Audiobook The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and... by Katy Kelleher in the ListenBook app
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Book description
Paris Review contributor Katy Kelleher explores our obsession with gorgeous things, unveiling the fraught histories of makeup, flowers, perfume, silk, and other beautiful objects. Katy Kelleher has spent much of her life chasing beauty. As a child, she uprooted handfuls of purple, fragrant little flowers from the earth, plucked iridescent seashells from the beach, and dug for turquoise stones in her backyard. As a teenager she applied glittery shimmer to her eyelids after religiously dabbing on her signature scent of orange blossoms and jasmine. And as an adult, she coveted gleaming marble countertops and delicate porcelain to beautify her home. This obsession with beauty led her to become a home, garden, and design writer, where she studied how beautiful things are mined, grown, made, and enhanced. In researching these objects, Kelleher concluded that most of us are blind to the true cost of our desires. Because whenever you find something unbearably beautiful, look closer, and you'll inevitably find a shadow of decay lurking underneath. In these dazzling and deeply researched essays, Katy Kelleher blends science, history, and memoir to uncover the dark underbellies of our favorite goods. She reveals the crushed beetle shells in our lipstick, the musk of rodents in our perfume, and the burnt cow bones baked into our dishware. She untangles the secret history of silk and muses on her problematic prom dress. She tells the story of countless workers dying in their efforts to bring us shiny rocks from unsafe mines that shatter and wound the earth, all because a diamond company created a compelling ad. She examines the enduring appeal of the beautiful dead girl and the sad fate of the ugly mollusk. With prose as stunning as the objects she describes, Kelleher invites readers to examine their own relationships with the beautiful objects that adorn their body and grace their homes. And yet, Kelleher argues that while we have a moral imperative to understand our relationship to desire, we are not evil or weak for desiring beauty. The Ugly History of Beautiful Things opens our eyes to beauty that surrounds us, helps us understand how that beauty came to be, what price was paid and by whom, and how we can most ethically partake in the beauty of the world.
Sharing audiobooks with friends through AirDrop and Sharing on ListenBook Pro is a feature I can't live without. ListenBook Pro is worth every penny. The unlimited audiobook length is a dream come true. Sharing audiobooks through AirDrop is a fun and convenient way to share the magic of storytelling with friends and family, sparking meaningful discussions. Middle-of-the-road experience. The audiobook was fine—good narration, decent story—but it didn’t leave a lasting impression. If you’re looking for something low-commitment, this works.
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Thanks for making my daily commute to work enjoyable and engaging! I've never been this excited about my daily commute – thank you, audiobooks! Adjustable playback speed and volume control make for a customized experience. A middle-of-the-road audiobook that neither impressed nor disappointed. The narrator's voice was agreeable enough for extended listening, though their character differentiation could have been stronger. The production met basic industry standards without any standout qualities.
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Trusted by over 100,000 users across the globe
What is ListenBook?
Why ListenBook?
How does it work?
1
Download audiobooks from any site in any of the supported formats.
2
Add audiobooks to the app using any of the many download methods available.
3
Listen to audiobooks by controlling playback from your phone, headphones, Apple Watch or CarPlay.
Playing a wide variety of audio formats
Works on all devices with iOS 13 and newer
Huge amount of features for a small price
Frequent updates to add new features and improve existing ones
Advanced playback controls
Live sound processing
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice and noise reduction
Translated into more than 20 languages
App for those who love audiobooks
ListenBook has the features you need no matter what you are listening to
Listening to fiction
If you love listening to fiction audiobooks, ListenBook has features to make the process easier.
Edit book data: title, author, cover
Use equalizer to make the sound comfortable for you
Adjust the playback speed
Enjoy dark and light app themes
Supported formats: MP3, M4B, AWB, FLAC, OGG audio files and many more (must be DRM free)
Auto-Bookmarks make it easy to find your place
AirPlay support allows redirection of audio output.
VoiceOver support
Dark mode for night owls
Listening to audio lectures
Convenient bookmarking system helps you mark the most important places.
Unlimited bookmarks for each audiobook
Put your own cover on the wager
Share your audiobook with friends
Lock-screen control
Customise app with extensive options
Sleep timer with shake to reset, set custom notification sounds, and a few unique options
Auto rewind depending on paused time, customize rewind times to your liking
Removing background noise from recordings made in classrooms and meetings
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice for a better listening experience
Every day, thousands of people download ListenBook to listen to audiobooks.
Now it's your turn to listen to audiobooks without distraction!
