From Publishers Weekly
Atwood is, of course, one of the most famous and prolific Canadian novelists of our time (
The Blind Assassin, etc.), and this eclectic collection ably testifies to the scope of her interests and passions. These are occasional pieces, and as such, they form a somewhat odd collection, as when a review of Elmore Leonard's novel
Tishomingo Blues is immediately followed by an obituary for a fellow Canadian writer and friend. Atwood has thought long and deeply about the role women have played in the past and continue to play today. But while in the earlier essays she writes of a living revolutionary force that she believed would change the world, the more recent work views the feminist movement as a relic of an earlier time, even if its goals are still forefront in her mind. As responses to specific moments in literary, personal or social history, many of these works don't necessarily deserve to be preserved in perpetuity, but they all skillfully characterize their writer as a woman ravenously curious about the world, witty enough to know her own place in it, fiercely dedicated to language and the art and craft of writing and, even when training a skeptical eye on the world around her, enthusiastic as a child about the very act of living.
Agent, Phoebe Larmore.(Apr. 19) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Wit and wisdom are the essay's body and soul, and Atwood--shrewd, mischievous, and compelling--displays both in her masterful nonfiction. This substantial yet effervescent retrospective collection showcases Atwood as a zestful and discerning literary critic as she brilliantly assesses the work of such writers as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, and Elmore Leonard. She is also an insightful and valiant social critic, unflinchingly dissecting the impact of violent pornography, remembering her favorite wild places and tracking the ravages of acid rain, reconsidering a 1978 visit to Afghanistan, and taking issue with the post-9/11 mind-set. Atwood does, indeed, write with intent, that is, with intensity, resolve, and spirit, but for all her seriousness, she has a wickedly good time ferreting out contradictions and toppling shibboleths. And best of all are her pithy, hilarious, and touching personal essays about her family and life as a writer. Atwood has a uniquely enlivening voice and point of view, and this exhilarating volume will bolster her standing as a world-class writer of keen intellect and moxie.
Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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