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My Name Is Why
- Narrated by: Lemn Sissay, Richard Burnip, Zoe Mills
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Social Sciences
Non-member price: $31.89
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Publisher's Summary
At the age of 17, after a childhood in an fostered family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth.
Here Sissay recounts his life story. It is a story of neglect and determination. Misfortune and hope. Cruelty and triumph.
Sissay reflects on a childhood in care, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation's best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.
What listeners say about My Name Is Why
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Hatty
- 14-01-2021
Powerful
This is beautifully written - the journey of a child, supported by extracts from official reports at the time, and commented upon by his adult self. It is tough and raw. It is the powerful journey of a child with a strong adult guide. An essential listen for anyone who ever needed, but did not have, a strong adult in their own journey.
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- Eva Hansord
- 16-10-2020
My favourite audible book to date
An incredible story told by the author himself. He hooks you in with his poeticism and passion. Highly recommend.
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- Claire
- 02-08-2020
Brilliant!
Once I started to listen to this beautifully written, brilliantly narrated, autobiography, I could hardly bring myself to turn it off. This sad, stark and confronting account of Lemn Sissay’s experience of growing up in the UK’s, so called, care system, is the best audiobook I’ve listened to for a very long time.
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- Giulia
- 31-08-2019
“They took me away from me”
What a beautiful book, a real life account of being raised in the UK care system, Lemn Sissay is a wonderful human being and an inspiration. I absolutely loved this book;)
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- Pamela Horitani
- 09-10-2020
My immediate thoughts after reading My Name is Why
Lemn’s memoir makes me continue to ponder why this world in which we live hates Blacks so much. Why, interwoven into the fabric of society, it is widely accepted that Blacks are less than, inferior. Why individually and collectively a person (and structural systems) willfully set out to demean, belittle and terrorize Blacks in particular (and “people of color” to a larger degree).
This brand of willful insanity is destructive to all and will amount to no good.
In Lemn’s story, why was this even done? There’s no meaningful answer(s) yet we see/hear of it and the likes time and again. Another Black soul was damaged...but Lemn has done very, very well with the blessings he was allotted.
I think Lemn is a resilient soul with a greatness and strength that maybe even he has yet to fully realize.
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- Misty-Ann McWilliam
- 09-10-2020
A "must" read
I struggle to understand how humans treat animals with cruelty, then reading this book made me angry and just sad. what am amazing story of courage.....
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- Amazon Customer
- 18-08-2020
Beautiful
Thank you for sharing your story with us. I believe I will look back at this book in 10 years as a personal turning point in my life. Thank you so much.
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- anne Rutherdale
- 14-07-2020
So sorry when this book was finished
We listened to Lemn Sissay read his book and it was mesmerizing.
I can only say that he is a very resilient person and a great talent. I am looking forward to Reading more books and poetry written by Lemn
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- Anonymous User
- 09-04-2020
Excellent book, narration and poetry.
Never heard a story that so visible punctured my heart, but saved me with it’s beautiful poems like an oasis in the middle of a desert but most of all showed me the perseverance of the human spirit.
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- candide
- 01-09-2019
Painful reading
I read this as an ex social worker. I am long since retired but hearing the lived experience of this boy was horrifying. I have no doubt I probably placed children in similar circumstances and only heard the adult voices explaining behaviours. And that is on top of having worked in a psychiatric hospital setting with the kind of brutalised men he speaks of. It should be required reading for everyone in the care sector - indeed perhaps it should be reread several times during a working life. In fact, perhaps it should be on GCSE reading lists!
78 people found this helpful
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- Andy
- 04-09-2019
A distant family member you have never met
I am a distant relative of the foster parents and was very keen to heard Lemns story as soon as this popped up. I particularly loved the short poems and the way in which Lemn tells his tale.
Unfortunately it’s not a particularly pleasant story but what I loved was to hear Lemns courage and his determination to be himself and to live according to his rules and not those imposed on him by various people who he came into contact with while growing up.
39 people found this helpful
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- Mary Jenkins
- 15-09-2019
Makes me SO ANGRY
What strength of character does this man show! Though this is a very upsetting ‘history ‘ I hope its’ author has found some peace and love in this world x Lemn you are a credit to yourself - and to the woman who gave you life x
28 people found this helpful
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- JB
- 19-09-2019
A cautionary tale
Loved hearing this book, read by Lemn, not in the least because I work with homeless young people. Fantastic reminder all of things wrong with "the system", I shall be buying this book for all my staff to read.
21 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 30-08-2019
Brilliant
Amazing insight in to the power of social services . Thank god for the occasional good SW . A sad story that needed to be told
21 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 18-09-2019
Lost for words,full of emotion.
So glad I listened to this heartbreaking book. It was brought to life by Lemn narrating his life and hearing him read his poetry. I wept at the sadness and brutal experience of the ‘care’ he was kept in and for his mother. I laughed at the warmth of his humour and intelligence. This story will stay with me.
19 people found this helpful
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- Debbie Morris-Gray
- 17-09-2019
Social care incarceration seen through the eyes of a powerless child
Well done Lemn Sissay for surviving The Authorities! Every worker in the care and education sector should read his story. I can only pray that lessons have been learned from such accounts.
19 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 21-09-2019
lemn
My word...I loved it.....so gut wrenching. that i cried out loud for him....His a survivor.
14 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 14-09-2019
What an incredible, tenacious man
I listened to this book non stop from start to finish. Incredibly poignant. Triumph over adversity an cruelty. What a man.
14 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 14-09-2019
Eye opening honesty... very refreshing.
Lem is unassuming. incredibly patient and tolerant. wise beyond his years and a student of Marly. completed in a single listen.
13 people found this helpful
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