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Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021
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About This Book
This brilliant selection of essays—funny, erudite, endlessly curious, uncannily prescient—seeks answers to Burning Questions such as: • Why do people everywhere, in all cultures, tell stories? • How much of yourself can you give away without evaporating? • How can we live on our planet? • Is it true? And is it fair? • What do zombies have to do with authoritarianism? In over fifty pieces Atwood aims her prodigious intellect and impish humor at the world, and reports back to us on what she finds. The roller-coaster period covered in the collection brought an end to the end of history, a financial crash, the rise of Trump and a pandemic. From debt to tech, the climate crisis to freedom, from when to dispense advice to the young (answer: only when asked) and how to define granola, we have no better guide than Atwood to the many and varied mysteries of our universe.
Reviews
"It's fascinating to read Atwood's reflections on her own novels and their continued relevance, sometimes three or four decades after the fact, but equally striking to see how many pieces she has included here generously celebrating other writers."
"Her nonfiction—reviews, introductions, eulogies, appreciations and lectures—often seems to be a response to a challenge or an invitation ..."
"Some of the most memorable things in Burning Questions are simply stray comments that noodle their way into your mind ..."
"No less authoritative is this volume, which shows her turn over a range of subjects like a thoughtful archaeologist thumbing a piece of ground, seeking clarity about virtually everything, from freedom to culture wars, to bird-watching, autocracy and feminism ..."
"Despite the oft-serious nature of the collection, there are welcome dashes of levity ..."
"Clumsy coinages feel like placeholder words ..."
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