Margaret Atwood: A Biography

by Nathalie Cooke

Although Margaret Atwood has been the subject of a great deal of literary criticism and commentary, this is the first biography of the celebrated author, poet, critic, and social activist whose critically and popularly acclaimed works include Surfacing , Cat's Eye , The Handmaid's Tale , and Alias Grace . The Atwood who emerges in these pages is an intense and driven woman, struggling daily to balance the demands of her own artistic perfectionism with her commitment to enjoying a rich and varied private life. Nathalie Cooke (a former president of the Margaret Atwood Society) traces an astonishing network of interconnections that weaves its way through Atwood's past and friends, lovers, wives, and husbands who become each others' publishers, editors, promoters, and critics. Cooke follows the web, and along the way discloses some of Atwood's most painful and personal moments, including broken engagements, betrayals, and divorce. This biography follows Atwood's development as a major figure in the evolution of contemporary Canadian literature and culture, and at the same time chronicles the reception of her works and her own ongoing creation of her public persona.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

378 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent biography of Margaret Atwood's life and work up to 1996 when she published her novel Alias Grace.
Some of Atwood's poetry is mentioned as is inspiration for The Edible Woman, Surfacing, Lady Oracle , The Robber Bride and Cats-Eye. The Handmaid's Tale is also discussed but not in great detail.
Her contribution to CanLit and Canada having a shape and culture of it's own resulted in her first work of non-fiction Survival. Survival became definitive in looking at CanLit.
Subsequent works such as The Blind Assassin and The MaddAddam Trilogy and The Testaments came after this biography was published.
Also, Atwood didn't authorise this biography only really contributing two passages from works she'd enjoyed which basically amounted to her indicating that we shouldn't make too crude an equation between a writer's life and his or her art. Imagination needs to be taken into account. (page 334).
Nevertheless, Atwood has lead an interesting and productive life. She's produced highly original works with a "buzzsaw wit".
Many of her works have included themes such as, false memory, duplicity and the Power relation of truth telling. She's looked at feminism and the natural world with an original eye.
A quote from this biography is very apt " For those drawn to Atwood's work and to her protagonists...there is a a simple unalterable fact - that one individual can never really know and understand another....but still we try."
So there are limits to this biography but it's an exceptional example of a good look at Atwood and her work.
Returning this one to ACT library. Probably not after a copy for my shelves but may refer to it again if no updated biography of Atwood is available. Look forward to seeing the writer in Canberra on 19th Feb 2020.

[Lee Kofman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This biography read like a pretty sycophantic book. The author seemed so in love with her subject that I couldn’t help but feeling cold about Atwood who comes across there as a sort of a didactic saint and workoholic. I learned very little about Atwood as a flesh-and-blood person with passions (outside of writing) and flaws. For me great biography of a writer must combine astute literary criticism, unexpected (and at least somewhat removed!) perspective and lots of juicy gossip, plus some insight into the writer’s creative process. This particular book provided very little of any of these. Even the discussions of Atwood’s works seemed arbitrary and Cooke never provided the larger overview of the work-in-question. I found myself skipping many pages.

[Purrltea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not much a reader of biographies, usually, so I'm not sure how to rate them in terms of the style of writing. However, I wanted more in depth knowledge of Margaret Atwood--her childhood, her education, her professional life, her personal life, her inspiration, her mode of organization, etc.--and this book provided all of that, with lots of in-depth analysis. Atwood is a fascinating person, and this book served to highlight that. Definitely worth a read, if you are an Atwood fan.