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Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts

by Margaret Atwood

A life told alongside the books it shaped

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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award

    The book was longlisted for the award.

  • Bestseller

    New York Times Bestseller

    Source describes the book as a New York Times bestseller.

  • Editorial selection

    The New York Times Notable Book of the Year

    Named a Notable Book of the Year by the publication.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A life told alongside the books it shaped

Margaret Atwood’s memoir moves between personal history and the work that grew from it. Her childhood in the forests of northern Quebec, with scientifically minded parents, provides an unconventional starting point; later episodes connect to the making of books including *Cat’s Eye* and *The Handmaid’s Tale*. Along the way, Atwood reflects on reading, the natural world, political turning points, her relationship with writer Graeme Gibson, and the porous boundary between lived experience and art. The structure offers a portrait of a writing life in which memories are considered alongside the books they helped shape.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in Margaret Atwood’s life and writing
  • Memoir readers drawn to connections between personal experience and creative work
  • Readers interested in literary lives, family history, and political context

Themes

Memoir and memoryWriting and lived experienceChildhood and familyThe natural worldLiterature and political history

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD - How does the greatest writer of our time tell her own story?

NAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE WASHINGTON POST

"The most spectacular, hilarious, and generous autobiography of the last quarter century-or ever."--The Boston Globe


Raised by scientifically minded parents, Margaret Atwood spent most of each year in the wild forest of northern Quebec: a vast playground for her entomologist father and independent, resourceful mother. It was an unfettered and nomadic childhood, sometimes isolated but also thrilling and beautiful.

From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking key moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel school year that would become Cat's Eye to the unease of 1980s Berlin, where she began The Handmaid's Tale. In pages alive with the natural world, reading and books, major political turning points, and her lifelong love for the charismatic writer Graeme Gibson, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood stars, and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel.

As she explores her past, Atwood reveals more and more about her writing, the connections between real life and art--and the workings of one of our very greatest imaginations.
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