The premise of this second story in Margaret Atwood’s new collection Old Babes in the Wood is that Nell is telling a story about two friends, John and François. “They’re dead now. A thing that happens increasingly: people die. This radiator incident took place in the early 1990s, when
Maybe three years ago, I watched an interview with Margaret Atwood—back when all the talk was about The Testaments (either its coming or its arriving), in which she was asked whether she considers herself an optimist or a pessimist and on the following weekend, Mr BIP and I were
When Nell comes home just before dinnertime as “First Aid” opens, many readers will recognise her immediately, as I did. I first met married couple Nell and Tig in the linked collection Moral Disorder (2006). I read that collection on the subway, mornings and early evenings; the rhythm of
Reading this, the Take 30 interviewer’s comments from 1977 circled in my mind: an unrealised conversation, where declaration replaces exploration. The interviewer said the stories filled her with sadness, all those rotten situations and dismal romantic relationships; however, she mentioned no details and referenced just one story dedicated to
As usual, Kaggsy and Simon have chosen a year rich with reading possibilities. As not-exactly-unusual, I have done better at gathering possibilities than of reading them. Initially I planned to expand my reading of James Baldwin, but the interlibrary-loan copy wasn’t speedy (sometimes it’s a week, sometimes weeks—depending how
