Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing - Softcover

Atwood, Margaret

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385659849 ISBN 13: 9780385659840

Publisher: Anchor Canada, 2003

Synopsis

An ambitious inquiry into the art of writing and an unprecedented insider’s view of the writer’s universe, from the beloved author of The Handmaid’s Tale. 

What do we mean when we say that someone is a writer? Is he or she an entertainer? An improver of readers’ minds and morals? And who, for that matter, are these mysterious readers? In this wise and irresistibly quotable book, one of the most intelligent writers working in English addresses the riddle of her art: why people pursue it, how they view their calling, and what bargains they make with their audience, both real and imagined. To these fascinating issues Booker Prize-winner Margaret Atwood brings a candid appraisal of her own experience as well as a breadth of reading that encompasses everything from Dante to Elmore Leonard.

About this title

Review

After having been through the "wash-and-spin cycle" a few times, Margaret Atwood realized that her "own experience in the suds may be relevant to others." Thus was born Negotiating with the Dead, six essays about what it means to be a writer, particularly a female writer. Each essay explores one aspect of writerly contemplation: art vs. commerce; the ideal reader; the separation between the part of a person that writes and the part that lives; and, as the title suggests, the constant presence of those who came before (both writers and other ancestors). Atwood relates her own experiences as a female poet (to be taken seriously, it would have helped to commit suicide) and as a bestselling novelist (whether your books are good or bad, sell well or don't, people will look down at you for it). These are intriguing meditations, with references to works by Virgil, Isak Dinesen, Robertson Davies, and countless others (Atwood's own dead, no doubt). --Jane Steinberg

Book Description

What is the role of the writer? Prophet? High Priest of Art? Court Jester? Or witness to the real world? Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors which writers of fiction and poetry have used to explain--or excuse!--their activities. If a writer is to be seen as gifted, who is doing the giving and what are the terms of the gift? Atwood's lightness of touch is underlined by a seriousness about writing, and by a deep familiarity with the myths and traditions of western literature.

Edition details

• Publisher: Anchor Canada
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0385659849
• ISBN 13: 9780385659840
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256