March non-fiction book of the month: Sara Pascoe's Animal. Sara's answers back!

[RachelMumsnet]

We've selected Sara Pascoe's brilliant investigation of the female body; Animal, as our March non-fiction book of the month. Comedian Sara Pascoe often talks about femininity and female sexuality on stage and her first book delves into these issues in more depth. Animal combines autobiography and evolutionary history to create a funny, fascinating insight into the forces that mould and affect modern women.

We have 50 copies up for grabs and Sara will be answering questions about the book. Apply for a copy and post up questions for Sara Pascoe before 30 March and we'll upload her answers in early April.

[MrFMercury]

Oh yes please. I've just been listening to Sara on The Guilty Feminist and wanted to check out this book.
I'll need to give the question some thought tho :)

[Hercule]

Me please - funnily enough I've just been watching her on You Tube at The Melbourne Comedy Festival.

My question is "You surprised everyone with your remarkably good rendition of Chandelier by Sia on Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief. When you were younger did you ever consider going into music or other performing arts or have you always wanted to be a comedian. And do you have any other hidden talents?"

[mutuallyexclusive]

My question is:
Where do you get all your brilliant cat tips/dresses? In jealous awe!

[mutuallyexclusive]

*cat tops

[katonic]

Yes please! Id love a copy. Id like to see how it compares to Caitlin Moran's book as they look like similar themes.

[Leatherboundanddown]

I already have this book as bought it when it first came out but just wanted to say Sara I am a massive fan, love the book and please write another one. I don't care what it is about I just really enjoy your writing.

[nobodysbabynow]

Me please! I love Sarah Pascoe, she's brilliant

[TittyGolightly]

This is one of my favourite books. It's just brilliant. Sara is a smart cookie.

[highinthesky]

This thread has encouraged me to pick up my copy and read it, thanks!

[TheresALight]

Love Sara's comedy. I'm just becoming conscious of my body again after having a baby nearly a year ago so the book'some themes are spot on

[Booboobedoo]

I've been boring on about this book to anyone who'll listen/stand still for a couple of months now.

It's impassioned, eloquent and wonderful.

[Nikitasol]

Oooh me me me please!! I really need a feminist based laugh after separating from my partner. That sounds like I'm being sarcastic! I'm not. I just want to read good books by brilliant women. As well as drinking gin to deal with the chaos

[jammy388]

Thank you for this book- I found it really engaging and thought-provoking, and admired the care Sara took to be inclusive and open minded, so that I felt part of the discussion even when some of my experiences were very different. My question for Sara is - Did you have a particular audience/readership in mind as you wrote?

[starlight36]

Thank you for this book. I'm about halfway through and enjoying the read. So brave of you to reveal so much of your life - I'm currently reading the Body chapter and your honesty and frankness is really going to help others who have either made the same decision or face making the decision themselves. (I'm intentionally not giving away any spoilers on this thread)

My question is how did you enjoy the experience of writing a book as opposed to writing for a stand up show? Was it strange not to get instant feedback?

[Celama]

I found this a refreshing read and although I didn't agree with all your views, I enjoyed reading them. I loved your recollection of your interview for Cambridge - did the unexpected rejection have an impact on how you prepared for similar events in the future or because of your outlook, did it just bounce off you?!

[mumofmadboys]

Very readable book. Some of it had me laughing out loud! I agree with the previous poster who asked how the experience of writing a book compared to the instant feedback of standup.Have you any other books planned?
Thank you Mumsnet for giving me a chance to read a book I may well not have picked up in a bookshop.

[Polyanthus]

Me too please - would love a copy.

My question is what one piece of advice would you give to your teenage self (and would your teenage self have taken any notice of the advice?!)

[CountTessa]

I'm so sorry, I've been sent a copy and I completely forgot about when you would be asking Sarah questions. Pleased to see she went to Sussex uni like me.

I'm interested to know what the trigger was for writing your ideas down in a cohesive tale? Do you feel that your lifestyle choices affect your perception of your body and how you feel about other peoples? And do you look back at your younger self and say' I wish I'd known I was gorgeous then'

[Annamaria0]

Thank you for this book, I was very happy to receive it and read it straight away. I now want to buy a copy for all my friends, and any teenage girls I know (I know it'd be good if boys and men read, but it is not likely). It made me both laugh and cry. If you enjoy books by Caitlin Moran, Bryony Gordon and Lucy Mangan, you should read it.

[Annamaria0]

I was wondering if Sara was working on another book? I'd like to ask what she is working on at the moment?

[RachelMumsnet]

Thanks everyone for the questions. We'll be sending them over to Sara and will upload her answers as soon as they are back.

[SorchaMumsnet]

Hi folks - Sarah's been super speedy and we've got her answers to put up now :)

[SaraPascoe]

@Hercule

Me please - funnily enough I've just been watching her on You Tube at The Melbourne Comedy Festival.

My question is "You surprised everyone with your remarkably good rendition of Chandelier by Sia on Let's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief. When you were younger did you ever consider going into music or other performing arts or have you always wanted to be a comedian. And do you have any other hidden talents?"

When I was 14 I joined an amateur dramatics group at the local church and loved singing and dancing about. I had a couple of ‘Redcoat’ type jobs when I was 18 and 19 but found that the singing always made me feel shy. When Comic Relief asked, I had a good word with myself “you’re a big girl now, stop being scared” and was glad I did it. Although waiting in a hydraulic lift to sing live on the BBC is perhaps tooooo scary to want to repeat it!

[SaraPascoe]

@mutuallyexclusive

My question is:
Where do you get all your brilliant cat tips/dresses? In jealous awe!

I am so glad you asked! One great place is Miss Patina that you can find online, they do the cat collars. But otherwise I just type ‘cat’ into Etsy or Asos after a glass of wine and see what is out there. I worship cats, and I love wearing catty things in their honour.

[SaraPascoe]

@jammy388

Thank you for this book- I found it really engaging and thought-provoking, and admired the care Sara took to be inclusive and open minded, so that I felt part of the discussion even when some of my experiences were very different. My question for Sara is - Did you have a particular audience/readership in mind as you wrote?

I definitely wanted the book not to exclude anyone, I wanted to make sure that even as a book about the female body that I would not excluding women born in male bodies, or indeed men themselves. Even though there was a lot of science to squeeze in, I knew I wanted everything to be comprehensible for teenagers, but not patronising for people who had science degrees. That is where the comedy and personal stories comes in handy, I was trying to make the book interesting and relevant enough that any human person would find something they didn’t know in it.