Wilderness tips [Paperback]

Atwood Margaret (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844086615
• ISBN-13: 978-1844086610
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Atwood at her best, December 18, 2001

By 

Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wilderness Tips (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of Margaret Atwood. I have enjoyed most all of her novels but, after reading "Dancing Girls", I was under the opinion that short stories were not her thing. However, I believe the collection of stories in "Wilderness Tips" is one of her best works. The stories are superb beginning with "True Trash" which takes us to a summer camp and introduces us to a young woman's secret and a younger man's sad lack of awareness of the life he's created. It ends, or rather, evaporates leaving us with unrealized expectations. "Hairball" is a marvelous story about revenge for a scorned affair. "The Bog Man" is essentially the same subject matter. "Uncles" is a beautiful story about the father figures in a girl's life. Although she doesn't know her real father, she knows her uncles. Their characters are somewhat undeveloped because it is their strength, not their personality that we need to understand. We follow the life of the girl whose security is lost after the uncles are gone. For me, the most compelling story is "Death by Landscape". The story takes place at a summer camp and involves the lives of two girls who become attached after spending successive summers together. The ending is bizarre and Atwood takes us beyond that and leaves us with eerie goosebumps. The other stories are compelling and the reader finishes ready for more. Margaret Atwood is a very gifted writer and may some day be awarded the Nobel Prize. Her insights to femininity (as opposed to feminism) are a prime element of her genius. If you haven't read Atwood, this would be an excellent introduction. If you have read Atwood, then you'll be reading this anyway (if you haven't already).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wilderness Gems, August 19, 2005

By 

Maclen (Hawaii, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wilderness Tips (Paperback)

I have read many of Atwood's novels and one compilation of her short stories, "Dancing Girls," and I am convinced that she is one of the most accomplished authors writing today. I understand the comments of those reviewers who believe that Atwood's strength is the novel, and not the short story, since she excels in the psychological interplay of characters, which usually requires more time to develop than a short story will allow. However, the stories in "Wilderness Tips" are all fully realized and memorable, and when one compares them to the stories in "Dancing Girls," one immediately realizes how far she has come. Her writing here is darkly comic, witty, profound, and remarkable. She captures in each story that fleeting moment in time when someone's life has changed unalterably.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful show-case of Atwood's talent, November 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Wilderness Tips (Paperback)

Wilderness Tips is arguably Margaret Atwood's best short story collection and eloquently shows Atwood's warmth, wit, intelligence, humanity and insight into relationships. My personal favourites are 'Hairball' and 'Bog Man' and 'True Trash.' If you have read anything else by Margaret Atwood and enjoyed it, you won't be disappointed by this collection. I also recommend Alice Munro to anyone who is a fan of Atwood; she's not quite as funny or compelling, but she does write highly polished, interesting short stories.