Review and Giveaway: In Other Worlds by Margaret Atwood

Title: In Other Worlds
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Doubleday
Publish Date: October 11, 2011
Source: Publisher

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a Margaret Atwood fan.
• You're a sci-fi/speculative fiction fan or are interested in seeing why others love it.
• You'd love to be able to pick a famous author's brain to see how they craft a good story.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "In Other Worlds: Science Fiction and the Human Imagination is Margaret Atwood’s account of her rela­tionship with the literary form we have come to know as science fiction. This relationship has been lifelong, stretch­ing from her days as a child reader in the 1940s through her time as a graduate student at Harvard, where she explored the Victorian ancestors of the form, and continuing with her work as a writer and reviewer. This book brings together her three heretofore unpublished Ellmann Lectures of 2010—“Flying Rabbits,” which begins with Atwood’s early rabbit superhero creations and goes on to speculate about masks, capes, weakling alter egos, and Things with Wings; “Burning Bushes,” which follows her into Victorian other-lands and beyond; and “Dire Cartographies,” which investi­gates utopias and dystopias. In Other Worlds also includes some of Atwood’s key reviews and musings about the form, including her elucidation of the differences (as she sees them) between “science fiction” proper and “speculative fiction,” as well as “sword and sorcery/fantasy” and “slip­stream fiction.” For all readers who have loved The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood—not to mention Atwood’s 100,000-plus Twitter fol­lowers— In Other Worlds is a must."

My Two Cents:

Imagine being able to pick a really famous author's (like Margaret Atwood) brain. This book is sort of like that. I really like Atwood. Her books are what I would call sort of underhanded science fiction. There are definitely science fiction elements there but the scenarios and the characters have something realistic about them.

The book is divided in a few different sections. Atwood talks about her writing process from when she was a little kid (the story about the flying bunnies was ...moreImagine being able to pick a really famous author's (like Margaret Atwood) brain. This book is sort of like that. I really like Atwood. Her books are what I would call sort of underhanded science fiction. There are definitely science fiction elements there but the scenarios and the characters have something realistic about them.

The book is divided in a few different sections. Atwood talks about her writing process from when she was a little kid (the story about the flying bunnies was adorable and so funny) to when she wrote some of her bestsellers. Another section covers a lot of books and authors that Atwood looks at as being masters of the science fiction craft. Let me just say that I have a couple more books to add to my already huge TBR list. The final section is a couple of short stories. I wasn't familiar with any of them so I don't know whether or not they've been published before.

I think it's always interesting to see how Atwood got her ideas and her thoughts on a genre that she is a master of. This book is good for both readers and aspiring writers. She's really fantastic. I feel like I'm a bigger Atwood fan now that I've read this book. I think this book is also good for other Atwood friends. Even if you haven't had the pleasure of reading Atwood before, this book will definitely make you want to read more!

Giveaway!:

Thanks to the publisher, I have a copy of In Other Worlds to giveaway! 

Rules:
- You must be 13 and over
-  Open to US residents only
- You must be a follower of A Bookish Affair

- Giveaway ends October 24! 

Just fill out this simple form and you're entered!