Big Girls Don't Cry
A Memoir
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
![Prime logo](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/Audible/Homestead/Prime_Logo_RGB.png)
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pre-order for $19.60
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
About this listen
“[Swan's writing offers] not only an enjoyable read, but also the chance to think and reflect on the vast complex living entity that is the world." —Nobel Prize-winner Olga Tokarczuk
Where do we belong if we don't fit in?
A memoir about what it means to defy expectations as a woman, a mother and an artist, with a foreword from award-winning writer Margaret Atwood
Susan Swan has never fit inside the boxes that other people have made for her—the daughter box, the wife box, the mother box, the femininity box. Instead, throughout her richly lived, independent decades, she has carved her own path and lived with the consequences.
In this revealing and revelatory memoir, Swan shares the key moments of her life. As a child in a small Ontario town, she was defined by her size—attracting ridicule because she was six-foot-two by the age of twelve. She left her marriage to be a single mother and a fiction writer in the edgy, underground art scene of 1970s Toronto. In her forties, she embraced the new freedom of the Aphrodite years. Despite the costs to her relationships, Swan kept searching for the place she fit, living in the literary circles of New York while seeking pleasure and spiritual wisdom in Greece, and culminating in the hard-won experience of true self-acceptance in her seventies.
Swan examines the expectations of women of her generation and beyond using the lens of her then-unusual height as a metaphor for the way women are expected not to take up space in the world. Inspiring and thought-provoking, Big Girls Don’t Cry invites us to re-examine what we've been taught to believe about ourselves and ask how it could be different.
Critic reviews
"Speaking as a fellow oddball, I think that this is the best book about coming to terms with your differences from the norm (especially for women), that I've read. It's insightful, honest, and adept. Definitely, one of a kind." - Pulitzer Prize-winner Jane Smiley
"In this riveting and vulnerable memoir, Susan Swan sheds light into the psychology and history of second-wave feminism, as she attempts to break out of the boxes that confine her – including the ones of her own making. In a world that demands women stay small, or to play-act as men to be taken seriously, this is the story of a woman who desired – who indeed had no choice – but to be big and beautiful." - Meghan Bell, author of Erase and Rewind and The Cassandra Project
"Shot through with light, this book is an original treasure. In her direct and mesmeric prose, Susan Swan delivers a portrait of becoming and belonging––a memoir of a life lived vividly and daringly in pursuit of liberty of expression in art and sex, motherhood and feminist justice. By escaping the boxes she was cast into, Swan redefines what a life and a body can hold." - Claudia Dey, author of Daughter
Related to this topic
-
The Let Them Theory
- A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins—New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset—teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly matters: YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.
-
-
“…Grant me the serenity…”
- By Rachel Cornell on 12-25-24
By: Mel Robbins
-
The Crash
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn't realize she's heading straight into a blizzard. She never arrives at her destination. Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she's made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears. But something isn't right.
-
-
It was ok...
- By Tiffany on 01-29-25
By: Freida McFadden
-
Atomic Habits
- An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- By: James Clear
- Narrated by: James Clear
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving - every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
-
-
Author went overboard hawking his site
- By CHughes on 06-25-19
By: James Clear
-
The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell
- By: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell as they bypass pleasantries and promotional banter to deliver raw, unfiltered conversations with some of today’s most influential figures. Featuring titans across a spectrum of professions (from Olympic gold medalists to trailblazing Fortune 500 CEOs and everything in between), The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell pulls back the curtain to offer listeners unprecedented access to the minds of the world’s most extraordinary individuals and their distinct paths to success.
-
-
UNusually Great!
- By Angela C. on 01-30-25
By: Kenya Barris, and others
-
The Wedding People
- A Novel
- By: Alison Espach
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself.
-
-
What a beautiful book
- By Brooke Baker on 08-15-24
By: Alison Espach
-
The 5 Second Rule
- Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to enrich your life and destroy doubt in five seconds. Throughout your life, you've had parents, coaches, teachers, friends, and mentors who have pushed you to be better than your excuses and bigger than your fears. What if the secret to having the confidence and courage to enrich your life and work is simply knowing how to push yourself?
-
-
I turned it off after an hour.
- By Zac on 04-08-17
By: Mel Robbins
-
The Let Them Theory
- A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins—New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset—teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly matters: YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.
-
-
“…Grant me the serenity…”
- By Rachel Cornell on 12-25-24
By: Mel Robbins
-
The Crash
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn't realize she's heading straight into a blizzard. She never arrives at her destination. Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she's made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears. But something isn't right.
-
-
It was ok...
- By Tiffany on 01-29-25
By: Freida McFadden
-
Atomic Habits
- An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
- By: James Clear
- Narrated by: James Clear
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving - every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
-
-
Author went overboard hawking his site
- By CHughes on 06-25-19
By: James Clear
-
The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell
- By: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell as they bypass pleasantries and promotional banter to deliver raw, unfiltered conversations with some of today’s most influential figures. Featuring titans across a spectrum of professions (from Olympic gold medalists to trailblazing Fortune 500 CEOs and everything in between), The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell pulls back the curtain to offer listeners unprecedented access to the minds of the world’s most extraordinary individuals and their distinct paths to success.
-
-
UNusually Great!
- By Angela C. on 01-30-25
By: Kenya Barris, and others
-
The Wedding People
- A Novel
- By: Alison Espach
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself.
-
-
What a beautiful book
- By Brooke Baker on 08-15-24
By: Alison Espach
-
The 5 Second Rule
- Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to enrich your life and destroy doubt in five seconds. Throughout your life, you've had parents, coaches, teachers, friends, and mentors who have pushed you to be better than your excuses and bigger than your fears. What if the secret to having the confidence and courage to enrich your life and work is simply knowing how to push yourself?
-
-
I turned it off after an hour.
- By Zac on 04-08-17
By: Mel Robbins