Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed by Meghan Daum, ed.

I read it as an: audiobook

Narrator: Jo Anna Perrin, Johnny Heller

Source: library

Length: 7h 40 m

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Year: 2015

Thoughts: Eh. I liked most of the essays well enough. I think it is a topic that needs to be addressed, for sure. I do not think anyone is selfish for not wanting to have children. I think if anyone is hesitant, they should NOT have children. It is too big a deal, and can mess up a kid too badly, not to be sure you want them. And I think it is absolutely wrong for anyone to give anyone else shit about a decision that is entirely personal. The gall of some people is remarkable. I enjoyed the essay by Geoff Dyer, “Over and Out.” It was funny and insightful and just what I have thought a lot of the time. I didn’t want kids for a long time, until I did, and realized it wasn’t the kids I didn’t want, it was the man and the marriage. So there.

I did NOT care for the narration, though, on any of this. The lady narrator in particular sounded about as old as God and kind of robotic. I know they were essays, but that doesn’t mean they should be dry and boring and read without much feeling. I almost quit listening a few times because of the narration. It would have been faster and easier to eyeball read this one, but I had a bunch of other books to read, so I just kept on…