Margaret Atwood's memoir arrives as an audiobook, wit intact
Book of Lives, subtitled 'A Memoir of Sorts', collects the Canadian author's reflections on her career, her losses and her enemies — reviewed by the Guardian as dryly funny.
Margaret Atwood says she long resisted writing a memoir, finding the idea of recounting her own life 'dead boring', according to the Guardian's review of the audiobook. She describes being tempted eventually by what she calls a 'sinister alter ego' whispering that a memoir would let her 'thank my benefactors, reward my friends, trash my enemies and pay off scores long forgotten by everyone but me.'
The result, subtitled 'A Memoir of Sorts', covers the Canadian writer's loves, losses and literary career, which spans just over 50 books across fiction, poetry and short stories, the Guardian notes. The review describes the book as a showcase for Atwood's wisdom and wit, with any score-settling kept light and used mainly for comic effect.
When a poet told Atwood in the early 1970s that she wrote like a man — intending it as a compliment — she replied that he had forgotten the punctuation: 'What you meant was, "She writes. Like a man".'
recounted in Book of Lives, via the Guardian
The Guardian's review centres on the audiobook edition and praises its dry humour, without detailing the book's structure, publisher or release date beyond what is given here.
Sources
This article was written from these reports.
