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Dancing Girls |
Author: Margaret Atwood
Published: 1998-05-18 |
List price: $14.95
Our price: $10.17
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 Fine Atwood Collection
Dancing Girls / 0-553-37791-4
This collection of Atwood short stories includes:
- The War in the Bathroom
- When It Happens
- The Man from Mars
- A Travel Piece
- Polarities
- The Resplendent Quetzal
- Under Glass
- Training
- The Grave of the Famous Poet
- Lives of Poets
- Dancing Girls
- Hair Jewelry
- Giving Birth
- Rape Fantasies
- Betty
- The Sin Eater
These stories are classic Atwood material - the pain between modern relationships is explored closely, the ennui that sets into modern life and leaves people feeling deeply sad, yet unable to explain their sadness. In the face of material security, the "right" kind of relationships and jobs, and owning the proper goods and homes, why do we still feel so sad?
Other stories carefully examine mental deterioration, whether mental illness (The War in the Bathroom) as the main character slowly seems to spiral into dementia, or severe strain brought on by unusual circumstances (A Travel Piece). Atwood posits that, in the face of complete breakdown, a part of us still hangs onto the familiar, our routines, even when hanging on seems absurd. Whether this absurd cling to the familiar helps to maintain our sanity or whether it merely hastens the descent into madness is never made clear.
Piercing and Brilliant
Initially enticed into the world of Margaret Atwood through a short story, I was thrilled to discover this collection. Social commentary, moral narrative, human fable - each piece is compelling in its own right. The depth and diversity of the characters populating each story is astounding and the themes inherent in each range from abstract to concrete, profound to peripheral. Atwood's writing remains piercing, brilliant and timeless.
 My first Atwood
Not necessarily my last, though I was confused by her oft times distracted and unclear writing style. I'd get to the end of a short only to be left wondering, "huh?"
An Exceptional Collection of Short Stories
As noted by others, "Dancing girls" is just one story in this collection of about a dozen short stories by Margaret Atwood. Short stories are considered to be more difficult to write than longer pieces. Flaws are amplified and it is easier to judge the writer.
This is an entertaining collection where Atwood demonstrates that she is down to earth and is sufficiently skilled and talented to make the mundane seem very interesting without resorting to any fancy writing techniques. The stories are set in modern urban settings. There is no simple pattern to the tales, and some end abruptly. They have a variety of interesting characters, but the women seem more interesting than the men.
I read this collection along with her non-fiction "Negotiating With the Dead: a Writer on Writing." As someone new to Atwood, I was very impressed and would recommend both books.
So, what is Atwood like, or who is she like? Is she another Toni Morrison or perhaps similar to Joyce Carol Oats, or Joy Williams? Atwood has a reputation as an erudite or knowledgeable writer. So, as a reader of literature one is drawn to make a comparison with earlier women writers such as Gertrude Stein or Virginia Woolf. Both were earlier feminists with strong intellects and both had a wealth of talent. Paris based Stein developed an unusual style to be different: a non-linear narrative structure inspired by impressionist painters as in her work "The Good Anna.". Similarly, after Woolf's first two novels she abandoned conventional writing in her novels and she wrote using the stream of consciousness technique starting with "Jacob's Room" and later uses other lyrical techniques to make her writing somewhat unusual, and to apply a creative spin. Atwood has not chosen to use such techniques here, nor does she have to resort to those techniques to be interesting. Her writing is more conventional but it is still entertaining. Her strong intellect emerges very loudly to the reader through her skilled use of prose and interesting stories. The strories are sharp and snappy.
This is a good collection of modern urban short stories that I would recommend for readers of short fiction. Most of the stories are just 25 pages or so.
Another great story collection from Atwood
Atwood's short stories are shocking, vibrant glances at some of her most interesting people. The stories in this collection were published in many journals, from the prestigious *Harper's* to the rarified journals like *Fiddlehead* and *The Malahat Review.* Because many of these pieces were published in smaller journals, they've not been widely read. If you see yourself as an Atwood buff, you need this book to complete your collection.
Stories in *Dancing Girls*:
The War in the Bathroom
The Man from Mars
Polarities
Under Glass
The Grave of the Famous Poet
Rape Fantasies
Hair Jewellery
When It Happens
A Travel Piece
The Resplendent Quetzal
Training
Lives of the Poets
Dancing Girls
Giving Birth
TK Kenyon
Author of Rabid: A Novel and Callous: A Novel
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