A review by kizzia
Everybody by Olivia Laing

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

This book feels like almost like a companion to Orwell’s Roses only with the human body as the focus rather than the climate. In the same way as Solnit uses Orwell as her framing, Laing uses Reich and his work and using that takes on a interconnected journey through feminism, illness, sexual freedom, art and so much more. 

I found myself learning deeply about areas of medicine, psychology, feminism, art, gender, and the rise of the far-right in the early 20th century that I only had the basic facts on before I began reading. It helped me understand arguments I had previously dismissed because there were nuances I wasn’t aware of and helped me re-work and re-centre some of my own issues with my health and my feminism. 

This is a book that was both enriching, eye-opening and eminently readable and I would encourage anyone to give it a try. 

I listened to this book via audible and found Emily Pennant-Rea to be an excellent narrator.