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To Throw Away Unopened cover art

To Throw Away Unopened

By: Viv Albertine
Narrated by: Jasmine Blackborow
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Summary

What was I fighting for? Even now I'm not sure. Something so old and so deep, it has no words, no shape, no logic.

Every memoir is a battle between reality and invention - but in her follow up to Clothes, Music, Boys, Viv Albertine has reinvented the genre with her unflinching honesty.

To Throw Away Unopened is a fearless dissection of one woman's obsession with the truth - the truth about family, power, and her identity as a rebel and outsider. It is a gaping wound of a book, both an exercise in blood-letting and psychological archaeology, excavating what lies beneath: the fear, the loneliness, the anger. It is a brutal expose of human dysfunctionality, the impossibility of true intimacy, and the damage wrought upon us by secrets and revelations, siblings and parents.

Yet it is also a testament to how we can rebuild ourselves and come to face the world again. It is a portrait of the love stories that constitute a life, often bringing as much pain as joy. With the inimitable blend of humour, vulnerability, and intelligence that makes Viv Albertine one of our finest authors working today, To Throw Away Unopened smashes through layers of propriety and leads us into a new place of savage self-discovery.

©2018 Viv Albertine (P)2018 Faber Audio

Critic reviews

"Fierce, direct, unashamed. She masks nothing... Scythes through the myths, the distortions, the adornments and finds the rich, distinctive stories underneath." (The Sunday Times)

"A chronicle of outsiderness... Searingly honest.... A painstaking and painful dissection of familial fallout." (The Observer)

What listeners say about To Throw Away Unopened

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A read again and again book!

"Viv Albertine should be anointed patron saint of the domestically dispossessed."

Viv once more entertains, enlightens and makes all the mistakes and cringe worthy life experiences we go through as women a part of a life well lived. Sibling rivalry, terrible parental relationships and Viv's own self awareness and thoughts on life are astute and more often than not heartbreakingly hilarious . I will miss her in my life, in my head and will listen again and again to this book. Really hope another appears!

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4 people found this helpful

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  • JC
  • 23-10-18

Brilliant

Loved it, such an honest and funny tale of Viv Albertine's life. Great narration. Would recommend

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2 people found this helpful

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Brilliant

Raw, honest and brutal. Made me wince and laugh in equal measure. Bring it on Viv, you are my heroine. Listen to this unforgettable book (try to ignore the narrator -she’s a bit annoying in places ) and give thanks that Viv survived to write it 💋.

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1 person found this helpful

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Wished she’d been my friend

Another fabulous book - so painfully sweet. Shockingly honest, incredibly beautiful and T times painfully sad. But all in all awesome and I hope she writes more - a legend 💕

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  • Overall
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Wonderful.

I loved how Viv's voice came through so loud and clear , helped along by exceptional narrative skill from Jasmine. Using first names, because it's like I know them now.
Incredibly brave, revealing book and beautifully written.
I loved how the scenes chopped and changed,went backwards and forwards and yet because the characters were so strongly written, I was never lost.
Having lost my mum, well I didn't loose her, she died, I was hooked as each scene cleverly revealed just enough touching imagery of Viv's mums death.
To Throw Away Unopened was an important for me to read. I have now bought it in hardback. Thank you Viv x

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Brilliant book

Most women of a certain age will relate to this searingly honest book. Which covers a lot of difficult topics with humour.

I love books that make you realise you're not the only one with a less than perfect life and this does that in spades and left me feeling up lifted.

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Sensuous

A story - well told. Starkly real sounding. Brilliant holding up of how the wholesome and the broken sit together in our lives and how the way we tell the stories of our lives with those around us can be scaffolding - helpful scaffolding.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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well written and we'll narrated

a well detailed. well written, true and real experience. some dark moments and realisations we can all learn from.

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  • Overall
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Love Jasmine Blackborrow's narration

Jasmine really got inside Viv's head abd really did her justice.

What a kick ass woman. As the poem sort of goes They mess you up your Mum Dad. I recommend this woman who is feeling a little oppressed for whatever reason. However it does tell the story of Viv losing her mother Kathleen (also Kick-ass) so proceed with caution if this is triggering area. My favourite quote used in the book is

I am never proud to participate in violence, yet I know that each of us must care enough for ourselves, that we can be ready and able to come to our own defence when and wherever needed. Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter, 2008

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Perfection

Just utterly wonderful.
I didn't want it it end.
Thank you, Viv, please write more.

Beautiful work by Jasmine, the narrator.

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