Lady Oracle [Mass Market Paperback]

Margaret Atwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 1987

Joan Foster is the bored wife of a myopic ban-the-bomber. She takes off overnight as Canada's new superpoet, pens lurid gothics on the sly, attracts a blackmailing reporter, skids cheerfully in and out of menacing plots, hair-raising traps, and passionate trysts, and lands dead and well in Terremoto, Italy. In this remarkable, poetic, and magical novel, Margaret Atwood proves yet again why she is considered to be one of the most important and accomplished writers of our time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Read it for its gracefulness, for its good story, and for its help with your fantasy life." -The Globe and Mail

"Marvelously funny." -Maclean's

"A wonderfully unpretentious comic romp--a fine novel: inventive--funny, and a pleasure to read," -Mordecai Richler

"Brilliant and funny. I can't tell you how exhilarating it was to read it - everything works. An extraordinary book." -Joan Didion

From the Publisher

New in this edition: a Reader's Companion to Lady Oracle--ideal for discussion groups

"Funny, poignant, and briskly energetic."
--Newsweek

"A rich, subtle, deep, delicate, nourishing book. It's all joy, but it stays with you. She has things to tell us."
--Philadelphia Inquirer

"A really gifted writer...alternately satirical and lyrical."
--Time

"A very funny novel, lightly told with wry detachment and considerable art."
--Washington Post Book World

"Brilliant and funny. I can't tell you how exhilarating it was to read it --everything works. An extraordinary book."
--Joan Didion

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett (July 12, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449213765
• ISBN-13: 978-0449213766
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MARGARET ATWOOD, whose work has been published in over thirty-five countries, is the author of more than forty books of fiction, poetry, and critical essays. In addition to The Handmaid's Tale, her novels include Cat's Eye, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; and her most recent, Oryx and Crake, shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize. She lives in Toronto with writer Graeme Gibson.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Atwood's funniest book has a lot more than laughs to offer, August 15, 1999

By 

Clare Wilson (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lady Oracle (Paperback)

"Lady Oracle"'s Joan is one of my favorite of Margaret Atwood's heroines. She overcomes the problem of her body image and an unhealthy relationship with her mother with a great sense of humor and a definite mind of her own. My favorite thing about this book is the way Joan weaves her own story into the historical romances she churns out for money. I also love the cynical depiction of the literary world which creates her accidental cult hit "Lady Oracle" out of an experiment in Automatic Writing. The men in Joan's life don't know what to make of her, and their attempts to fit her into their predetermined roles never fail to backfire with hilarious results. As always, Margaret Atwood is right on target.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Satire!, November 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Lady Oracle (Paperback)

This is most definately one of my all time favourite books. The way Margaret Atwood examines how pre-occupied our society is about body image is both halirious, sad and unbelievably realistic. She is able to demonstrate how we all struggle to find our identity while at the same time are terrified to come to terms with our true selves, past and present. Despite the fact, the protagonist went to ridiculous extremes to hide her past, I felt I could relate to her situation. This is a wonderful book for anyone who has struggled with their self image. It is also a great read for anyone who loves to laugh!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must for any Atwood fan, August 11, 2002

By 

Jason Argentum (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady Oracle (Paperback)

_Lady Oracle_ is, essentially, a novel told mostly as a huge flashback. That said, it was quite enjoyable, even if the plot didn't make complete sense. The main character, Joan Foster, fakes her own death to escape the stresses of her current life, and moves to Italy, from where she tells us the majority of the story. After a traumatic childhood, and having grown dangerously overweight (which she did as a psychological weapon against her mother), Joan's Aunt Lou dies, leaving her a substantial amount of money on the condition that Joan lose 100 pounds. Joan loses the weight, ultimately causing more problems with her mother (because her mother wanted to be the one to get Joan to slim down), ultimately culminating with her mother attempting (and failing) to stab her. Joan moves to England and winds up mistress to an exiled, reactionary Polish count. From here she begins writing trashy Gothic romances for a living under the pseudonym of L. Delacourt. She later meets and marries Arthur, a manic socialist (or something) activist. Eventually she has a book published under her own name, a collection of poetry entitled (coincidentally enough) Lady Oracle, which becomes an immediate cult classic. This book eventually leads to her faked death, as her celebrity leads her to (among other things) an affair with an avante-garde artist who calls himself the Royal Porcupine, and an ex-CBC anchor intent on blackmailing her.

It struck me, though, that Joan doesn't really seem to believe in much of anything. She goes through the motions for people to make them happy. She is whatever those around her want her to be. In fact, the only thing she ever seems to do of her own volition is fake her death. Initiative is not on Joan Foster's agenda. Neither is truth. One wonders a bit if anything is.

In any case, _Lady Oracle_ is good, but it's nowhere near as good as _The Handmaid's Tale_. If you haven't read the latter already, I highly recommend it.