Listen to a sample
Mayhem
- Author
- Sigrid Rausing
- Narrator
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Publish Date
- 7 September 2017
- Run Time
- 5 hours 55 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Mayhem by Sigrid Rausing, read by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
A searingly powerful memoir about the impact of addiction on a family
In the summer of 2012 a woman named Eva was found dead in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans K. Rausing. The couple had struggled with drug addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines. Now, writing with singular clarity and restraint the editor and publisher Sigrid Rausing, tries to make sense of what happened to her brother and his wife.
In Mayhem, she asks the difficult questions those close to the world of addiction must face. 'Who can help the addict, consumed by a shaming hunger, a need beyond control? There is no medicine: the drugs are the medicine. And who can help their families, so implicated in the self-destruction of the addict? Who can help when the very notion of 'help' becomes synonymous with an exercise of power; a familial police state; an end to freedom, in the addict's mind?'
Critics Review
-
Fierce, lyrical, and lucid memoir
Siri Hustvedt
-
A profoundly articulate and harrowing memoir of a family grappling with addiction... I was impressed and moved
A. M. Homes
-
A short, intense and moving memoir... a poignant and at times harrowing account that testifies to the resilience of the human spirit
Tatler
-
Powerful and spare... her elisions and prevarications have a striking effect
The Observer
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
Such a unique and haunting story to tell
The Sunday Times
-
What gives this book its astonishing power is not the guilt, but the intelligence and literary skill. Beautifully structured... Rausing sets the scene with painterly delicacy and then steps back to analyse the implications of what she has revealed
The Guardian
-
A deeply felt memorial to a lost brother...a finely written memoir
Literary Review
-
Riveting, clear-sighted and exceptionally articulate...heartbreaking...her literary and psychoanalytic fluency gives the book an impact that feels arrestingly honest
Daily Telegraph
-
Touched by its bravery, sincerity and the frequent beauty of the writing
The Times
-
In this slim, stoic memoir... Rausing thoughtfully, painstakingly, works a deep groove into the stubborn surface of certain bedevilling questions: "How do you write about addiction?"... I nodded and sometimes cried. I wanted to invite the author over for tea
The Millions
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Sigrid Rausing
- Narrator
- Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Duration
- 5 hours 55 minutes
- Release Date
- 7 September 2017
- ISBN
- 9780241325711
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Genre
- Memoirs, Addiction and therapy, Health, illness or addiction: social aspects
Synopsis
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Mayhem by Sigrid Rausing, read by Maggie Gyllenhaal.A searingly powerful memoir about the impact of addiction on a familyIn the summer of 2012 a woman named Eva was found dead in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans K. Rausing. The couple had struggled with drug addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines. Now, writing with singular clarity and restraint the editor and publisher Sigrid Rausing, tries to make sense of what happened to her brother and his wife.In Mayhem, she asks the difficult questions those close to the world of addiction must face. 'Who can help the addict, consumed by a shaming hunger, a need beyond control? There is no medicine: the drugs are the medicine. And who can help their families, so implicated in the self-destruction of the addict? Who can help when the very notion of 'help' becomes synonymous with an exercise of power; a familial police state; an end to freedom, in the addict's mind?'
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.