– Margaret Atwood
My first Atwood book read in full. While in High School, I got the terrible English teacher who only taught the thoroughly unenjoyable things, like J.D. Salinger and Robertson Davies. Imagine my jealousy when my other friends with the other teacher actually seemed to get enjoyable books, whose very chapters they would read to me with enthusiasm I thought Grade 12 English completely incapable of inspiring. I must've had all the the good bits of The Handmaid's Tale spoiled for me already, and gave the book the promise I would read it later with new eyes. However, despite Miss Atwood's status as Canada's foremost literary and science fiction writer, when she arrived at Bookfest Windsor in 02013, I found her platitudal book tour publicity speeches to be completely and insultingly insipid, especially when compared to numerous actually interesting authors and presenters that had to open for her much-advertised act. Accordingly, Payback then remained the only Atwood book I would ever dare read.
Payback is a literary analysis on the nature of monetary systems within early Victorian capitalism. The book is a text version of her CBC Radio Massey lecture, though I found it to be a somewhat slow and difficult read when compared to Atwood's own smooth and well-paced performance.