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The heart of the matter

Margaret Atwood’s athletic digressions
by
May 2022, no. 442

Burning Questions: Essays and occasional pieces, 2004–2021 by Margaret Atwood

Chatto & Windus, $42.95 hb, 495 pp

The heart of the matter

Margaret Atwood’s athletic digressions
by
May 2022, no. 442
Margaret Atwood receiving the Franz Kafka Prize in Prague, Czech Republic, 2017 (CTK/Alamy)

Earlier this year, while still much occupied with our works in progress, Drusilla Modjeska and I discussed what our next projects might be. We were both tempted to put together a collection of our shorter writings – essays, talks, reviews, articles – already written and just needing a touch up. ‘Money for nothing and your books for free,’ I said, echoing the old Dire Straits song – albeit in a much more acceptable form for these sensitive times. And that’s the gift with collected writings: little work is required to produce a book. But a gift for the writer can be a risky business for the reader. After all, one cannot hope that all the disparate pieces (sixty-two in Margaret Atwood’s latest collection) will be equally as compelling as one Handmaid’s Tale.

Andrea Goldsmith reviews 'Burning Questions: Essays and occasional pieces, 2004–2021' by Margaret Atwood

Burning Questions: Essays and occasional pieces, 2004–2021

by Margaret Atwood

Chatto & Windus, $42.95 hb, 495 pp

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