A Very Easy Death
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When her mother was in the hospital with terminal cancer, Simone had time to reminisce about her motherâs early life, as Simone and her sister, Poupette, prepared to face the decision of whether to prolong a life when it is full of suffering. Like most people, they believed that it would be better to die than to continue to suffer, but their mother had a very different view of the matter. Françoise de Beauvoir had finally found happiness in her life, and she truly believed she could find happiness in her own suffering.
Considered by many to be the master work by Simone de Beauvoir, A Very Easy Death focuses on death and the other limitations in oneâs life and with what attitude one approaches them. Through her motherâs beauty, her smile, and her pride in her life and in herself, Simone learned that to be human and to have individual choice are the most important aspects of existence.
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French Existentialist philosopher, novelist, essayist, editor, and groundbreaking feminist Simone De Beauvoir was born in Paris, where she lived most of her life. She was the author of the feminist classic The Second Sex, several volumes of autobiography, and highly acclaimed novels, including The Mandarins, winner of the Prix Goncourt.
Hillary Huber is a multiple Audie Award finalist, an Earphones Award winner, and an AudioFile Best Voice. She has recorded over three hundred titles spanning many genres and holds a bachelor's degree in English literature. A voracious reader and listener, she was raised in Connecticut and Hawaii but now splits her time between California and New York.
Patrick OâBrian (1914â2000), a translator and author of biographies, was best known as the author of the highly acclaimed AubreyâMaturin series of historical novels. Set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars,this twenty-volume series centers on the enduring friendship between naval officer Jack Aubrey and physician and spy Stephen Maturin. The Far Side of the World, the tenth book in the series, was adapted into a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany. The film was nominated for ten Oscars, including Best Picture. He wrote acclaimed biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks. He also translated many works from the French, among them the novels and memoirs of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Lacoutureâs biographies of Charles de Gaulle.
