR) in which she reflects on parenting, middle-age, marriage, existential crises—and, of course, feminism.

A decade ago, Caitlin Moran burst onto the scene with her instant bestseller, How to Be a Woman, a hilarious and resonant take on feminism, the patriarchy, and all things womanhood. Moran’s seminal book followed her from her terrible 13th birthday through adolescence, the workplace, strip-clubs, love, and beyond—and is considered the inaugural work of the irreverent confessional feminist memoir genre that continues to occupy a major place in the cultural landscape.

Since that publication, it’s been a glorious ten years for young women: Barack Obama loves Fleabag, and Dior make “FEMINIST” t-shirts. However, middle-aged women still have some nagging, unanswered questions: Can feminists have Botox? Why isn’t there such a thing as “Mum Bod”? Why do hangovers suddenly hurt so much? Is the camel-toe the new erogenous zone? Why do all your clothes suddenly hate you? Has feminism gone too far? Will your To Do List ever end? And WHO’S LOOKING AFTER THE CHILDREN?

As timely as it is hysterically funny, this memoir/manifesto will have readers laughing out loud, blinking back tears, and redefining their views on feminism and the patriarchy. More Than a Woman is a brutally honest, scathingly funny, and absolutely necessary take on the life of the modern woman—and one that only Caitlin Moran can provide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062893710
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/15/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	385,286
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Caitlin Moran’s debut book, How to Be a Woman, was an instant New York Times bestseller, with more than one million copies distributed worldwide. Her first novel, How to Build a Girl, received widespread acclaim, and she adapted it into a major motion picture starring Beanie Feldstein and Emma Thompson. As a twice-weekly columnist at The Times of London, Moran has won Columnist of the Year seven times. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

Prologue: September 2010 1

Chapter 1 The Hour of "The List" 11

Chapter 2 The Hour of Married Sex 18

Chapter 3 The Hour of Reflecting on a Good Marriage 32

Chapter 4 The Hour of Vulvas 50

Chapter 5 The Hour of Physical Acceptance 59

Chapter 6 The Hour of Housework 67

Chapter 7 The Hour of Missing the Children 85

Chapter 8 The Hour of Working Parenting 94

Chapter 9 The Hour of Parenting Teenage Children 104

Chapter 10 The Hour of the Ancestors 128

Chapter 11 The Hour of "What About the Men?" 135

Chapter 12 The Hour We Remember-Don't Eat Your Sisters 152

Chapter 13 The Hour of Aging 162

Chapter 14 The Hour of Demons 179

Chapter 15 The Hour of Self-Help 193

Chapter 16 The Hour of the Bad Marriage 204

Chapter 17 The Hour of Counting All the Things a Woman Will Have by the Age of Forty 211

Chapter 18 The Hour of Crisis 219

Chapter 19 The Hour of Wanting to Change the World 225

Chapter 20 The Hour of Imagining a Women's Union 228

Chapter 21 Hour of Happiness 235

Acknowledgments 253

Editorial Reviews

08/10/2020

British author Moran (How to Be a Woman) takes on the fraught topic of being a modern woman in this realistic, sometimes funny, and occasionally heartbreaking essay collection. With an empathetic and supportive tone, Moran covers a variety of subjects, including housework, married sex, aging, body acceptance, parenting teenagers, and overcoming rough spots in marriage (even when that means leaving). While some of Moran’s essays are downright funny—as when she wryly muses about reconciling using Botox while being a feminist—many others focus on tough topics, such as second-guessing herself for impulsively offering to house her younger brother during their parents’ divorce; her daughter’s battle with cutting and eating disorders; and the difficulties of simultaneously juggling working and motherhood and never feeling truly accomplished at either. Moran wisely counsels readers to stop being self-critical and enjoy the various phases of their lives, and not to badmouth others’ spouses; she also recommends the healing powers of yoga (“But the best way to get high is to take something out of you. To drain away a lifetime of hunching, cringing, tongue biting, and fist clenching. You’re too old to carry those things around with you anymore”). Readers will find comfort and humor in Moran’s heartfelt and deeply honest musings. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Sharp, hilarious." — New York Post, Best Book of the Week

“Hilarious.… Moran’s irreverent and sweary style was already familiar in the U.K. by the time her first book, How to Be a Woman, became a New York Times best seller…. A decade later, More Than a Woman celebrates the hard-won wisdom of middle age. The humor is still there, and the anger, but also humility and joy.”  — Los Angeles Times

“One of the funniest feminist writers working today…. [More Than a Woman] asks new probing questions—with a wink and a smirk—that get to the heart of mid-life gender inequity.” — Bust Magazine

“A must-read.”  — Library Journal, starred review

"Moran handles weighty topics with lightness and a welcoming spirit, delivering straight talk with empathy, humor, and hope." — Booklist

“Moran takes on the fraught topic of being a modern woman in this realistic, sometimes funny, and occasionally heartbreaking essay collection…. Readers will find comfort and humor in Moran’s heartfelt and deeply honest musings.”  — Publishers Weekly

“Superbly funny....The most obvious precursor to More Than a Woman is I Feel Bad About My Neck.... But where Ephron’s impulse was to chronicle the often inglorious slide towards old age, Moran’s is, where possible, to celebrate and find value in it.” — The Guardian

“The hilarious Caitlin Moran returns with her second neo-feminist memoir, following How to Be a Woman… Women with changing bodies, aging parents, and children at home will relate to Moran’s biting humor, and men partnered with those women might want to read this to save their relationship.” — Virtuoso Magazine

From the Publisher

Superbly funny....The most obvious precursor to More Than a Woman is I Feel Bad About My Neck.... But where Ephron’s impulse was to chronicle the often inglorious slide towards old age, Moran’s is, where possible, to celebrate and find value in it.

The Guardian

Hilarious.… Moran’s irreverent and sweary style was already familiar in the U.K. by the time her first book, How to Be a Woman, became a New York Times best seller…. A decade later, More Than a Woman celebrates the hard-won wisdom of middle age. The humor is still there, and the anger, but also humility and joy.” 

|Los Angeles Times

"Moran handles weighty topics with lightness and a welcoming spirit, delivering straight talk with empathy, humor, and hope."

Booklist

"Sharp, hilarious."

New York Post

The hilarious Caitlin Moran returns with her second neo-feminist memoir, following How to Be a Woman… Women with changing bodies, aging parents, and children at home will relate to Moran’s biting humor, and men partnered with those women might want to read this to save their relationship.

null Virtuoso Magazine

The hilarious Caitlin Moran returns with her second neo-feminist memoir, following How to Be a Woman… Women with changing bodies, aging parents, and children at home will relate to Moran’s biting humor, and men partnered with those women might want to read this to save their relationship.

Virtuoso Magazine

"Sharp, hilarious."

New York Post

One of the funniest feminist writers working today…. [More Than a Woman] asks new probing questions—with a wink and a smirk—that get to the heart of mid-life gender inequity.

Bust Magazine

"Moran handles weighty topics with lightness and a welcoming spirit, delivering straight talk with empathy, humor, and hope."

Booklist

Hilarious.… Moran’s irreverent and sweary style was already familiar in the U.K. by the time her first book, How to Be a Woman, became a New York Times best seller…. A decade later, More Than a Woman celebrates the hard-won wisdom of middle age. The humor is still there, and the anger, but also humility and joy.” 

Los Angeles Times

12/04/2020

The latest book by Moran opens with a hilarious imagined conversation today's Moran would have had with herself 10 years ago, when she completed How To Be a Woman, ostensibly signaling that her original definition of what it meant to be a woman felt complex, when in fact it failed to accommodate who she would become. With that in mind, she's written an addition of sorts—almost, as the hour-by-hour chapter structure suggests, a day in her life. She examines gaps between ideals and realities, from her daily to-do lists and the order she hopes they provide, to the chaotic mess of midnight tweets and more personal struggles that show how precariously we can cling to theories or values even as we see our real lives taking their own shape, often far from what we hoped to create. But it's in her descriptions of parenting that Moran is at her rawest and most vulnerable, as she emphasizes how hard it is to realize we can't save others (we can hardly keep ourselves afloat, after all) while also revealing that it's enough to realize we need to make changes when (not if) we fail. VERDICT Moran brings readers along during her fallible and human days, showing how we can all relate to feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. A must-read.—Emily Bowles, Lawrence Univ., WI

Library Journal