Moral Disorder

by Margaret Atwood (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $4.22

  Margaret Atwood has frequently been cited as one of the foremost writers of our time. Moral Disorder, her new work of fiction, could be seen as a collection of eleven stories that is almost a novel or a novel broken up into eleven stories. It resembles a photograph album - a series of clearly observed moments that trace the course of a life, and the lives intertwined with it - those of parents, siblings, children, friends, enemies, teachers and even animals. And as in a photograph album, times change; every decade is here, from the 1930s through the 50s, 60s and 70s to the present day. The settings are equally varied: large cities, suburbs, farms, northern forests. The first story, 'The Bad News,' is set in the present, as a couple no longer young situate themselves in a larger world no longer safe. Then the narrative switches time, as the central character moves through childhood and adolescence, in 'The Art of Cooking and Serving', 'The Headless Horseman' and 'My Last Duchess'. We follow her into young adulthood in 'The Other Place', and then through a complex relationship, traced in four of the stories - 'Monopoly', 'Moral Disorder', 'White Horse' and 'The Entities'. The last two stories, 'The Labrador Fiasco' and 'The Boys at the Lab', deal with the heartbreaking old age of parents, but circle back to childhood again, to complete the cycle. By turns funny, moving, lyrical, incisive, tragic, earthy, shocking and deeply personal, Moral Disorder displays Atwood's celebrated storytelling gifts and inimitable style to their best advantage. As the New York Times has said, 'Atwood has complete access to her people's emotional histories, complete understanding of their hearts and imaginations.'

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $21.24

• New

  Paperback
  2010

  $11.56

  Atwood entices us to flip through the photo album of a Canadian woman who closely resembles herself. Come here, sit beside me, she seems to say. Then she takes us on an emotional journey through loneliness, love, loss and old age' Sarah Emily Miano, THE TIMES Short stories that trace the course of a life, and the lives intertwined with it - MORAL DISORDER is Margaret Atwood at her very finest. 'Funny, touching, beady-eyed, slouchily elegant, giving us family life in all its horrors. The secret resentments and alignments - difficult siblings, unfair parents, hopeless yearnings and rage - are funny to read about, hellish to experience. Atwood makes it look so easy, doing what she does best: tenderly dissecting the human heart ...A marvellous writer' Lee Langley, DAILY MAIL 'A model of distillation, precision, clarity and detail ...Atwood writes with compassion and intensity not only about her characters but also about the 20th century itself' Mary Flanagan, INDEPENDENT 'MORAL DISORDER is an infinitely ingenious and perceptive study, as intimate as a self-portrait but with an epic breadth of vision. It deserves to become a quiet classic' Charlotte Moore, SPECTATOR