Good Bones

Noreen Mitchell is a librarian with the Toronto Public Library.

Here is a collection of very short fiction pieces from the renowned
author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Cat’s Eye, Wilderness Tips, and many
other books, including works of poetry and nonfiction. Atwood is
far-ranging in her subject matter: she tackles, in her typically
insightful and incisive way, fairy tales, detective fiction,
Shakespeare’s Hamlet, aphorisms, war, the environment, death, and
other topics. Style of writing is just as varied, with a mixture of
dialogue, recipe, speech making, instruction, mythologizing, and
narration. As always, Atwood’s morality, sense of humor, and feminist
position are in evidence. In particular, “The Female Body” and
“Making a Man” combine all these elements with successful result.
Not all the pieces are consistently pleasing, whether because of the
unsettling effect produced or a failure to engage; these tales
nonetheless offer the reader a chance to explore the author’s ideas
and craft of writing.