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Customer Reviews (1)

Love Margaret Atwood, love this book
This is, I believe, Margarent Atwood's only children's book.She both wrote and illustrated it.It is a wonderful, creative, "different" and witty story.My boys identify with the adorable characters. ... Read more

Product Description
Margaret Atwood delivers a surprising look at the topic of debt - a timely subject during our current period of economic upheaval, caused by the collapse of a system of interlocking debts. In her wide ranging, entertaining, and imaginative approach to the subject, Atwood proposes that debt is like air - something we take for granted until things go wrong. And then, while gasping for breath, we become very interested in it.

Payback is not a book about practical debt management or high finance, although it does touch upon these subjects. Rather, it is an investigation into the idea of debt as an ancient and central motif in religion, literature, and the structure of human societies. By investigating how debt has informed our thinking from preliterate times to the present day through the stories we tell each other, through our concepts of "balance," "revenge," and "sin," and in the way we form our social relationships, Atwood shows that the idea of what we owe one another - in other words, "debt" - is built into the human imagination and is one of its most dynamic metaphors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Well written book on debt in the context of society
This is a very well written book on the societal relationship of the debtor to the creditor through history. The author describes how debt is tantamount to sin and how blame, if it needs to be doled out, should be given to both debtor and creditor. The history of debt is explored, with (1) the principle of fairness and (2) record-keeping being identified as the foundations for all notions of debt.

The writing is excellent and entertaining. The only part which I did not enjoy was the modernised Scrooge tale in the final chapter, but nonetheless, this book is highly recommended.

Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth
Excellent condition and prompt delivery.Thank you.

A typical Margaret Atwood book which would probably please her fans.

Nothing as I Expected: So Much More
I expected, according to the laudatory reviews, that Margaret Atwood would explain the causes of and and mete out blame for the American economic debacle. Nothing of the
sort! Instead, she examines the origins of human behavior and belief about debt and justice, starting with the primates and working her way masterfully through myth, religion, the law, and yes, economics. The surprise: she ends with a beautifully plead case for our responsibility to care for our planet. She does all this with lively trenchant humor. For such a serious subject this is an entertaining, delightful read.
I wish I could see this book put into film by Woody Allen? The Coen Brothers?
But first, she deserves every humanitarian Megaprize.

Serious subject told with wit and humor
Margaret Atwood's book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, is fascinating. Her list of glittering prizes is long. The reader is treated to a mature voice; a voice of wisdom and playfulness. In other words, she knows how to tell a good story.

Debt and credit are two weights on opposite sides of a scale. They're always in balance. The debtor and creditor are joined at the hip. One gains and another loses.

Our sense of fairness is ingrained in our cells. The attribute is shared by primates. Their communities, like ours, are hierarchical and cooperative. Atwood cites a study where when one monkey gets a prized grape: the others don't. Pandemonium ensues. The monkeys throw stones at the grape getter. Atwood imagines them as trades' union workers carrying a sign: Management Grape Dispensing Unfair.

Her wit and wisdom illuminate this delightfully meandering story. For story it is. We visit ancient Egyptian culture. These people were early spiritual accountants. After death the soul is weighed against the feather. Debt and credit must balance the scales. Debts must be paid. And for those that have transgressed, rather nasty things happen to them.

Christianity, she says, rests upon spiritual debts and what must be done to repay them. Human sacrifice figures largely throughout human existence. In biblical times, the first-born was seen as belonging to God, and that is why Abraham shows no surprise on being asked to kill his only son.

Debt is sin. Sin Eaters, the poor and desperate, eat food passed to them over the coffin of an unrepentant sinner. This practice has gone on in living memory. Sins can be traded. The Sin Eater trades food for a debt.

This is a scrupulously researched book. The Antinomian Heresy is where some people identify themselves as "elect." Normal moral conduct does not apply. According to Atwood, George Bush and Tony Blair saw themselves as outside normal moral behavior.

And then there is the Devil in his kaleidoscopic incarnations. He is in charge of the ultimate debt collections agency. Just last Sunday I saw a production of Goethe's Faust in Berkeley. The Devil delivers benefits today, just as the deity in many religious is a consolation for suffering in this life with the promise of later reward.

The bargain with the Devil has been a recurring theme throughout history. It may not be surprising that the Devil is a lawyer. Atwood considers the uneducated being afraid of learning and contracts which rob them of their land. Grimm's fairy tales show the cultural disapprobation of the miller: He who produces neither grain nor bread but takes his profit as a middleman.

Genghis Khan wasn't the kindest of men. When he invaded, he killed the rich, but saved the scribes needed to run the bureaucracy of his empire. The accounts must be kept in balance.

We visit plague-ridden Europe and learn how this disease was instrumental in destroying the feudal system. Populations have been kept in balance by war, famine, and disease. When the population dwindles, labor becomes more valued: wages rise. People eat better and have more surviving children. The survivors multiply and drive down the price of labor beyond the level of sustainability. Famine again culls the population and the cycle starts over again. Life comes into balance.

You would think the prognostications of the Club of Rome and scientists from MIT, on the coming collapse of the world economy is too gloomy to read about, but Margaret Atwood tells her story with wit and imagination.

This book is a glowing example of how to write with humor about a serious subject.

What We Owe
Novelist Margaret Atwood presents a long essay (based on a November 2008 CBC lecture series) on the nature of debt, in all its guises.Not only monetary debt, but debts of fealty, debts of gratitude, debts of kinship and blood debts.She starts the book with a long rambling survey of obligations in Greek mythology, moves to biblical references, then Victorian English literature, and finally in the last chapter rewrites Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" with Scrooge as a contemporary Donald Trump-like investment banker.That closing chapter is hilarious: "He's on his fifth Mrs. Scrooge now.She's twenty-two, a stunning girl with very long legs.He owes it to himself, because he's worth it."

Atwood makes it clear in the last chapter that she is an Al Gore/Paul Ehrlich/Limits to Growth kind of gal, with long-term sustainability (living "debt-free") requiring a considerably lowered standard of living. ... Read more

Product Description
"Homer’s Odyssey is not the only version of the story. Mythic material was originally oral, and also local -- a myth would be told one way in one place and quite differently in another. I have drawn on material other than the Odyssey, especially for the details of Penelope’s parentage, her early life and marriage, and the scandalous rumors circulating about her. I’ve chosen to give the telling of the story to Penelope and to the twelve hanged maids. The maids form a chanting and singing Chorus, which focuses on two questions that must pose themselves after any close reading of the Odyssey: What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to? The story as told in the Odyssey doesn’t hold water: there are too many inconsistencies. I’ve always been haunted by the hanged maids and, in The Penelopiad, so is Penelope herself." -- from Margaret Atwood’s Foreword to The Penelopiad ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

Chorus of the twelve maids
The absolute best book in the modern myths series, Atwood has set out to tell the story of Penelope and Odysseus and, according to the book's introduction, "fill the holes" in the original Odyssey.The important nuance of Atwood's haunting retelling is the echoing melancholy of the twelve hanged maids - a much more important element than the simple juxtaposition of this story to the original male frame. Atwood's telling is not so simple - which makes this book a rare delight, well worth a second reading.

Atwood's Penelopiad Extends her Reputation for Irony
From the beginning of her career, Margaret Atwood has displayed a gift for wry (and sometimes grim) irony. In her poems, in her fiction, even in her criticism, she hits a note of irony that is a bit short of humor while eliciting twisted smiles from attentive readers. In this retelling of the events of the Odyssey focussing on the stay-at-home wife Penelope, she finds humor by contrasting the way those who have told the story in its familiar, hero-based form with the way her heroine sees the situation and events of Homer's tale. By referring to the "facts" as we know them from the Homeric tale of Odysseus's circuitous return trip from Troy to Ithaca, but filling in details of the actions and attitudes of the Greeks who heard and treasured his tale, Atwood makes a familiar story strange and new and interesting.

Atwood's gift for looking at the world "slant" has frequently taken the form of dystopias, beginning with "The Handmaid's Tale". Yet, in her very early novels "The Edible Woman" and "Lady Oracle" she also revealed a mordant sense of humor. That wit is again central to her story-telling in "The Penelopiad." Her skill at refocussing on familiar events from a feminist viewpoint, as in "Life Before Man" and "The Robber Bride," continues to characterize her writing in this novel. Readers familiar with her work will enjoy this fresh take on an old legend. Those just getting acquainted with her writing will be moved to seek out more of her biting wit. Recommended.

AWFUL SELLER!!
I ordered the book a month ago and I still have not received it! Do not buy from this seller.

What Fun! - a great rethinking of the classic work
Well, this turned out to be an unexpected delight.Told in first person -- with Choir joining in between chapters -- "The Penelopiad" tells the story of what was going on back on the craggy home isle of Ithaca while Odysseus was traipsing around the world.

The story begins with Penelope explaining how she came into the world, and how being the daughter of a king and a Naiad isn't as great as it might seem.Having set the familial background she quickly moves on to the point where she is a young Spartan girl of 15.With Helen labeled 'the pretty one', Penelope's basically left with the 'smart as a whip' label, something she's not entirely happy with.None-the-less it's true, and she makes a rather good match for the older Odysseus who has shown up to compete for her hand in marriage.

We get to follow the couple as they break tradition and go to his home.And it's sweet to see how they become friends and lovers.This affection is what sets the backdrop for the tragedy that follows.Odysseus if you remember, was called away to support Menelaus in his fight to get Helen back from the Trojans.And while he's away actually fighting it's bad enough for Penelope, but nothing compared to when he vanishes while trying to return home.Then the suitors show up, bully her and the staff and... well you no doubt know the rest.(By the way, if you don't know, you should find out before reading this book.)

Penelope relates her tale from the better fields of the Underworld.This afterlife perspective allows Atwood the widest possible leeway in telling the tale.Penelope has, afterall, the advantage of having the final perspective on her life.


Now some people are just not going to 'get' this book.The ancient tale as told after-the-fact, like a post-mortem, just isn't going to appeal to those who need a straightforward story to be entertained.

I however thought the writing and the narrative was not only insightful (in a human sense), but downright hilarious at points.

The people who I think are going to like "The Penelopiad" are readers who are familiar with Homer's classic.And who are open to the idea of a backstory.

Finally, I can't not say something about the commentary about the symbology of the myth which is at the end of the book:simply brilliant!

Great book.Quick read. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Pam T~
reviewer here and at PageinHistory

What Fun! - a great rethinking of the classic work
Well, this turned out to be an unexpected delight.Told in first person -- with Choir joining in between chapters -- "The Penelopiad" tells the story of what was going on back on the craggy home isle of Ithaca while Odysseus was traipsing around the world.

The story begins with Penelope explaining how she came into the world, and how being the daughter of a king and a Naiad isn't as great as it might seem.Having set the familial background she quickly moves on to the point where she is a young Spartan girl of 15.With Helen labeled 'the pretty one', Penelope's basically left with the 'smart as a whip' label, something she's not entirely happy with.None-the-less it's true, and she makes a rather good match for the older Odysseus who has shown up to compete for her hand in marriage.

We get to follow the couple as they break tradition and go to his home.And it's sweet to see how they become friends and lovers.This affection is what sets the backdrop for the tragedy that follows.Odysseus if you remember, was called away to support Menelaus in his fight to get Helen back from the Trojans.And while he's away actually fighting it's bad enough for Penelope, but nothing compared to when he vanishes while trying to return home.Then the suitors show up, bully her and the staff and... well you no doubt know the rest.(By the way, if you don't know, you should find out before reading this book.)

Penelope relates her tale from the better fields of the Underworld.This afterlife perspective allows Atwood the widest possible leeway in telling the tale.Penelope has, afterall, the advantage of having the final perspective on her life.


Now some people are just not going to 'get' this book.The ancient tale as told after-the-fact, like a post-mortem, just isn't going to appeal to those who need a straightforward story to be entertained.

I however thought the writing and the narrative was not only insightful (in a human sense), but downright hilarious at points.

The people who I think are going to like "The Penelopiad" are readers who are familiar with Homer's classic.And who are open to the idea of a backstory.

Finally, I can't not say something about the commentary about the symbology of the myth which is at the end of the book:simply brilliant!

Great book.Quick read. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Pam T~
reviewer here and at PageinHistory ... Read more

Product Description
Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride is inspired by "The Robber Bridegroom," a wonderfully grisly tale from the Brothers Grimm in which an evil groom lures three maidens into his lair and devours them, one by one. But in her version, Atwood brilliantly recasts the monster as Zenia, a villainess of demonic proportions, and sets her loose in the lives of three friends, Tony,

Charis, and Roz. All three "have lost men, spirit, money, and time to their old college acquaintance, Zenia. At various times, and in various emotional disguises, Zenia has insinuated her way into their lives and practically demolished them.

To Tony, who almost lost her husband and jeopardized her academic career, Zenia is 'a lurking enemycommando.' To Roz, who did lose her husband and almost her magazine, Zenia is 'a cold and treacherous bitch.' To Charis, who lost a boyfriend, quarts of vegetable juice and some pet chickens, Zenia is a kind of zombie, maybe 'soulless'" (Lorrie Moore, New York Times BookReview). In love and war, illusion and deceit, Zenia's subterranean malevolence takes us deep into her enemies' pasts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (102)

Review of The Robber Bride
[...]
This was my first Atwood experience.I feel like I've been hiding under a rock somewhere because I have not read any of her other books - and I wouldn't have read this one if it weren't for the 1001 Books list.

I'm fascinated by how this book was written - taking the lives of three very different, very unique women and binding them together through the actions of one very vicious woman.

Tony - the short, war-loving woman.She has a tendency to speak, think and write backwards as an escape and a way of protecting herself.She is stubborn, protective, loyal and enjoys a routine set in stone. As I read her history I began to understand her actions, her wishes and her desires.. and most of all I began to understand her complete and total hatred of Zenia.

Charis - Karen, in another live.Out of all three women, her childhood was the most traumatic, from physical abuse at he hand of her mother to traumatic abuse at the hands of her uncle, Charis believes in auras, in new age material and can see auras of those around her.Yet none of this saves her when it comes to Zenia sweeping into her life and taking advantage of her soft heart.

Roz - The mother of three, the sullen Larry and hilarious teen girls.Atwood nails these two teenage girls and I appreciated the give and tug of their relationship with their mother.Roz deals with her own sort of abuse from her husband, Mitch, and... in my mind, has little excuse to hate what Zenia does to her... I shouldn't say that, perhaps she should be the least surprised about what happens.She's a savvy woman, she knows what will happen, it's happened before - but she plays her own twisted games with it all.

And finally there's Zenia.We, the readers, get to know her through her actions, her words toward the three woman affected in this book.She isthe worst nightmare of every wife and mother, girlfriend and lover.She is complicated but clear, and as I read about some aspects of what she did and began to form a picture of her in my mind I can't really say I was surprised by her, but her actions still surprised me .. if that makes sense.It was a strange feeling and one that kept me up reading until the wee hours of the morning for some sort of resolution.

This was a fascinating book and I intend to seek out other Atwood novels now. What do you all recommend I check out next?

Connections and Relationships
The Robber Bride is a story of the connections and relationships between three women (Tony, Charis and Roz) and Zenia, a femme fatale character.Zenia's sole interest in befriending each of the three women seems to be to take whatever she can.Each of the characters has a very different relationship with Zenia, although all are similarly destructive.The stories that Zenia tells about who she is, what she has been doing and what she is currently doing is different witheach of the women.

The backstories of Tony, Charis and Roz are detailed and take up the majority of words in The Robber Bride.While their characters are well explored the character of Zenia is somewhat of a mystery.Even the conclusion of the book is not well defined and has an air of mystery.Throughout the book, things are not really all that they appear to be in each of the women.How much is each of them responsible for the events that happened?

This is a book that requires some thinking about to really fully appreciate its messages that Atwood is conveying.While Tony, Charis and Roz appear to loathe Zenia but they are obviously strongly connected to her and even demonstrate loyalty to her.I think The Robber Bride would make an excellent book club choice as it would easily provoke a lot of discussion about the relationships between the four women.

NOT AS GOOD AS "HANDMAIDS TALE"
I'm new to Margaret Atwood, having gobbled up "The Year of the Flood", "Oryx and Crake" and "The Handmaids Tale". I was really excited to see that she has a long list of titles to choose from for future reading.

This one was nearly as good as the three above mentioned books. Atwood concocts a story centering around three women, each of whom have let a woman named Zenia into their lives, only to have their lives devastated as a result. Having believed that Zenia was long dead, they are stunned to see her walk into a restaurant where the three are having lunch.

Interesting plot-line so far. But for me, there was a little too much back story in the telling of the main characters lives. I'm all for character development, and I'm far from a writer, but the book got just a little tedious in parts. We had to sift through many pages of the childhood and teenage years of the women leading up to the point where they meet Zenia. Multiply that by three and you get some very slow moving pages.

All in all, a really good novel. Margaret Atwood, where have you been all my life?

An ace from the Queen of Canadian Literature
I read this in the 90s, then again just now. I could re-read it again and learn more from yet more layers.

Some complain that the male characters are flat. One point of the novel is women's difficulty in understanding men; since the story is told from the points of view of the three main female characters, the men will be seen murkily. However, Atwood draws the three main characters - Charis, Tony, and Roz - marvelously, including how mystifying they find men.

Zenia is also a technical challenge. As a person, she defines herself in terms of the people she's with; therefore, as a character, we don't come to know the 'real' Zenia well. (It could be argued that there is no 'real' Zenia, but I think that's erroneous. I have met some of the real people she's modeled after.) However, Atwood's skill is more than up to the task of helping us get to know such a nebulous character.

Tony, Charis, and Roz are "everywoman", and yet they're not - they stand as realistic, 3-dimensional characters. You'll find yourself in bits of each of them. And you'll find yourself asking why you allow yourself the weaknesses that these three have. And maybe you'll get a hint at an answer.

To some extent, the novel is like Zenia herself - it is what you make of it. If you look for funny, you'll find it. If you look for sad, you'll find that. If you look for complicated, knotty problems that, just as in real life, don't have easy answers, you'll find that, too.

Getting the Point
Yesterday I finished rereading Margaret Atwood's novel, The Robber Bride. When I first read it, years ago, I didn't enjoy the story, and I'm pretty sure I didn't get the point. I probably became lost in the details, and was disappointed with the ending. This time, I believe I understood, having grown up a bit, and having seen more history come and go, along with the spin governments and organizations put onto events.

For example, with the New Brunswick government's hapless proposal to sell our provincial utility, NBPower, to Hydro Quebec, we hear stories and explanations from all sides. Not one of us can read the future, but every one has a perspective on the past and the present.

The Robber Bride is the story of three women whose lives are turned upside down by another woman, Zenia, who has stolen each of their men in turn. The book begins from the perspective of one of the women, a history professor. Zenia was dead, they thought, out of their lives at last. But no, in the early pages of the book, they are shocked to see her in a restaurant where they have met for lunch. Zenia has concocted her own death, a deliberate fabrication, one of many, as we discover, as we travel through the memory of each woman in turn.

Each of the three women received a different version of Zenia's life. Is there any truth in her at all? Is there any truth even in the recollection of the women? Near the end of the book, each of the three spends time alone with Zenia in her hotel room. Discussing their experiences afterward, they are surprised by their diverse descriptions of the room. Did the room actually change so much? or was it the faulty nature of eye-witness accounts?

People don't see what they really should see, if they want to protect themselves from wily people like Zenia. Some, like Zenia (and our governments), are very good at fabricating a version of history to suit the need. Is there ever a truth? Is there ever a true history of anything?

In my blog, and in my journal, I record my own history. Sometimes I look back at what I've written to remind myself of what happened on a specific date, but it is only a recording of what I think happened. Sometimes I tell clients that we'd need a video to know what actually occurred in the events they are ruminating over. Yet even a video only shows the chosen perspective of the camera's operator.

I'm glad I reread Atwood's book. It is a fitting reminder for us all, in these times of historic change, to do our best to experience the world with clear eyes.
... Read more

Product Description
These wise and witty writings home in on Shakespeare, tree stumps, ecological disasters, bodies (male and female), and theology, amongst other matters. We hear Gertrude's version of what really happened in Hamlet; an ugly sister and a wicked stepmother put in a good word for themselves,and a reincarnated bat explains how Bram Stoker got Dracula hopelessly wrong. Good Bones is pure distilled Atwood - deliciously strong and bittersweet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Short snippets of Atwood's glorious style
Some days, you simply don't have the attention span required of you for reading good books. Sometimes, I find even short stories too taxing and poetry much too dense to absorb properly. That's when Good Bones will come in handy, for it will provide doses of short, potent prose.

It's a tiny little book, with tiny short stories (three or four pages on average) that are clever, intriguing and shot through with Margaret Atwood's luscious style. Despite the lengths of the stories, they are in no way lacking in emotion or intensity. They are snippets of random musings, of well-known stories told from somebody else's point of view, of sci-fi fantasies that reflect upon our own humanity...

The stories do not link to each other. As far as I can see, they are writing experiments, little flashes of inspiration that do not fit somewhere in a greater whole (such as a novel). They are ideas, brief contemplation of how the world is, snapshots of human behaviour.

Atwood has a particularly cutting insight into the way things are. I cried at certain stories, not because they were formulated with particular tragic scenes, but because they moved me. Forlorn beauty, half-remembered sensations, the things she could say with a stroke of a pen are those dark, shadowy feelings we sometimes find in ourselves, yet could never describe. Now she has done it for us, and it makes for cathartic reading.

Through Good Bones we are given a glimpse of Atwood's world: usually bleak, sometimes spine-chilling with its prediction of how the world just might turn out, but always haunting and always beautiful. If you have not read any of her works before, this is a great place to start. If you have read and enjoyed her other works, this one will definitely be worth your while. ... Read more

Product Description
By turns humorous and warm, stark and frightening, Bluebeard'S Egg glows with childhood memories, the reality of parents growing old, and the casual cruelty men and women inflict on each other. Here is the familiar outer world of family summers at remote lakes, winters of political activism, and seasons of exotic friends, mundane lives, and unexpected loves. But here too is the inner world of hidden places and all that emerges from them-the intimately personal, the fantastic, the shockingly real...whether it's what lives in a mysterious locked room or the secret feelings we all conceal. In this dramatic and far-ranging collection, Margaret Atwood proves why she is a true master of the genre. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Heartrending
Bluebeard's Egg / 0-385-49104-2

This collection of Atwood stories includes:

- Significant Moments in the Life of my Mother
- Hurricane Hazel
- Loulou
- Uglypuss
- Betty
- Bluebeard's Egg
- Spring Song of the Frogs
- Scarlet Ibis
- The Salt Garden
- The Sin Eater
- The Sunrise
- Unearthing Suite

Most of the stories revolve around the superb Atwood device of women in comfortable, "correct" lives, yet who are unbearably, incomprehensibly (to them) sad and alone. Many of these women have relationships outside of themselves - husbands, lovers, mothers, children - yet, they do not have anyone with whom they truly connect with. Though they devote much of their time, energy, and life to caring for the needs of others, no one else cares for their own needs, particularly their emotional needs.

However, Atwood does not limit herself purely to emotionally bereft women - "Uglypuss" tells the story of a disintegrating relationship from the male and female points of view, and manages to make the reader both sympathetic and non-sympathetic to both parties. This sort of literary skill (I identify with her, I identify with him) is highly rare and should be read to be believed. The trip is not always enjoyable (I often leave Atwood with a profound sense of loss and sadness), but it is meaningful and worthwhile.

~ Ana Mardoll

Short stories, not novel
I was a little disappointed to discover that Bluebeard's Egg was a collection of stories, because I was hoping for another impossible-to-put-down novel by Margaret Atwood. Still, her writing style is fantastic no matter what medium she writes in.

Cracking the shell of the egg
Upon reading the first few stories, in this collection, I tended to feel in keeping with some of the reviewers who intimated that the stories were lacking in complexity.However, as I began to probe further, and reread some of the stories, I realized just exactly what a genius Margaret Atwood is... Atwood's writing is a painful blend of the comical and horrific, much as life can be.These stories, some of them, made me cry with laughter.The recognition of some of my own inner demons was a little painful, but at least it was vicarious in nature.Such is the beauty of a story.

I found that the story "The Sunrise" was one of the most exquisite pieces of satire on the art process.As an artist bleeds themselves onto the page or the canvas, the public laps it up like starving vampires. Vicarioulsy. Sometimes the artist gives too much, more than they have to give, and then must seek out the inspiration, the muse, if you will, in someone else.Yvonne, the character here, states that she gave too much at one time. She used to be an artist's model. Now she has shut herself off, but she needs light and life, which she gets from painting unsuspecting humans, and basking in the sunlight.She's like a hothouse flower.She is an artificial creation which she presents to the world.Only she knows the real truth.If this is a collection of stories about the painful truths lurking behind people's hearts, here is the ultimate.

Atwood brilliantly satirizes the whole creative process when she says: "Though if art sucks and everything is only art, what has she done with her life?"The symbology throughout the story is one of blatant vampirism, which only the most obtuse could not see.The creation of art and the sordidness of the art world do suck life not only from the artist, but the viewer as well. Just as some of Yvonne's vitality goes into the young man's collage.Atwood says Yvonne will suck the blood of the tulip until it dies,and that she eats a portion of the souls of her sitters, i.e. her victims.Yes, as one reviewer says, the book is rife with symbology, or apparent symbology, symbols for the reader to do with as they will, instead of being spoon-fed.

She pokes fun at the reader and the critic,even before they would have had a chance to read this work, by making Yvonne the artist, a woman who paints phalluses. She pokes fun at how a phallus cannot be seen as a phallic symbol, because it IS phallic, in and of itself.Even the razor blade she calls a'memento mori'.

The most exquisite satire comes early in the story, when she writes that it is boring to be characterized by what you paint. "There was one advantage though: people bought her paintings, though not for ultra-top prices, especially after magic realism came back in."If magic realism is the use of supernatural elements treated as if they were commonplace, and she is commenting on how boring it is to be taken so literally, to in essence, have no surprises for the audience, as well as making allusions to the whole vampire myth, then this is truly brilliant satire!

For those of us who get it, here is a treasure, a gem, that has to be dug for, not unlike buried treasure.The very thing which kills her artist's spirit, or cuts off her cash flow, is a renewed fascination on the part of the fickle audience with elements of the supernatural, the mythical, the mysterious, the inutitive. They want mystery and juxtaposed images that don't have meaning until you look under the surface. Like the young man's collages which drain her into them.It's too late for her to use that ploy herself, and she said so, earlier. For the ones who get it, Atwood seems to be slamming the critics right out of the starting gate.She's having the first laugh, and I think it is infinitely funny!

Captivated by the Egg.
In the car I always have an audiobook to listen to, and the last weeks I really have enjoyed Margareth Atwood's Bluebeard's Egg and other stories.

This is a collection of short stories written by a master of words, and a master of short stories. When Atwood writes she uses no extra words or sentences, she takes us right to the point, and the point in this collection is human beings. Common human beings fighting for their lives. No heros, just plain people like you and me. Every time a new story starts I think, this one cannot be better than the last, but it happend again and again, the story captivates me, and it is all mornings hard to stop the car and go to work - I want to hear just one more sentence, and then one more.

My favorite story though is the one that has given name to the collection, Bluebeard's Egg. A well known fairy tale, told and given it's own meaning by Atwood, or may be she just shows us the original meaning of the story. Sally, the main carachter of the story struggles with the puzzle of her life, to keep all the pieces together. The center of her life is her husband Ed, but how can she be sure that she is also the center in Ed's life? No one can write about this, invite us into and let us be in the feeling of the story like Atwood do.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

Average Atwood
No one will mistake Margaret Atwood for Alice Munro when it comes to short stories.Most of these stories are trifles.Atwood's tendency to beelliptical really gets in the way of any development.Her narrators seemto just be skimming the surface of life with little or no consequence ofthat.Only the stories "Bluebeard's Egg" and "ScarletIbis" really rise above the level of craft, particularly the former. I love the preciseness with which Atwood details feminine rivalry over men! Overall, a hodge-podge of "short fiction pieces," not shortstories. ... Read more

Product Description
The Canadian novelist and poet is among the most acclaimed writers today.

This title, Margaret Atwood, part of Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern Critical Views series, examines the major works of Margaret Atwood through full-length critical essays by expert literary critics. In addition, this title features a short biography on Margaret Atwood, a chronology of the author’s life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Good Supplement if You have Read Many Atwood Novels
This book was extremely helpful for another perspective on the Atwood novels. It is especially good for research if you happen to be writing a thematic paper on Atwood, like I was. ... Read more

Product Description
MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces ofliterature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written byliterary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes willenhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes aredesigned to stimulate independent thought about the literary work byraising various issues and thought-provoking ideas andquestions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know abouteach work, including an overall summary, character lists, anexplanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context,illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of theauthor. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and hasstudy questions and answers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

Dated, but not bad
Good, but not my favorite Atwood (I like Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin Better). I couldn't help thinking how dated Marian's worries about her marriage seemed, but then this was written in the 1960s. And I really hated Duncan by the end of it.

Required Reading for Eco Activists! :)
Bloody brilliant! I was NOT a fan of Atwood's to start with, having read the Handmaid's Tale in 7th grade (it probably was a bit early, though I liked Hemingway at the time, at least The Old Man and the Sea).
I picked up the book at random in a library, after having disliked another book of Atwood's at the University too (I think it was Surfacing).
Having nothing better to do, I started reading Edible Woman and got hooked.
Some things really resonated with my own life and it was really awkward to see how life of a young woman in 1960s in Canada could be so similar to a woman in 3rd Millenium in what some refer to as Eastern Europe/ex-Yugoslavia.

Her book makes MUCH sense to any budding environmentalist or woman in general, and should be required reading to any aspirational eco activist (especially if from ex-communist countries). (And I am someone who tries to avoid the word 'should'!)
What she writes just makes so much sense. We live in a country that almost overnight got suckered into consumerism at its worst, and this book shows how it's done. Draft after draft of consumer survey (the main heroine works in a survey company). It's a hilarious and poignant observation on consumerism at its worst, and poses many questions to people (and answers some). There are some environmental bits in it, which are also very clear to anyone with a bit of sense and knowledge about these things. (eg one of the main characters grew up in a chemically polluted town, no wonder he's so mixed up.)
She doesn't address those things directly, there's no preaching involved. I can't help but think that it's no wonder that Canada is so far ahead of us in some things with regard to resource/waste management and environment, with excellent literature like this!

Reading with Tequila
The Edible Woman was full of deep, meaningful thoughts. It was quite obvious that more was going on than just what was written on the page. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite figure out what the actual message was supposed to be. Women sabotage themselves? They relinquish control to men? They need to fix people? They judge each other? Food issues are a sign of insecurity? Even food has feelings? Something else entirely? I couldn't grasp the point.

The story itself was decent, but not very compelling. It took me a long while to finish the book because it was such dry reading. I usually thoroughly enjoy Margaret Atwood's books, but this early novel was not her best.

Strange and Satisfying
Although this novel is classified as significant feminist literature, it's still a fun read. Plus Atwood really is a talented word-smith.

It's the 1960's, when women were expected to stay at home and greet their husbands after work, while donning a pretty dress and serving up a martini. So of course, ever since her engagement, independent Marian McAlpin finds herself suddenly unable to eat meat, then eggs, then vegetables, then anything! Subconsciouly she is stifled by societal expectations of women, and thus her body is rebelling. Or if you want to look deeper, she is standing in solidarity with food as prey, which is prepared for human consumption, just as women are prey, and assimilated or made 'feminine' for society's consumption. Suddenly eating food makes her feel like a cannibal! Or at least so says Wikipedia.

But in spite of the heavy symbolism, the characters are funny and almost cartoonish - somehow they are easy to enjoy, as is Atwood's elegant, eerie prose. I especially appreciated the oddball ending, which was reminiscent of an episode of "The Twilight Zone" and not half as sad as I thought it would be.

Surreal
Edible Woman / 0-385-49106-9

Probably one of Atwood's most surreal novel, the main character finds that just as she is being 'consumed' by wedding plans, she herself cannot consume certain foods without becoming violently ill. Her mysterious and lamented aversion to certain foods start with the standard vegetarian fare (she cannot to eat animals which were once alive) to vegan fare (she cannot eat products of animals, such as milk and eggs) to complete abstinence (she cannot eat vegetables, as they were once alive, too).

The symbolism within the novel is incredibly heavy, and revolves around women eating and being eaten by the world around them. The main character is being consumed by her demanding fiance and the wedding plans; her roommate is being consumed by the infant inside her, and the fetishes of the infant's father (he is only attracted to very young, 'unspoilt' girls); her best friend from college is being consumed by multiple pregnancies and a desperate, clinging husband. Though the novel is feminist in tone, the men are just as consumed as the women, in their own ways - in typical Atwood fashion, nearly everyone here is a victim of something, with few villains to point at. The ending is neither happy nor tidy, and will likely lead the reader to feel disappointed and sad, but the disappointment is with reality, and not with the author or her writing.

~ Ana Mardoll ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must for students reasearching Atwood's fiction
As a postgraduate student preparing a doctorate dissertation on Margaret Atwood, I found this collection of essays highly stmiulating and inspiring. Ms. Bouson is a well-read scholar who makes an effort to providecontroversial ideas on the novelist's fiction. The book is written in asmooth professional style. Every essay provides a new challenge to thereader. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

One of our favourite books.
Disclosure #1: Our son is named Bob.Disclosure #2: We're Canadian, and I know personally, whenever I read this story to my three year old, I hear Margaret Atwood's voice behind my own.

The alliteration in this book is truly delightful.My son's vocabulary has indeed benefited.The story moves quickly, which endearing characters and a happy ending.And the humor!Just our type.May not be yours, but it is indeed ours.

Two thumbs, or five stars up.

Add the funny wordplay and you have an exceptional story.
Bob's been abandoned by his mother and raised by a bunch of dogs, so is bashful around humans, while Dorinda's own tough childhood with distant relatives has made its mark on her personality. Their similar experiences leads them to be close friends, and when a buffalo bounds over a barrier at a botanical garden, they join to salvage the situation and emerge victorious - discovering, in the process, they can be brave and winners as well. Add the funny wordplay and you have an exceptional story.

Disturbing subject for children
As a parent of a child who was abandoned at birth, I am absolutely stunned that this book is considered a wonderful selection for children - We received this book as a gift and when I started to read the book to my 5 year old, I was just stopped in my tracks on the first page - to so glibly describe a baby being abandoned by his mother because she lost her senses was unbelievable - and then, at the end the mother realizes what she did and comes back to claim her child may give a young child hope that maybe, just maybe, his or her birthmother may come back to get him or her is just too much - There are also many children who have lost their parents to disasters so the tale of Doleful Dorinda and the miraculous appearance of her parents is also not fair to them as well.THese children will never get their parents back.I am truly amazed that this book was allowed to be published - there could have been many more story lines created that used the "b" and "d" sounds.

I would definately not recommend this book ... Read more

Product Description
Margaret Atwood's international celebrity has given a new visibility to Canadian literature in English. This Companion provides a comprehensive critical account of Atwood's writing across the wide range of genres within which she has worked for the past forty years, while paying attention to her Canadian cultural context and the multiple dimensions of her celebrity. The main concern is with Atwood the writer, but there is also Atwood the media star and public performer, cultural critic, environmentalist and human rights spokeswoman, social and political satirist, and mythmaker. This immensely varied profile is addressed in a series of chapters which cover biographical, textual, and contextual issues. The Introduction contains an analysis of dominant trends in Atwood criticism since the 1970s, while the essays by twelve leading international Atwood critics represent the wide range of different perspectives in current Atwood scholarship. ... Read more

Product Description
Although Margaret Atwood has been the subject of a great deal of literary criticism and commentary, this is the first biography of the celebrated author, poet, critic, and social activist whose critically and popularly acclaimed works include Surfacing, Cat's Eye, The Handmaid's Tale, and Alias Grace. The Atwood who emerges in these pages is an intense and driven woman, struggling daily to balance the demands of her own artistic perfectionism with her commitment to enjoying a rich and varied private life. Nathalie Cooke (a former president of the Margaret Atwood Society) traces an astonishing network of interconnections that weaves its way through Atwood's past and present: friends, lovers, wives, and husbands who become each others' publishers, editors, promoters, and critics. Cooke follows the web, and along the way discloses some of Atwood's most painful and personal moments, including broken engagements, betrayals, and divorce. This biography follows Atwood's development as a major figure in the evolution of contemporary Canadian literature and culture, and at the same time chronicles the reception of her works and her own ongoing creation of her public persona. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not at all about Margaret Atwood!
A horrifyingly trite view on such a beloved author.The writing was commonish and rather juvenile.Chock full of the author's personal life, not that of Atwood.

Doesn't even try.
Admittedly, any biography of Margaret Atwood has some intrinsic fascination--both for what readers do know about Atwood, and what we don't. We know that she is a very gifted and, above all, a morally serious writer;she is one of only a few writers alive today whose reputation and popularappeal rest on her concern with terrifying political issues. But the samething has happened to Atwood as has happened to other writers in thissituation: her readers and critics have come to know her mainly byreputation, even after reading everything she has written. Thus althoughshe is one of today's most studied, quoted, and in some ways fearedliterary figures, little new is actually said about her, the positive polefocusing on her Cassandra-like gifts and the negative on her being adisgruntled woman. Neither does Atwood justice and this biography does verylittle to change that. We are indeed presented with a gifted and apparentlyrather complex human being, her friends speak of her with affection andsome fear, but much as Atwood speaks of her cult with contempt, the cultyatmosphere surrounding her is never dispelled and one is left with theuncomfortable feeling that the writer encourages it because, perhaps, shedoes not have the faith that human beings will listen to her painfulmessages without it. While it is admirable of Atwood to resist sexiststereotyping as a "witch," it is permissible for us to try to seeher in context. Atwood's cooperation with this effort is simply to increasemystification by telling us we can only get it wrong, as if it wereimpossible to understand why a human being would be horrified at what shesees around her (though she accuses us of thinking this way). To herdiscredit, the biographer caves in every step of the way. Atwood the writerand Atwood the woman are rich material. Atwood the myth is not.

A Biased View of the Writing Life
Without knowing Margaret Atwood personally, it is impossible to tell if the problems in this biography stem from a biased interpretation by the author or from the very biases of Atwood herself. Whatever the source, biaspervades this biography. While on the one hand the reader is presented witha picture of a woman who defied what she considered to be literaryconvention by living inrural areas and having a child and a successfulrelationship with a man, the reader also is left with the uncomfortablefeeling that Atwood is attempting to set her own convention and is lookingat those who do not conform to *her* conventions. The Atwood in thisbiography seems critical of the single woman, the childless woman, theurban (esp. New York City) writer, and the lower class writer. Although Icannot quote the book directly (I got rid of it in a fit of disgust), thereis one scene that has burned itself into my memory. The author discussesAtwood's belief that a writer shouldn't poor. While it is true that one isfreer to write when certain material comforts are present and when materialconcerns do not predominate, Atwood is then quoted as saying something tothis affect: I've never been a janitor or held any other sort of low-classjob, but don't quote me on that, because I know it's unfashionable. One isleft feeling that if a writer *does* come from humble origins, one must notspeak about it later or let it influence one's writing.Although I dislikedthe book because of its pervasive biases, it does present a comprehensiveoverview of Margaret Atwood's life and some insight into the artisticprocess. I think that an Atwood fan (which I myself am) who is married withchildren (or who desires that lifestyle), who loves nature and has had theluxury to live that lifestyle, and who has had a comfortable middle-classupbringing, might actually enjoy this biography. For others, though, youmight just find yourself driven to furious rage at the potential creationof a new, but equally dogmatic, stereotype. ... Read more

Product Description
The most supportive, easy-to-use and focussed literature guides to help your students understand the texts they are studying at GCSE and A Level ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not what I ordered
Showing up as the first result in my search for this book I assumed it was actually... you know... the damn book! This is nothing but sparknotes in paperback form, useless for college level literature classes. Amazon needs to remove this, period.

THE WRONG BOOK
I ordered THE HANDMAID'S TALE, but was sent a book of reviews, questions, etc. about the book, but not the text.The book was from Britain.I wrote Amazon about the mistake, but got no reply.This mistake was unusual, but since I needed the text for a book club review, it was useless.I'm paying for a book I did not order.Mary Wilder

Disappointed in time it took for delivery.
I did not ask for the British version of our "Cliff Notes".However, it came up first in my request for the actual book.I didn't realize the book was coming from England either--hence a much longer delivery time.So I wound up without the book, but with the "York Notes" (which were excellent) too late for my Book Club night.Be sure you carefully read before you order.I am told all of this info was contained somewhere or another, which I sure did miss.

An Amalgamation of Fiction and Reality
In the fictional Republic of Gilead, the dramatic decrease of birthrates makes the society's fundamental goal is to control reproduction. Written from Offrend's first person point of view, the novel adds to the reader's connection with a Handmaid, her tormented feelings, and hatred toward this new totalitarian regime. Gilead is based on the precept that giving birth is women's religious and moral duty and those who do not fulfill it will be sent to hell (aka the Colonies) where the "unwomen" are left to die. With its modern setting, and reference to our present, the novel makes the reader shift between two different worlds: the narrator's and ours. For example, Atwood references Harvard as a place where the disobedient are hung and ironically she always hears the echoes of the old world where museums, stores, and the military where all used for their supposed purposes.
With Biblical allusions, and references to WWII, as in "mayday" and the totalitarian regimes of Stalin and Hitler, Atwood creates a masterful piece of a fictional world still connected to the reality.
With its ambiguous ending, the novel lets the mind ponder on what can become of this now familiar narrator. Is death better for her? Or if rescued, will she return to her family? The fact that the ending is hopeful adds to the greatness of the book.
Its only flaw, however, was its introduction of minor characters that we never get to learn about. Offred often mentions her daughter's name but she never talks about her.Otherwise, Atwood's use of syntax is a great indicator of the narrator is shifting tones- from hope to desperation, from fear to indifference, from love to passion.She constantly uses flashback about her family and her former life to demonstrate her criticism of Gilead where women are containers valued for only what is inside of them.
In order to serve the needs of the new society's elite, Gilead creates a system of titles where women are defined solely by their gender roles as Wives, Handmaids, or Marthas. Stripping them of individual names strips them of their individuality. In a moment of desperation, Offred cries out in vain, "I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name; remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me. I want to steal something" (Atwood 97).
Deprived from her basic rights, Offred frustration and anger is revealed by her use of simple sentences with anaphora to stress her futile but desperate longing for attention.



... Read more

Product Description
In this collection of short works that defy easycategorization, Margaret Atwood displays, incondensed and crystallized form, the trademark wit andviruosity of her best-selling novels, brilliantstories, and insightful poetry. Among the jewelsgathered here are Gertrude offering Hamlet a pieceof her mind, the real truth about the Little RedHen, a reincarnated bat explaining how Bram Stokergot Dracula all wrong, and thefive methods of making a man (such as the"Traditional Method": "Take some dust offthe ground. Form. Breathe into the nostrils thebreath of life. Simple, but effective!")There are parables, monologues, prose poems, condensedscience fiction, reconfigured fairy tales, andother miniature masterpieces--punctuated withcharming illustrations by the author. A must for herfans, and a wonderful gift for all who savor the artof exquisite prose, Good Bones And SimpleMurders marks the first time thesewritings have been available in a trade edition in theUnited States.

Amazon.com Review
This handsome volume combines two of Margaret Atwood's most playful books--Good Bones and Murder in the Dark--resulting in an athletically clever series of tiny fictions, prose poems, and essays that, in small, witty steps, deconstruct everything from sexual politics to the very act of writing itself. Ranging from a tongue-in-cheek appreciation of "Women's Novels" and an embittered, self-sacrificing confessional by Chicken Little to a powerful series of variations on John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields," Good Bones and Simple Murders will surprise casual Atwood fans who are accustomed to the broad intensity of her novels or the seriousness of much of her poetry.

Many of the weaker pieces in this collection now feel dated, but this is hardly Atwood's fault; scores of lesser writers worked the brief essay-fiction to death in the late '90s, but Good Bones and Simple Murders is the real thing. Atwood is blessed with the linguistic gifts necessary to make this kind of writing memorable and a keen intelligence that often gives the stories a devastating relevance. These stories are too quirky to be a useful introduction to Atwood's works, but they are nonetheless likely to delight both fans and dabblers. --Jack Illingworth ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Fine Short Stories
Good Bones and Simple Murders / 0-385-47110-6

This compilation of Atwood's shortest stories and musings include the following:
- Murder in the Darl
- Bad News
- Unpopular Girls
- The Little Red Hen Tells All
- Gertrude Talks Back
- There Was Once
- Women's Novels
- The Boys' Own Annual
- Stump Hunting
- Making a Man
- Men at Sea
- Simmering
- Happy Endings
- Let Us Now Praise Stupid Women
- The Victory Burlesk
- She
- The Female Body
- Cold-Blooded
- Liking Men
- In Love with Raymond Chandler
- Simple Murders
- Iconography
- Alien Territory
- My Life as a Bat
- Hardball
- Bread
- Poppies: Three Variations
- Homelanding
- The Page
- An Angel
- Third Handed
- Death Scenes
- We Want It All
- Dance of the Lepers
- Good Bones

These stories are all fairly short, no more than a few pages each, and many are less stories than simply musings on the part of the author. Each one is a little snippet of thought, with a larger story behind it that exists only in the author's mind. For instance, "Gertrude Talks Back" where Hamlet's mother responds to his berating speech and confesses (proudly) that it was she who killed Claudius. There is a story there, even if it is unwritten, of a stronger Gertrude, one who takes command of her own destiny rather than simply playing the passive roles of widow, wife, and mother.

The only real drawback to this compilation is that the stories are almost too short, too unpolished. The idea behind each is compelling, but it is disappointing that the idea wasn't able to blossom into a full story, or even a whole novel. Lots of authors' ideas peter out with nothing ever coming of them, and there's no shame in publishing these failed musings to inspire others, but it is a bit sad that this is as far as these stories ever got.

~ Ana Mardoll

Interesting and funny
Like The Tent, this book is not a novel or collection of short stories.If you want a novel or short stories, look for those.But if you're open to something different, short, separate writings, with Atwood's great prose, feminist outlook, and humor, try this book.

Good Bones and Simple Murders
Every story in this book is good.I have to say that up front because now I'm going to tell you that the third story, "Unpopular Gals," is why this book will remain forever enshrined on my bookshelf.In five and a half pages, Atwood tells you why fairy tales live forever, and it ain't because of that wimpy, weak-kneed, put-upon little girl whose rescue always takes center stage.

Flash fiction at its best
Quite honestly, before I read this book, I had hesitated to indulge in "flash fiction." I like my fiction long, the longer the better. I like Gore Vidal because his works are looooong.

This lovely little book of flash fiction sold me on the art form. While many of the stories are not narrative fiction in the traditional sense, they are smart and funny. Many of them are based on ideas more than the heart of the character. In a longer work, that would make the work slight and overly intellectual. Here, it makes them snappy.

In addition, many of these works are excellent jumping off points to consider literature and writing. For example, the second piece, "Unpopular Gals," tells the story of fairy tales from the POV of the evil stepsister or stepmother. While the POV character laments that she gets all the blame, the piece ends with, "You can wipe your feet on me, twist my motives around all you like, you can dump millstones on my head and drown me in the river, but you can't get me out of the story.I'm the plot, babe, and don't ever forget it."[Emphasis added.]

You can discuss the post-modern era with its emphasis on the disenfranchised character all you like, but that one gem is worth the whole book to an aspiring writer. The other pieces are just as good.

TK Kenyon
Author of Rabid: A Novel and Callous: A Novel

Good Bones
"Good Bones" is one of my favourites from way back in junior high school. A decade or so later, Atwood's essays and creative tid bits still have resonance for me. Her wit and subversive humour really shine here in this collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Not Margaret's best, but engaging still
Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite authors, but I had to read this book over two sittings nearly 10 years apart.Rennie is the protagonist, and she's a bit of an enigma.Bodily Harm follows her as she struggles to feel whole again after a mastectomy.She goes to Barbados and gets caught up in some strange events; throughout this adventure, she recalls her failed relationships with two other men.I love that we do not get a clear picture of what's going on, but I think that's why I had a hard time with it when I first attempted to read this book:back then, I needed clear direction and answers when I read.While there is resolution at the end, the book is not as tight as I think it could be, and the women's voices falter a bit.Whether Atwood intended that, is beyond me...perhaps I can ask her next week when I hear her speak!

This Time Next Year
I'd previously read "Lady Oracle" & "Alias Grace."So when I saw this @ a library sale, I picked up a vintage edition.I didn't realize that the protagonist, Rennie, has breast cancer.Since the passing of my wife from that awful disease several years ago, I probably would not select a title focusing on this since it's still too immediate for me.I didn't put it down, but kept reading.Thankfully, Atwood uses the disease as a catalyst to generate changes for Rennie.Rennie writes articles on travel & food.Assigned to visit a small island St. Antoine where every tourist is suspected of being a spy, she finds little to recommend the place as a resort.With the British having just ended colonial rule, there is political unrest.She heads over to a smaller island, Ste. Agathe, and steps into the aftermath of a close election & political assassination.Flashbacks punctuate the story with her ex-boyfriend and her attempted fling with her surgeon, while in the present she hooks up with a secretive military type Paul for an icy affair.I didn't ever fully connect with Rennie.So I felt a bit distant.I wasn't particularly worried for her during the most difficult parts, more just wondering whether Atwood would kill off her main character.At the end, after everything happened, I wondered, "So what?"This time next year, I probably will have forgotten what this story was about.Taxi!

Very nice realistic book
Very nice book. Although dealing with a hard story of breast removal it is not more or less emotional. It provides strong, hopefull messages to the readers.

A bit of a slow read in the beginning
I found the story to be largely boring during the first 1/3 of the book or so, but things quickly got interesting. I saw Rennie as a naive woman in a country with a system she didn't understand. I thought the decisions she made were extremely naive considering she was in a foreign country. However, I guess these days we're taught to be more diligent when traveling, so the old rules no longer apply.

3 stars but I wouldn't recommend this.

Lethargic
Bodily Harm / 0-385-49107-7

You can tell this is one of Atwood's earlier works. The subject matter (a woman struggling with her own mortality after a bout with cancer) is grim and is thoughtfully and carefully explored, but the actual prose is a bit lethargic and difficult to wade through. I read this and Cat's Eye in the same week and Cat's Eye felt a much faster read, even though the book is two or three times longer than Bodily Harm.

The main character struggles through the daily routine of her life as a magazine writer, unsure how to break through the haze induced by her struggle with cancer. She has, for the time being, won and the cancer is in remission, but at a cost - her left breast has been removed. She knows that the cancer can and may resurface, at any time, but she finds it difficult to "live for the moment". She struggles with the realization that, in some ways, she would rather be definitely dying rather than stuck in this limbo were she is expected to feel lucky, happy, and saved, but cannot.

The bulk of the novel involves her trip to a distant island as a tourist writer, and her immersion in the local political unrest. This is the longest and, in some ways, most unrealistic part of the novel because the protagonist does not respond realistically to external stimulus. When she finds she is spiraling further into danger, she does not tuck tail and flee the country, which would seem to be the most logical choice. I think the reason for this, however, is because her surgery has left her so devoid of emotion and feeling that it is easier for her to be swept away than to make any effort to remove herself from danger. It is frustrating to the reader, however, who feels that s/he would be more sensible in similar circumstances.

This is a good enough book, particularly if you are an Atwood fan, as I am. But I would save this one for last, once you've exhausted all her other fine works.

~ Ana Mardoll ... Read more

Product Description
This volume in the Kids of Canada series follows a young city girl's exploration of the countryside, showing what she finds there.

Anna searches for a pet on her grandparent's farm: will it be a toad? A Worm? A Snake? Each choice she makes teaches her about these creatures and the world they inhabit and, ultimately, about herself.

In a charming and playful manner, Atwood and Barkhouse evoke the relationship between a child and the natural world. ... Read more

Product Description
From one of the world’s most passionately engaged and acclaimed literary citizens comes Writing with Intent, the largest collection to date of Margaret Atwood’s nonfiction, ranging from 1983 to 2005. Composed of autobiographical essays, cultural commentary, book reviews, and introductory pieces to great works of literature, this is the award-winning author's first book-length nonfiction publication in twenty years. Arranged chronologically, these writings display the development of Atwood’s worldview as the world around her changes.

Included are the Booker Prize–winning author’s reviews of books by John Updike, Italo Calvino, Toni Morrison, and others, as well as essays in which she remembers herself reading Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse at age nineteen, and discusses the influence of George Orwell’s 1984 on the writing of The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood’s New York Times Book Review piece that helped make Orhan Pamuk’s Snow a bestseller can be found here, as well as a look back on a family trip to Afghanistan just before the Soviet invasion, and her "Letter to America," written after September 11, 2001. The insightful and memorable pieces in this book serve as a testament to Atwood’s career, reminding readers why she is one of the most esteemed writers of our time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Exceptional:A Passion for Reading and Writing
Writing With Intent from 2005 is an excellent book that I highly recommend.

There are a few words of caution, however. Atwood has written a number of non-fiction works including the famous "Negotiating With The Dead" to name just one. She has another non-fiction book from 2004 called "Moving Targets" which is sold in what appears to be a different market. So, if you have read or own that 2004 book, you can probably skip the present book. I did not compare them word for word but they are very similar.

Okay, now back to this present book. Unlike some writers, Atwood loves to read other people's work, and has done so since she was a child. Few have read more than Atwood. It is her passion as is her own writing. So, flowing from the two passions we have a series of essays on many topics including her own writing experiences and what she thinks of other books and other writers. You do not have to read it all at once. Each section or essay is a story. It is an impressive display of humor and knowledge of the field. She shows the reader her deep insight into how writers think and what other authors are trying to say, or their "voice."

As one example, she links Orwell's writing to her own work "A Handmaid's Tale" and shows why and where she got her ideas and inspiration.

Another author, and one who I do not really like personally, is Toni Morrison. She gives the reader many reasons to like Morrison, and maybe I will have a second look at "Beloved" which I read and did not like, or more accurately was not too excited about.

Overall, this is a humbling experience for "we common readers" and most will be awed by her knowledge and personality. It reminds the reader of Virginia Woolf's "Common Reader" books, but not as broad as Woolf, but with more personal stories, and it is the same size or a bit longer than Woolf's two "Common Reader" books combined.

I cannot say enough good things about this book.
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Product Description
Margaret Atwood's witty and informative book focuses on the imaginative mystique of the wilderness of the Canadian North. She discusses the 'Grey Owl Syndrome' of white writers going native; the folklore arising from the mysterious-- and disastrous -- Franklin expedition of the nineteenth century; the myth of the dreaded snow monster, the Wendigo; the relations between nature writing and new forms of Gothic; and how a fresh generation of women writers in Canada have adapted the imagery of the Canadian North for the exploration of contemporary themes of gender, the family and sexuality. Writers discussed include Robert Service, Robertson Davies, Alice Munro, E.J. Pratt, Marian Engel, Margaret Laurence, and Gwendolyn MacEwan. This superbly written and compelling portrait of the mysterious North is at once a fascinating insight into the Canadian imagination, and an exciting new work from an outstanding literary presence. ... Read more

Product Description
' Whenever I resolve to write less and do something healthful instead, like ice dancing - some honey-tongued editor is sure to call me up and make me an offer I can't refuse. So in some ways this book is simply the result of an under-developed ability to say no' Collected and published in the UK for the first time, here are essays and journalism from the brilliant novelist and poet. Ranging from book reviews of John Updike and Toni Morrison to an appreciation of Dashiell Hammet; an account of a journey in Afghanistan that sowed the seeds of The Handmaid's Tale; passionate ecological writings; funny stories of 'my most embarrassing moments'; obituaries of some of her great friends and fellow writers: Angela Carter, Mordecai Richler, Carol Shields. This is an insightful, thoughtful and revealing record of the life and times and writings of Margaret Atwood from 1970 to the present. ... Read more