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Audiobooks > Biography & Autobiography >  Personal Memoirs > Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting

Download Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting Audiobook

Extended Audio Sample Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting Audiobook, by Meredith Norton Click for printable size audiobook cover
3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5 3.00 (293 ratings) (rate this audio book) Author: Meredith Norton Narrator: Carrington MacDuffie Publisher: Blackstone Audio Format: Unabridged Audiobook Delivery: Instant Download Audio Length: Release Date: June 2008 ISBN: 9781455190249
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Lopsided is not your ordinary cancer memoir. Meredith Norton displays the razor-sharp wit of a masterful humorist as she chronicles her experience, from the first appearance of her bizarre symptoms while she was living in Paris to moving to California to live with her compulsive parents and their five television sets. Along with hilarious and harrowing portrait of her treatments, she offers equally amusing memories of her offbeat life, rants about well-meaning family and friends, and rails against self-pity. Funny, irreverent, and down-to-earth, Norton’s memoir brings a refreshing burst of attitude to a difficult experience she refuses to be intimidated by.

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Quotes & Awards

  • “A truly elegant memoir…Norton is terrific at narrating the physical slapstick of battling this disease. But she’s even better on the arrogance and pretense the cancer reveals…she’s fresh and adorable, and you hope she sticks round to produce at least another dozen surly, lovely books.”

    O, The Oprah Magazine

  • “[A] wise, humorous memoir…Her disarming frankness renders the book less a cancer survival guide and more a lovably unfiltered e-mail from a hilarious friend. There has not been a funnier, more honest cancer account in recent memory.”

    People

  • “By including touches of wit and sarcasm, Norton strikes a successful balance between light and heavy, keeping her audience consistently engaged.”

    San Francisco Chronicle

  • “Can a book about a life-threatening illness be entertaining—even humorous? Surprisingly, yes. Listeners may find themselves laughing out loud at MacDuffie’s wryly funny reading of this memoir: an irreverent, graphic, and consistently compelling account of Norton’s rare breast cancer and dire prognosis. The reader’s razor-sharp comic timing and delicately shaded tones of irony complement the author’s equally sharp wit and observations…This memoir demonstrates that humor is indeed the best medicine.”

    Booklist

  • “Crackle[s] with heartfelt intensity and irreverence.”

    Booklist

  • “[A] wonderfully enlightening and honestly (if somewhat digressively) written account…Her tone may be facetious, her language colorful, and her distractions gritty…but her view of cancer (funny and irreverent) and her place in the world…will make readers stand up and cheer. Highly recommended.”

    Library Journal

  • “Blackly humorous…Norton is one plucky dame, and she displays a sharp eye for the human condition. Her challenging, awkward encounters—with doctors, nurses, even with well-meaning but clueless sympathizers—all have the ring of truth…Norton calls herself a storyteller, and the tale she has crafted from a life-altering event is indeed hard to put down.”

    Kirkus Reviews

  • “If you seek to be moved—to laughter, that is—look no further…[Norton’s] victimless approach doesn’t sugarcoat the experience but rather brings to light hilarious universals.”

    Daily Candy

Listener Opinions

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Amanda | 2/14/2014

    " It was pretty good. A quick, funny read. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Dawne | 2/3/2014

    " I loved this book! Meredith Norton writes in the same vein as Haven Kimmel and Anne Lamott...she is achingly astute, poignient and funny all in the same breath. She doesn't gloss over the seriousness of her condition, but she has a life and baby and a complicated family and these things are also a part of her life. This book should be on every woman's shelf both because it is soberingly real and because it is loaded with hope and humor. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Adrian | 1/29/2014

    " The first half is hilarious and tragic. The last half isn't as interesting. However, I really admire the author and her spunk. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Eryn | 1/9/2014

    " Great book - very touching and funny "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Ceryta Holm | 1/1/2014

    " This book was unbelievably funny considering the subject matter. The author was able to frame her experience as a real person without getting maudlin, and also threw in a lot of (hilarious) anecdotes about her life. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Micaela | 12/27/2013

    " Funny look at a life-changing event. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 kathi | 12/21/2013

    " the author has a wicked sense of humor and told her story of breast cancer with dignity and grace.....with lots of humor... "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Michelle | 12/19/2013

    " This is a great (and actually pretty funny) memoir about one woman surviving a breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment. "

  • 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5 Kim | 12/10/2013

    " This was the most down-to-earth illness/recovery story I remember reading. I feel like I know this person, and I really like and admire her. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Kate Mollohan | 10/28/2013

    " This is a very funny, poignant, and moving memoir. It shows that humor can get you through the toughest situations barely scathed. (Unfortunately I know this all too well.) "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Lisa | 10/18/2013

    " Really funny book about cancer. Really. Will make you LOL. "

  • 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5 Hillary | 10/15/2013

    " I thought the book was darkly funny, and I found myself really liking her. Often times she would segue to a new topic/thought, which couls be distracting, but she managed to tie the loose ends together at the end of a chapter. If there were 1/2 stars available I'd give this one 3 1/2 stars. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Amy | 8/27/2013

    " I enjoyed this book. It was humerous yet honest, sarcastic yet touching. A very introspective look into the life of a person dealing with cancer and all the life changing moments it creates. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Cate | 2/21/2013

    " Awesome. Made me laugh, which is not what I usually get from a cancer memoir. "

  • 2 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 5 Pam | 8/16/2012

    " Wasn't what I thought it would be. Hoped for more "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Pip | 5/27/2012

    " I want to recommend it to friends with cancer but it might be a little too confronting at times. "

  • 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5 Anne Scawthorn | 5/13/2012

    " Nice to read a "cancer book" with a dose of humour in it, not to diminish other accounts at all. Found this refreshingly honest - speaking from the safety of never having experienced it. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Baljit | 4/15/2012

    " Norton does not wallow in self-pity and endearments, but spits it out as she truly feels with a dose of articulate and at times cynical humour "

  • 2 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 5 Kelly | 4/2/2012

    " I heard people raving about this book but I didn't feel the same about it. "

  • 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Alex | 1/9/2012

    " I LOVE this book... it's one of the funniest books I've read in years "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Jennifer | 1/6/2012

    " Candid humorous book about living with cancer. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Abby Sominski | 12/15/2011

    " A sensational book by a cancer survivor, she makes cancer less scary for me (everyone I know dies of some form of cancer) for having survived breast cancer with her wonderful humor intact and losing only a boob in the process. "

  • 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Dee | 8/14/2011

    " Informative, funny and seriously creative. "You don't want the doctor to give you a headache just fix your headache." Right? "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Susannah | 6/16/2011

    " her memoir reads like equal parts anne lamott and david sedaris. i was won over by her candor, shriekingly hilarious humor, and total lack of pretension about dealing with a rare form of breast cancer. "

  • 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 Andrew | 4/5/2011

    " A surprising book about cancer. It's not sad and depressing- it's funny.

    My only gripes are that Meredith is a little perverted. And she describes things too well. But I guess I should expect that in a book about breast cancer. "

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About the Author

Meredith Norton has traveled extensively and resided for several years in Europe. She lives with her son in Oakland, California.

About the Narrator

Carrington MacDuffie is a voice actor and recording artist who has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has been a frequent finalist for the Audie Award, including for her original audiobook, Many Things Invisible. Alongside her narration work, she has released a new album of original songs, Only an Angel.

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