The Bright List

Damned Lies and Statistics: Joel Best Shows You Politics By the Numbers

Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists, by Joel Best

This is one of those books everyone should read—but would anyone ever get elected again? Author Joel Best shows you exactly how stats can be manipulated to prove anything.

If every statistic released were to be believed, then the whole  country would be sick, pregnant, violent, dead, or addicted to porn. Using examples from the New York Times, the Washington Post, U.S. Census, and other major media outlets, Best unravels the many fascinating examples of the misuse and abuse of statistical information.

There are no innocents.

My stats professor used to quote Mark Twain to every class: “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.”  It's possible to twist statistics to say virtually anything; for every study out there that makes one claim, there's another that "proves" the exact opposite. How can you know which one is true?  Best lets you know how to spot the BS and wade through fraud studies and stats.

Pre-election is a great time to equip yourself with these tools. You'll never read or watch the news the same way again.

-AB

Saddle Up, Beauties— and Bring a Crop: "The Marketplace" is on Audio

The Marketplace, by Laura Antoniou

Back in the 90s— a time when S/M was still "too hot too handle in the downtown bookstore"— Laura Antoniou's The Marketplace was THE Story of O for the smart-girl BDSM set.

Don't even try to compare it to 50 Shades of Blah-- this is the real thing, both writing-wise and sexwise. A pony-girl classic!

Marketplace stands out for its characters’ depth and believability— and its feminist approach to sexual submission. (Isn’t it so much better that way?) 

You'll follow the trials of four ambitious "slaves" as they undergo training in order to be accepted into the secret underground society of masters and slaves (and ponies). 

Audiobook narrated by the drool-worthy British voice of Elizabeth Jasicki.

--Aretha Bright

Susie Brings Betty Dodson to Audio— My Happiest Clits Up! Moment

Sex For One, by Betty Dodson

The only female orgasm primer you’ll ever need— now in audio! This has been a dream of mine, to make this happen. I consider Betty my fairy godmother— she always comes through.

An American legend, pioneer of women’s liberation, and a founder of the pro-sex feminism— what's not to like about Dodson?  She personally changed my life— it's not just her orgasm ideas, it's her WHOLE ATTITUDE.

Sex for One isn't really a “how to” manual— it’s a “why the fuck not!” Betty is the personification of "Seizing the Day," of grabbing life by the horns and giving it a good tussle. When people ask what women's liberation and sexual liberation have to do with each other, I just point at Betty's entire life. 

Funny, smart, and full of great quips you'll repeat to your friends and lovers the rest of your days. Fall in love with Betty, go ahead— and have some “self-love” along the way, too. 

Narrated by Genvieve Bevier, who did Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty" trilogy!

Orgasms for Two: The Joy of Partner Sex, by Betty Dodson

Dodson followed up Sex for One with the kind, but frank Orgasms for Two:

“ There are many sex manuals on the shelves of bookstores. They offer advice on being sexier, on giving him what he really wants, on making her wild with desire. 

 Most of them are about as substantive as a filmy piece of lingerie. What is missing is a down-to-earth, realistic, honest book.” 

Orgasms for Two speaks to the core of sexuality today, and tackles difficult, hot issues, and slams politically-correct topics. I doubt you’ll think or have sex the same way again after listening to this book. 

Narrated by Genvieve Bevier, who did Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty" trilogy!

 

 

What do Birds, Slave Rebellions, and Marriage Have in Common? — The University of North Carolina Press!

The Armchair Birder: Discovering the Secret Lives of Familiar Birds, by John Yow

The Armchair Birder is about a niche topic that is written so well, and with such charm and wit,  it would captivate the most bird-indifferent imagination. For birders, especially the casual and recreational, Yow is the bee's knees. 

The great thing about Yow’s book is that it’s all about familiar birds—what we see and hear about everyday, not the exotic: Bluejays, woodpeckers, mourning doves, eagles, wild turkeys, owls. 

The anecdotes alone make for a memoir not soon forgotten. Yow talks about bird feelings and behaviors— you'll recognize some personalities from your own human family! It was as if the birds themselves were talking to Yow and sharing all their secrets. 

 

The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal: The Secret Lives of Birds of the Southeastern Shore, by John Yow

The sequel to The Armchair Birder, The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal  is an example of the "sequel that outdoes itself." Yow's great wit and dry humor strikes again! 

I will NEVER judge seagulls the same way again— I feel like I’ve been much too hard on them. Yow wrote such a sympathetic chapter on seagulls, it made me feel... like a bad person. 

Aren't you curious, now? 

Narrated by Kevin Young.

 

Game, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women’s Sports, by Susan Ware 

This is one of those books about a legend— the whole time you’re reading it you’re thinking, “Wow, Billie Jean is AWESOME.”

Game, Set, Match is a biography about Billie Jean King, the woman who "made" women’s tennis, and helped bring the world’s attention to women’s sports. 

She was also a closeted lesbian for a long time, and then later came out, before it was the least bit fashionable. Balls! 

A great under-dog story, fantastic build up, with a satisfying ending. 

Narrated by Donna Postel, who voices another of my favorite books, The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability.

 

Border War: Fighting Over Slavery Before the Civil War, by Stanley Harrold

If you’ve ever seen a popular film or TV series about the Civil War, this book is catnip. 

Border War delves into how the border southern states had the highest slave runaway rates, so they came up with the most bizarre laws to stop it, and the ensuing struggles and debates were ferocious. 

There's plenty of action, and the "back-in-the-day" atrocities are rivetting, if you have the stomach for it. 

Narrated by Brian Holsopple.

 

Making Marriage Work: A History of Marriage and Divorce in the 20th-Century United States, by Kristin Celello

The book that blows the lid off of the whole divorce “crisis.” 

Remember Laura Kipnis’ Love Polemic?  It was a diatribe of romance and monogamy. But Making Marriage Work  is a great balance— tremendous research and investigation, but it’s not out there to judge you. 

It has a wealth of information that will make you think about how the idea of marriage has evolved and been changed by political, environmental, religious, and cultural influences. This is a book that will be nodded to, for a long time to come. 

Work is about how marriage has been defined not nearly so much by romance as by labor… a wonderfully provocative idea.

Narrated by Tamara Marston. 

The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss, by Charles W. Eagles

This book is like the “college version” of Remember the Titans with Denzel Washington.  

The Price of Defiance sets the scene of the white college life in Mississippi during the early 1960s: beauty queens, sororities & fraternities, keg parties, football, etc.

Might sound familiar to a lot of colleges today? Except only white students were allowed to enroll at the University of Mississippi, or as they called it, "Ole Miss." 

Everything hit the fan with the integration push in 1962 to allow African Americans to enroll at Ole Miss— a total page turner with unforgettable heroes to cheer for! 

James Meredith was the first African American to enroll, and the day before the first day of school was so explosive, fatal riots ensued. 

The children and grandchildren of alumni during those years can recount their stories in complete detail. It  impacted the community, for generations, right up to today. 

Author Charles Eagles, a Mississippi historian, writes Defiance like a screenplay— great plots, characters, action. Is there a movie deal yet? 

Not to be missed! 

Narrated by Kyle Munley.

 

Music From the True Vine: Mike Seeger’s Life and Musical Journey, by Bill C. Malone

An audiobook for music-lovers. Mike Seeger, founding member of the influential folk revival band New Lost City Ramblers, along with his brother Pete Seeger transformed American music, from the grass roots up. 

From the Introduction: 

Who is Mike Seeger? 

I was asked that question far too often after mentioning that I was writing his biography. And a second question frequently followed: "Is he related to Pete Seeger?" Trying not to show my irritation, I generally responded with, "Yes, he's his half brother, but he's a much more talented musican than Pete." 

It is difficult to provide an adequate conversational, sound-bite assessment of Mike, though, when most people are very aware of the almost iconic status that his brother Pete occupies in American popular culture. Mike, on the other hand, always went about his work quietly and mostly below the radar of public recognition. 

There’s not ONE American folk or country music fan, there’s not one American rock or pop critic, who hasn’t paid homage to this man or fallen in love with his many songs and musicial discoveries. 

Finally, we have a biography that has all the humor, warmth, and campfire-style storytelling that captures everything Mike Seeger has brought to the table of American culture. 

Narrated by Joe Geoffrey.

 

--Aretha Bright

 

Open Audition for "Sex and the Single Girl" - Actors Invited to Audiobook Try Out

 

Hey Pussycat! — Do you have a sultry delivery?

Audible Editor-at-Large, Susie Bright, seeks the perfect voice to bring Sex and the Single Girl to life; we invite all actors to submit online auditions.

Let me hear you purr and scratch! —Imagine Ru Paul crossed with Lauren Bacall and a soupçon of Dolly Parton. (Helen Gurley Brown, the book's author, was a New Yorker by way of the Ozarks!)

Audible Studios seeks the perfect voice to capture the shrewd, sophisticated, audacious sensibility in a first-ever audio production of the iconic 1962 book.

We invite actors to participate in an online audition for the work by submitting a recording of Sex and the Single Girl’s introduction at www.acx.com/singlegirl.

Audible will produce the audiobook immediately upon announcing the chosen actor. (Yes, you do get paid, kitten... handsomely).

“We were all saddened about Gurley Brown’s recent passing, but we welcome this opportunity to keep her voice alive and to bring a new audience to her most significant work,” said Audible publisher Beth Anderson. “Sex and the Single Girl has sold millions of copies in print, and its influence continues to reverberate throughout the culture, from Sex and the City to Mad Men. 

The audition text (3 pages) for Sex and the Single Girl can be found at www.acx.com/singlegirl.  

(If you haven't signed up for ACX yet— and if you're an actor, MY GOD DO IT NOW— just register— after that, the audition instructions are simple. You might end up auditioning for a whole bunch of other books!)

“Sex and the Single Girl is a ball to read,” said renowned feminist sex writer and Editor-at-Large Susie Bright, who acquired the audio rights for Audible. “It’s the most radical work Helen Gurley Brown ever published. The right actor, with the right sass and wit, will make Helen’s voice even more captivating.”

Bright added, “Helen Gurley Brown had a very sexy voice. No wonder she always got her way on the phone.”  

Bright negotiated the deal, for world audio rights, with publisher Carole Stuart at Barricade Books, which brought the book back into print in 2003.

Audible Studios’ acquisition efforts continue to revitalize backlist gems in audio, from the acclaimed 2009 production of John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany to forthcoming recordings of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

 

Photo Credit: Natalie Wood in the 1964 film version of Sex and the Single Girl. Yes, she's adorable to look at, but we bet your vocal talents can knock her out of the park! 

 

Rags to Riches, Audiobook Style! Greta Christina's Atheism+ on Audio

 

I am so proud of Greta Christina's new book I could burst.

When I first called Greta about making an audiobook, she didn't have a book in print, only the usual stack of rejection slips from publishers who just couldn't seem to wrap their mind around a madly-popular, genius, female atheist blogger.

I've known Greta was a remarkable writer and philosopher for years: she wrote the legendary "Are We Having Sex Now or What?" and "Bending." She's blown so many people's minds it was criminal the  mainstream publishing world had never recognized her

I said, "Hey, do an audiobook with me. With the advance I give you, you can easily afford to publish an ebook, we'll launch both editions at the same time," and then laugh all the way to the bank."

Omg, I have never been so prescient.

Greta took my little proposal and ran with it. Her title: Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless. 

A week after her ebook came out, Greta called me, in a quiet voice, and said, "Do I really make a 70% royalty, just for me, on this Kindle edition?" More silence. 

"Yeah," I said, "That's right. Is something wrong?"

And then she uttered a number— the amount she had net the previous few days, and we both started shrieking with glee.

Needless to say, dear reader, Greta had to quit her day job about a month later. She had a print deal, royaltie$ coming out of her ears, and plans to do more books—  more, more, more! 

 Narrated by Greta Christina

Sex After Sixty: The Straight Talk & The Erotic Walk

I've just published two audiobooks by Joan Price, on the nitty-gritty of sex after sixty: Naked at Our Age, and Better Than I Expected.

Joan is so forthright, so real about what it feels like to have a mature mind and body, while part of you may always feel like seven... she just gets it. 

We all know the hard parts: Loneliness, loss, physical challenges— and yet, our libido and fire remain, along with our need for connection and intimate creativity. I think she tells it like it is! 

 If you're aging and wondering about your sex life— or you have a friend or parent who  you see looking for some answers (or at least the right questions!)— I can't recommend Joan enough.

Joan's two titles are  narrated by the beloved Suzanne Toren, who did the The Women's Murder Club, and Emma Donaguhue's Room.

The Platonic Ideal of Neurosis: Josh Kornbluth is on Audio, at Last!

Hi, Friends:

 

Just wanted to let you know that my book Red Diaper Baby: Three Comic Monologues is now available as an audiobook -- with me doing the narration! 

A Letter to His Fans, from Josh Kornbluth -- the only author I know whose email list is actually a gas

Recorded at Berkeley's famed Fantasy Studios, my shows Red Diaper Baby, Haiku Tunnel, and The Mathematics of Change can finally be experienced totally aurally- with my physical presence, and all its attendant excretions (mostly sweat, I hope), miraculously removed! 

This is perhaps the closest that humanity has come to the Platonic ideal of neurosis.

 

For years I've loved listening to audiobooks (often while I'm at the gym, toning my impressive, Paul Ryan-esque abs), and so I was particularly thrilled when I heard from my pal Susie Bright that Audible.com had asked her to invite a bunch of her favorite authors to create audiobooks.

 

I was a bit worried that the folks at Audible might consider me too obscure-- but it turns out that a bunch of them had actually seen me perform.  Like many of my audience members through the years, at some point they'd probably asked themselves, "Hmm-- I wonder if there's a way of experiencing this without actually being physically close to the performer?"  (Sadly, I also heard this question articulated on my wedding night.) 

So we moved forward -- and now, thrillingly for me, three of my autobiographical stories can be enjoyed within the intimate comfort of your own ears.

 

How can you buy this audiobook? Why, I'm glad you asked!

 

You can get it at Audible, iTunes, or Amazon.

 

And then you can happily listen to Red Diaper Baby: Three Comic Monologues on your iPod, on your computer, or in your car (preferably while on your way to browse at a local independent bookstore).

 

If you would be so kind as to enter your wildly over-inflated ratings and reviews of Red Diaper Baby on Audible, iTunes, and Amazon, I would be intensely grateful! I'm really happy with how my first audiobook came out, and would love for as many people as possible to hear it.

 

Take care,

Josh

 

P.S. A gentle warning: In the middle of our recording session I had a rather large lunch, after which my tummy was apparently trying to re-create a percussion solo that Cannonball Adderley's band had once recorded in that very studio. 

I'm pretty sure the wonderful sound editors at Audible dealt with most of that, but if you still hear any aural remnants of gastric distress, think of them as delightful sound effects -- affectionate tributes to a bygone, analog era