Disappointing

The voice of the narrator did not match the subject matter. I found her voice pretentious and disconnected from the text.

13 people found this helpful

Fabulous Stories...Truly Deep and Moving

Having seen Elizabeth on Oprah I was drawn to her. This book is a jewel. It is beautifully read too. This went on my Ipod and has been my constant companion for 2 days. What gorgeous stories she shares.
I have wept copious tears of joy and sorrow, and feel that she has captured with such beauty...the rich and complex experiences of life.

62 people found this helpful

Good content; ok narrator

Elizabeth Lesser's framing of how we can learn from bad experiences should be required reading for everyone in their 20's. We'd all ignore it perhaps, but maybe some of it would stick as we mature and grow. If you have never considered what your "take-aways" or lessons learned are from really bad experiences, then read this book. Even if you understand this at your core, then read this book. I enjoy the framework that she uses especially in the last portion of the book to talk about what is possible. The parts that I didn't enjoy about listening to the book were twofold. I felt as if the narrator was talking in too "airy-fairy" a voice and was sing-songy. It made the text sound preachy and I don't think that was Lesser's intent. She seemed to modulate herself about halfway through the book, or maybe I just numbed out to the irritation because I wanted to get through the content.
The second thing that I didn't appreciated as much was the metaphor of a hero's journey that Lesser applied to her own life. I think she was trying to apply perhaps, some objectivity? But I think it came off as seeming smug or not really taking accountability for the harm she inflicted on others. Calling her extra-marital affair a journey with her "Shaman Lover", I thought was a bit affected. Come on Ms. Lesser, you cheated on your husband- simply put. Your other descriptions of what it was, were very well written and you did accept accountability, but I felt put off by some of the labels that didn't seem quite as useful as the rest of your writing.
Having said ALL of that, I still recommend reading the book, but this may be one that is better read than listened to.

6 people found this helpful

Great Book - Would Recommend, But....

Would you consider the audio edition of Broken Open to be better than the print version?

Never read print

What other book might you compare Broken Open to and why?

Anatomy of the Spirit, Until Today

Would you be willing to try another one of Susan Denaker’s performances?

NO. That is the reason I'm writing this review. Her voice is pretty difficult to listen too. And her child and eldery people immitations are too much to bear. They are grinding and syrupy. Takes away from the book's essence and meaning.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I would not make a film about this book.

Any additional comments?

Again, highly recommend this book as a reader. Not as an audio book. At least until you get a new narrator.

4 people found this helpful

belly-button gazing....

A lot of energy is expended on intensive naval gazing and flowery prose. The author's own story dominates and yet fails to inspire. Others' stories (within the book) are interesting but burdened with tortured prose. If you're looking for practical insights and fresh eyes on life, keep looking. Outliers is good for that.

9 people found this helpful

Just what I needed

This book helped to save my life, just when I was feeling like I couldn't go on any longer. It gave me an understanding about what I was going through and sparked a new hope in me so that I could keep pushing through, believing that I would emerge with a greater awareness and strength

2 people found this helpful

A glorified autobiography, lacking depth

The narration was great, easy listening. And the first half of the book was interesting, informative even, but afterwards it just went downhill and I struggled so much to finish it. While the book may be helpful to many, I have listened to dozens of "self help" type of books and truthfully this is nothing more than an autobiography with a lesson that can be summarized into a paragraph or less. The author relies too heavily on the lessons of other spiritual teachers and doesn't offer any real insight of her own. Her story about her life's trials are only relatable to a specific genre and she adds far too much personal information that has no bearing on the lesson she is trying to get across. I didn't get much out of this book besides frustration, so I won't be reading it again and I wouldn't recommend to anyone either.

1 person found this helpful

So thankful to have found this

A friend referred me to this book as I mentioned I’d be going to a retreat at Omega Institute. It couldn’t have found me at a better time and was exactly what I needed to hear at this point in my journey.

1 person found this helpful

Life Changing

I am so glad I selected this book. I have listened to it several times, each time taking something new with me. I purchased two more for a couple of women I thought could use it. An absolutely fantastic, life changing book!

4 people found this helpful

Not my cup of tea

I thought I'd try something different from what I usually get. I'm sorry I did. I'm sure some folks enjoy the metaphysical stuff, but for me this was just like sitting and listening to an eleven hour long sermon. I agree with what the author was saying (self power, learn from mistakes, take time to enjoy the small stuff), but I guess my perfered form of agreement is not in listening to the book.

7 people found this helpful