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Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021

Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces, 2004 to 2021

by Margaret Atwood

Doubleday ·2022 ·496 pages
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
61/99
Maybe Someday

46/99

Critics' Rating Index

Top of the Pile

76/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

66/99

Volume of Reviews

73/99

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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

"Readers' enjoyment of Burning Questions may be proportional to the pleasure they take in Atwood's cozy, twinkling tone."

Charles Arrowsmith· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Atwood is clearly undaunted by opprobrium, calling instead for fairness and accountability ..."

Stephanie Merritt· The Guardian Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Her nonfiction is not particularly nuanced—that non-outline she doesn't make forms the exoskeleton of many a command performance—but her prescience, her wicked sense of humour, her generosity and her appetite for work are all on flamboyant display in Burning Questions."

Mary Norris· Times Literary Supplement Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"This applies even to those who can clearly write and think, like Margaret Atwood ..."

Dwight Garner· The New York Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"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 ..."

Mary O\'Donnell· The Irish Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Despite the oft-serious nature of the collection, there are welcome dashes of levity ..."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

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