A NEW INAMORATA PART 2

YESTERDAY WE BEGAN MY APPRECIATION of Margaret Atwood, her memoir Book of Lives, and its two articles in The New York Times “100 Notable Books of 2025.” Today in Part 2, we celebrate Atwood’s perhaps most significant work, The Handmaid’s Tale, and enjoy her occasional acerbic wit. 

 The Handmaid’s Tale. “In a career that spans nearly six decades,” Alter notes, “she’s published more than 50 books, including poetry, short stories, nonfiction, speculative fiction, psychological thrillers, children’s books, graphic novels and historical fiction.”

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Shown here, cover of the first edition via Wikipedia. 

However, Alter recounts, “When she published The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, some critics were skeptical of Atwood’s vision of a future authoritarian America, where the government controls women’s reproduction and persecutes dissidents.”

“Since then,” Alter continues, “events in the novel that once struck unimaginative reviewers as implausible have come to pass. Abortion has been outlawed in parts of America. The rule of law feels increasingly fragile. Insurgents attacked the Capitol. Censorship is rampant—Atwood herself is a frequent target.”

On Writing a Memoir. “For years,” Alter observes, “Atwood maintained that she had no interest in writing a memoir; she thought it would be tedious. When I asked her what changed, she at first blamed her publisher. ‘They wore me down,’ she said.”

Portrait (actually a brief video online) of Margaret Atwood by Brenden George Ko for The New York Times.

“Then she was quiet for a moment,” Alter recounts, “and offered another answer: ‘Two words: People died,’ she said. ‘There’s things you can say that you wouldn’t say when they were alive.’ ” 

I’m reminded of my dear mother, who had a particularly acrimonious—and highly justified—relationship with her stepmother-in-law: For years I knew the woman as “Mrs. Simmy-Should-She-Rot-In-Hell.” After the woman died, mom changed it to “Mrs. Simmy-Should-She-Rot-In-Hell-Lord-Rest-Her-Soul.”

Interesting Insights. In his review of Atwood’s memoir, Dwight Garner offers interesting insights: How Atwood’s life pal Graeme Gibson, a big, funny, gregarious and politically aware novelist, tried to teach his parrot to say, “What about the workers?” About their farm house with “many dogs, including one that peed itself if told ‘no,’ and a cat that went along with Atwood on walks as if it were a dog.” And also of their having “to put down a ram that attacked people. Atwood writes: ‘Did I shed tears? Yes. But I ate the chops.’ ”

Atwood with Graeme Gibson, her late pal, at the 2017 National Book Critics Circle awards ceremony (she won the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award that year). Image by Julie Jacobson/Associated Press via The New York Times.

My Favorite Atwood Line. Garner also recounts, “Some scores are settled directly in Book of Lives. It’s more unnerving (and thrilling) when she doesn’t name names and delivers lines like: ‘I know who you are, or were, male person,’ or, to a man who spiked her drink and another who groped her.”

Atwood wrote, “I know your names, but won’t mention them here because it was a long time ago and anyway you are probably dead. But if you’ve ever wondered why you’ve had so much bad luck in life, it was the curse of the White Goddess. Just saying.”

I love it. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025