Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is one of my favorite books of all time. I could go on and on about her uncanny descriptive abilities, the precision in her word choice, or her storytelling chops. I probably would run out of space before I even had the chance to mention how much I admire the way she imbues deceptively simple prose with morally complex political overtones.
But, as much as I could fill this piece with my adoration for the story itself, I’m here to say that I found her new 2017 introduction uniquely compelling. In particular, I believe that her concerns about writing speculative fiction and the way she addresses these concerns are enlightening.