Margaret Atwood appeared on 60 Minutes, discussing her life and long career as one of Canada’s literary lions.
Atwood’s long-awaited memoir, Book of Lives, was published last week by Doubleday. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised the book as “engaging, wise, and marvelously witty—illuminating both the craft of writing and the art of living.”
Asked how she felt about her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale being her “magnum opus,” Atwood replied, “I would question the premise. It’s not due to me or the excellence of the book, it’s partly the twists and turns of history….Had it been so that none of [these anti-reproductive rights laws] ever got enacted, then it would probably be sitting on a shelf somewhere and people would be saying, Oh, jolly good yarn, but it didn't happen.”
Atwood discussed whether she believes that the U.S. is on “the road to dictatorship.”
“I don’t think I would be wrong if I said it’s concerning,” she said. “There are certain things that totalitarian coups always do….One of them is trying to get control of the media, but the other thing is making the judicial arm part of the executive. In other words, judges just do what the chief guy tells them to….There’s some warning lights flashing, for sure.”
Atwood said she has more often been attacked by critics on the left for not consistently “preaching their sermon.” Asked what her response to those critics is, she said, “It’s unprintable. It involves a finger.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
