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Mania

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Mania

By: Lionel Shriver
Narrated by: Abby Craden
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About this listen

'Seldom is a book as funny, important and timely … I was laughing out loud at the same time as my blood was running cold' JOHN CLEESE

‘Viciously funny… an exhilarating satire’ THE TIMES

'Merciless… a welcome distraction' ECONOMIST, Best Books of 2024

What if calling someone stupid was illegal?

In a reality not too distant from our own, the worst thing you can call someone is 'stupid'.

Everyone is equally clever, and discrimination based on intelligence is 'the last great civil rights fight'. Exams and grades are discarded and you don't need a qualification to be a doctor.

When best friends Pearson and Emory find themselves on opposing sides of this new culture war, their relationship begins to fracture. And soon, Pearson’s determination to cling onto the 'old, bigoted way of thinking' begins to endanger her job, her safety and even her family…

Hilarious, deadpan and scathing, MANIA is a frighteningly plausible glimpse into what the world could become – or is already – from the pen of a master storyteller.

©2024 Lionel Shriver (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Dystopian Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Political Psychological Satire Science Fiction Witty
All stars
Most relevant  
Always enjoy Lionel Shriver work
This was the best one yet!
Laugh out loud funny couldn’t stop listening

Funny well written

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Well written, well read, a scathing attack on the levelling instincts of the few applied to the many - and at the same time, managing not to be partisan. I enjoyed it more than I had expected.

Entertaining and incisive - and not entirely what you expect.

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I liked the early chapters containing dialogue but couldn’t get passed the dense didactic section of the story, which seemed to go on and on.

Disappointed

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Shriver's dry humour shines through in this alternative reality nightmare. Many laugh out loud moments and revelations about where we are headed if we don't all get a grip!

When the last bastion of reality falls.

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I've read and enjoyed other Lionel Shriver books but found this self indulgent. it seemed to be rant about right wing politics in America hidden inside a barely put together story. While the ideas and concepts were intriguing it was quite tedious to listen to.
I also found the chapter numbers confusing. Repeated Chapter 1, 2, 3s made me think the audio book had skipped a bit or gone backwards.
I finished it but the end wasn't worth the effort.

Should have been an essay

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I love Shriver's work, excellent writing, and always imaginative.
Mania is both fun and depressing, poking fun at how ridiculous we humans are when it comes to political and social norms. Shriver seems to have become a little heavy handed with her point of view, it's not difficult to identify the issues at the heart of the story. More nuance and less preaching would let the reader get a bit closer, and maybe even care about some of the characters.
Still better than a lot of contemporary books.
Good narration, suitable.

Good, fun, but not great

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I don’t think I can continue listening to this story. I can barely understand what the reader is saying

Terrible reader

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